Bandel

This article is about the place. For the cheese, see Bandel (cheese). For the German-American engineer, see Hannskarl Bandel.

Bandel
Neighbourhood
The Bandel Church
Nickname:  Portuguese city
Bandel Location in West Bengal, India Show map of West Bengal Bandel Bandel (India) Show map of India
Coordinates: 22°55′22″N88°22′46″E / 22.922743°N 88.379542°E / 22.922743; 88.379542
Country	India
State	West Bengal
Division	Burdwan
District	Hooghly
Founded by	Portuguese
Named for	Derived from Portuguese word which later changed into Bandel
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Body	Hooghly Chinsurah Municipality
Area
• Total	84.9 km2 (32.8 sq mi)
• Rank	1st
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Population  (356,193 (2011))
• Total	356,193
• Rank	1st in Hooghly as of 2011
• Density	4,200/km2 (11,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Sautal, Portuguese
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	712123, 712103, 712104
Telephone code	+91 33
ISO 3166 code	IN-WB
Vehicle registration	WB
Lok Sabha constituency	Hooghly
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Chunchura
Website	hooghly.nic.in

Bandel is a neighbourhood in the Hooghly district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It was founded by Portuguese settlers and falls under the jurisdiction of Chandernagore Police Commissionerate. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). ^[1] Bandel is a major rail junction station of Eastern Railway zone, and is 38 km from Howrah railway station. Sir James Brooke, the first White Rajah of the Kingdom of Sarawak was born here in 1803.

Lahiri Temple at Rajhat, Bandel

Geography

Location

Bandel is located at 22°55′22″N88°22′46″E / 22.922743°N 88.379542°E / 22.922743; 88.379542 ^[2] and it has an elevation of 16 m. The main river that flows by Bandel is Hooghly. The town is in Gangetic Plain.

Boats waiting in Hooghly River near Bandel

Climate

Like the rest of the Ganges Delta of West Bengal, the climate is tropical wet-and-dry in nature. A prolonged hot and humid weather is the main characteristic of the climate of Bandel. The monsoon stays from early June to mid-September. Winter persists for almost three months, from mid-November to mid-February. The weather remains dry during the winter and humid during summer.

Economy

• Dunlop Factory: The famous Dunlop factory is situated at Sahaganj near Bandel. However, it has been shut down owing to some issues in its administration.
• BTPS: Bandel Thermal Power Station was started with a capacity of 82.5 MW in 1965. It has since been expanded and currently has a rated capacity of 530 MW. It is operated under the West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL). ^[3]

A Company named Jupiter Wagons Limited is located at sahaganj area which manufactures railway wagons.
Bakery: Bandel is the base of many bakery industries.

• Bandel Bazar: Bandel Bazar is one of the biggest and important markets of the district. It's the hub of agricultural import and export. Vegetables, fruits (especially mango, watermelon) and rice are exported from the market.
  Banks: At Bandel, there are branches of banks such as Allahabad Bank, Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, State Bank of India, UCO Bank, and, HDFC Bank. Jupiter Wagons Ltd: Jupiter, an engineering company which manufacture railway based products such as Fright Wagons, Bogie & CMS Crossings, is located in front of Bandel ITI.

Transport

Train

A local train leaving Bandel Junction

At Bandel, there are two railway stations, Hooghly railway station and Bandel Junction. Bandel Junction is an important railway station of Eastern Railway and is a model rail station. The station is situated approximately 40  km from Howrah station on the Howrah–Bardhaman main line. The Bandel–Katwa line meets the Howrah main line, here at Bandel Jn. Another branch line connects Bandel with Sealdah railway station and Kolkata railway station via Naihati. An EMU car-shed, as well as a goods yard, is situated in the neighbourhood of Bandel station.

Road and bus

State Highway 6/Grand Trunk Road passes through Bandel. ^[4]

Private bus

• 4 Chunchura Court - Memari
• 8 Chunchura Court - Kalna
• 23 Chunchura Court - Tarakeswar
• 17 Chinsurah to Tarakeswar

Besides, there are auto rickshaws, e-rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws, etc. These all contribute to the public transport of Bandel.

Air

The nearby airport is the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Dum Dum, Kolkata.

