Ashoknagar Kalyangarh


Ashoknagar Kalyangarh is a city and a municipality in Barasat Sadar subdivision of North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India.
Ashoknagar has a heritage of political activism, high-quality education, and culture. Ashoknagar Kalyangarh was planned by Dr. B.C Roy and was later named after the leader Ashoke Kumar Sen. The Congressional leaders Tarun Kanti Ghosh and Keshab Bhattacharjee and the CPI leaders Dr. Sadhan Sen, Bikash Ray Chaudhuri, Nani Kar, and Chitta Ranjan Basu were principal architects of Ashoknagar Kalyangarh
The social organisations Janayug Sangskritik Sangstha played a vital role to build a cultural environment in the 70's decade. CPI Organizer Atamajit Chowdhury, Dramatist Swadesh Munshi, Social Worker Parlay Ghosh, Trapada Bhattacharjee, Gauranga Kar, Biswajit Das were contributed notable works in town's cultural development.
The area has two parks, Sanghati Park and Millennium Science Park. There are four English medium schools in Ashoknagar. The area is connected to Kolkata through rail and road networks.
The Kalyani Spinning Mill is in Ashoknagar. The city previously had a unit of RIC and a chemical factory; both were closed down by the state government.

History

Under British rule, During the period of World War II, Ashoknagar Kalyanagarh was site of a British Royal Air Force Airbase. The site that became Ashoknagar Kalyanagarh was a RAF airfield known by the name of Baigachi Airfield. Four RAF hangars still stand, the remnants of a bygone era. After World War II, the airfield and hangars went into disuse. After India became independent, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the then CM of West Bengal, developed the airfield into a planned city. The site was initially known as "Habra Urban Colony". Later, its north-east portion was named "Kalyangarh" and then its south-west portion was named "Ashoknagar".

Geography

Ashoknagar is located at.

Climate

The climate is tropical — like the rest of the Gangetic West Bengal. The hallmark is the Monsoon — from early June to mid-September. The weather remains dry during the winter and humid during summer.
Temperature : 39.5 °C in May and 10.3 °C in January
Relative Humidity: Between 55% in March & 98% in July
Rainfall: 31mm

Demographics

As per the 2011 Census of India, Ashoknagar Kalyangarh had a total population of 121,592, of which 61,236 were males and 60,356 were females. Population below 6 years was 9,091. The total number of literates in Ashoknagar Kalyangarh was 103,492.
As of 2001 India census, Ashoknagar Kalyangarh had a population of 111,475. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Ashoknagar Kalyangarh has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 53% of the males and 47% of females literate. 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Religion

According to Census of India 2011, Hinduism is the predominant religion in this city, followed by Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and others. Out of 1,21,592 people living in Ashoknagar Kalyanagarh; 1,18,163 are Hindus, 2,983 are Muslims, 195 are Christians, 26 are Sikhs, 22 are Buddhists, 10 are Jains, 18 are other religions and 175 did not state their religion.

Administration

Municipality

Ashokenagar Kalyanagarh Municipality recently installed LED tower lights.
The municipality has an area of 20.50 km2. and comprises 23 wards.

Police station

Ashoknagar police station is one of the important police stations in North 24 Parganas district. It has jurisdiction over the Ashokenagar Kalyanagarh municipality area and 8 Gram Panchayats which is part of Habra II CD Block area. Ashoknagar police station covers an area of 174.5 km² and serves a population of 261,312. Palash Chattapadhay is the Inspector in Charge of the PS.

Economy

Predominantly this is a domestic town. People move to capital cities and industrial areas like Kolkata, Kalyani, Barrackpore, etc. to earn their livelihood. Normal markets and business have grown to cater the needs of the citizens of this town. The three main market complexes within this town are Golbazar Market Complex, Kachua Agricultural Market Complex and Building More Super Market Complex. Kalyanagarh Bazar also the important market for the citizens of this town. Besides, there are several self-help groups, women folks, artisans and craftsmen who are engaged in small scale production of jewellery boxes, garments and different kinds of decorative items.

Education

The city has a very high literacy rate, 92.45%, according to the 2011 census. There are high schools for girls and boys, as well as a large number of primary schools.

Schools

WBBSE affiliated schools

•Ashoknager Sahid Smriti Pathagar
•Babla Smriti Pathagar

Cinema Halls and Auditoriums

This city can be considered as one of the cultural hubs of West Bengal.
Renowned theatre groups like Ajantrik, Avijatri, Annesha, Nattya Mukh, Ashoknagar Bratyajon and Aaharnish are based out of this town. These groups organize theatre festivals throughout the year mostly during the winter season. These festivals allow the culturally rich people from the city, nearby towns and villages to witness the great performances from different theatre groups from all over the state, different states and even groups from across the border of Bangladesh. The name of the city's main theater hall is 'Saheed Sadan'. Which is one of the biggest auditorium in district.

Tourist Spots

• Millennium Science Park
• Sanghati Park
• 19 no. Forest
• Uttar Kochua Khalpar

Bank/Financial Institutions

Hospital

Railway System

Ashoknagar Road is from Sealdah Station and 18 km from Barasat on the Sealdah-Bangaon branch line of Eastern Railway. It is part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway system. Ashoknagar Road is directly connected on NH 112.

Road

Buses from Habra Bus Terminal are directly connected to Naihati, Maslandapur, Madhyamgram, Bangaon, Barasat, Nagarukhra, Kalyani, Basirhat, Kolkata, Bagdah, Chakdaha, Bagjola, Digha, Durgapur, Bandel, Baruipur, Howrah, Badkulla, krishnanagar, Barasat, Alampur, Dattaphulia, Nimta, Sodepur, Duttapukur, Thakurnagar, Jaguli.
Ashoknagar Bypass Road is directly connected on NH 112 & NH 12.
The NH 112 - commonly known as Jessore Road, comes from Belgachia Road - also known as Habra-Ashoknagar Bypass, passes through the town in the direction of Bangladesh and the border town Bongaon, which is approximately 38 km from Ashoknagar.
The town is well connected by road and railway to Kolkata. It is also connected to Naihati and the Habra Jirat Road.
The town is very planned; it is divided into 23 municipal wards. The town was originally planned as a township to accommodate the refugees that flooded India after India was partitioned. It contains housing plots under several schemes.

Politics

Ashoknagar was once a bastion of Left politics. The area witnessed the food movements of 1959 and 1966. Refugee, students', teachers' and Naxal movements kept the locality politically vibrant till 1977. When the assembly segment was created for the first time in 1967, it was won by Dr. Sadhan Sen of the CPI, who also won the seat in 1969. Nani Kar of CPI defeated Keshab Chandra Bhattacharjee of INC/Ind in 1991, 1987, 1982, 1977 and 1971. Keshab Chandra Bhattacharya of Independent defeated Nani Kar of CPI in 1972. In 1996, Nirod Roy Choudhury of CPI defeated Dhiman Roy of AITC. After the sudden death of Nirod Roy Choudhury, Badal Bhattacharjee of BJP defeated the CPIM candidate Rekha Goswami in 1998. In 2001, Sharmistha Dutta of CPI defeated Ashok Krishna Dutta of AITC. Satyasebi Kar of CPI won the Ashoknagar assembly seat in 2006, defeating Dhiman Roy of AITC. Dhiman Roy of AITC defeated Satyasebi Kar of CPIM in 2011 assembly election. In 2016, Dhiman Roy of AITC defeated Satyasebi Kar of CPI again.

Political history of Ashoknagar Kalyangarh Municipality

After the partition of Bengal, a section of people, though much in number, settled in and around erstwhile Habra P.S. areas of West Bengal. In 1955, after a popular agitation, Kalyangarh the Government sponsored refugee settlement was declared urban status; however not municipal area, yet the then Government declared its responsibilities to urbanise the roads, drainage, sanitation, etc. With utter dissatisfaction of the people, no work for urbanisation was really undertaken in the decade of sixties. Subsequently, in the year 1968, Ashokenagar-Kalyangarh Municipality was created.
The municipality was run by the Left Front till 2010. The first elected chairperson of AKM was Shri Bikash Raychawdhury for the period 1981 to 1994, then Smt.Sarmistha Dutta was for the period 1994 to 2010,both were from C.P.I and Sri Chittaranjan Basu was the Vice-Chairman. Then Mr. Samir Dutta of AITC was Chairman of Ashoknagar Kalyangarh Municipality 2010 to 2015. Now Mr. Prododh Sarkar of AITC is Chairman of Ashokenagar Kalyanagarh Municipality.

Festivals

Major festivals observed at Ashoknagar include Durga puja, Laxmi puja, Saraswati puja, Manasa puja, Shitala puja, Ratha yatra, Bishwakarma puja, Shivratri and Diwali. Ashoknagar is known for big Durga Pujas as well as the Kali Puja venues. But Kalyangarh region is well known for its Jagadhatri Puja.

Sports

Dr. Bidhanchandra Roy Kriyangan or commonly known as '3no. Stadium' is the main sports ground which is facilated with two galleries for the crowd to sit. The "Ashoknagar Sports Association " serve as its governing body. They organise cricket and football matches. Several prominent players have emerged from this region of different games, who have made the country proud.
Two swimming pools and well-equipped gymnasium "Sutanu" here. With the help of government, many clubs have modern facilities for bodybuilding. There are also training camps for Athletes and Karate.