Festivals

Like other parts of West Bengal, Durga Puja is the biggest festival of Bandel. Kartik Puja is one of the famous festivals celebrated in Bandel (Sahaganj-Bansberia area). Also Lakshmi Puja, Kali Puja, Viswakarma Puja, Saraswati Puja, Poila Boisakh-Ganesh Puja, Chhat Puja, Dol Yatra are widely celebrated at Bandel. Olichandi Mela (fair) is the biggest fair observed at Bandel in early summer after the Dol Yatra. Christmas is well attended at Bandel church. Eid is the major festival celebrated by the Muslim community of Bandel. Another festival, 'Sitla puja', is exclusive to Bandel, which is celebrated few weeks after the Dol Yatra.

Education

Schools

Don Bosco School Bandel

• Don Bosco School Bandel
• Auxilium Convent School Bandel
• Kendriya Vidyalaya Bandel
• Abbot Shishu Hall
• Bandel St.John's High School
• Hooghly Girls' High School
• Blooming Buds School
• Disha Public School
• Binodini Girls' High School
• Dunlop English Medium School
• Bandel Vidyamandir High School (Established in 1953)^{[ citation needed ]}
• Elite Co-ed High School (Established in 1998)^{[ citation needed ]}
• Pearl Rosary School
• Bandel Mahatma Gandhi Hindi Vidyalaya (Established in 1956)
• Bandel Branch High School

Engineering colleges

• Modern Institute of Engineering and Technology
• West Bengal Survey Institute
• ITI College, Bandel

ICSE Affiliated Schools

• Pearl Rosary School

Nearby places

8km
5miles

Guptipara

R

Hooghly
River

Simla

CT

Dharmapur

CT

Kulihanda

CT

Kodalia

CT

Naldanga

CT

Manushpur

CT

Bandel

R

Keota

CT

Chak Bansberia

CT

Shankhanagar

CT

Alikhoja

CT

Mogra

R

Amodghata

CT

Kola

CT

Hansghara

CT

Madhusudanpur

CT

Raghunathpur

CT

Balagarh

R

Jirat

CT

Sripur

CT

Mirdhanga

CT

Badhagachhi

CT

Namajgram

CT

Purusattompur

CT

Pandua

CT

Batika

CT

Hugli-Chuchura

M

Bansberia

M

  

Cities and towns in the Chinsurah subdivision (except Polba Dadpur and Dhaniakhali CD Blocks) in Hooghly district
M: municipal city/ town, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre,
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly

Debanandapur

Debanandapur is the birthplace of the Bengali author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and is about 3 km west from Bandel Station. His dwelling house is still there. There also is a library named Sarat Smrithi Pathagar, which includes a museum room containing the things used by the famous writer. The village has some 19th-century atchala temples. It is one of the seven important villages named Saptagram at the time of Mughals. ^[5]

Sahaganj

Sahaganj is 4 km from Bandel station. A unit of Dunlop India Ltd. is located here. Ruias purchased Dunlop India Ltd. from the Dubai-based Jumbo group owned by late Manu Chhabria. The postal code is 712104. ^[6] and resumed production in January 2007 after 8 years. After few months of starting production Ruias also stopped production again, till December 2012 there is no hope of light for the workers. Jupiter, an engineering company which manufacture railway based products such as Fright Wagons, Bogie & CMS Crossings, is located in front of Bandel ITI. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Tribeni

Bandel Thermal Power Station

Tribeni is 8 km from Bandel on the Bandel–Katwa line. ^[10] Tribeni Tissues Limited, a specialty paper manufacturing company and a major supplier of tissue paper to the cigarette industry, is located at Tribeni. It was taken over by ITC in 1990. ^[11] Tribeni in West Bengal is derived from the junction of three rivers Hooghly (a branch of the Ganges), Kunti & Swaraswati. Tribeni burning ghat has Hindu religious values. ^{[12] [13]}

Bandel Thermal Power Station (BTPS), one of the biggest thermal power stations, is situated here.

Other places

• Naihati - 1 km
• Mogra - 7 km
• Bansberia - 4 km
• Kalyani - 11 km

References

1. District-wise list of statutory towns Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Yahoo maps" . Retrieved 2 April 2009.
3. WPDCL website
4. "List of State Highways in West Bengal". West Bengal Traffic Police. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
5. "Government website". Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2007.
6. "Dunlop India". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2007.
7. Financial Express 15 January 2007. Archived 4 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
8. Satellite view of Sahaganj and adjoining areas
9. "Articles about Manu Chhabria by Date - Page 2 - timesofindia-economictimes". Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
10. Eastern Railway time table.
11. ITC website
12. "Fluidr / photos taken in Bansberia, West Bengal, India sorted randomly". www.fluidr.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
13. "Triveni Burning Ghat - Tribeni".