1 Original Research Article 2 3 Growth and Pattern of Urbanisation : An Analysis of Barasat 4 Subdivision, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. 5 6 ABSTRACT 7 Barasat subdivision comprises the sadar subdivision of the district of North 24 Parganas in West 8 Bengal. This district traditionally has a glorious history of urbanisation being much higher than both 9 the state and national averages. Within the district , this subdivision has shown a slow and steady 10 growth of urbanisation since independence. Although the percentage of urban population has remained 11 below the district average it has been significantly higher than the state and national average. The 12 subdivision was overshadowed in the urban scenario mainly due to the overwhelming presence of 13 neighbouring Barrackpore subdivision till 1981. The situation has significantly altered after Barasat 14 being declared the district headquarter in 1986. However there are spatio-temporal variation in levels 15 of urbanisation within the subdivision. This paper attempts to analyse the growth, pattern and levels of 16 urbanisation within the subdivision in the post –independence period. 17 KEY WORDS: Level of urbanisation, urban spacing, urban population density 18 INTRODUCTION 19 Urbanization refers to an increase in the size of urban places and growth in the number with increasing 20 concentration of population in such places (Hauser,M.P.and Duncan,O.D) . The phenomena of high 21 level of urbanization at the global level specially in the developing countries is relatively a recent 22 phenomena and has gained unprecedented momentum since the 1950’s. By 2050, it is predicted that 23 64% of the developing world and 85.9% of the developed world would be urbanized (The Economist, 24 2012). 25 Urbanization in India has shown remarkable progress particularly in the post –independence period. 26 Urban population has increased from 10.84% in 1901 to 17.29% in 1951 to about 31.16% in 27 2011(Census of India, 2011). With dwindling job opportunities, vagaries like drought, flood, 28 fluctuating crop price in agricultural sectors, urban centres have served as magnet for attracting rural 29 crowd. The situation is identical in the study area, Barasat subdivision. The urban population has 30 shown significant increase in the area in the last century and is taking a toll on the environment. The 31 present study aims to provide an insight into the temporal and spatial dimensions of change in the 32 urbanization pattern in this area.. 33 STUDY AREA 34 Barasat subdivision constitutes an important part of North Twenty parganas. The district headquarter, 35 Barasat, is located in the study area. The latitudinal extent is from 220 32’21’’N to 22 0 57’36’’ N 36 while the longitudinal extent is from 88025’40’’E to 88048’29’’E. In the south, lies parts of 37 Bidhannagar subdivision of North 24 parganas and Baruipur subdivision of South 24 parganas while 38 the northern boundary is flanked by Nadia district. The blocks of Gaighata, Baduria, Bashirhat and 39 Haroa form the eastern boundary while Barrackpur subdivision forms the western boundary. The 40 total area of the subdivision is 1002.48 sq. kilometers with a population of 2,789,611(Census 2011). 41 It is well connected by road and railways. A project regarding further extension of the Metro services 42 to the towns of Barasat in the near future is under construction. 43 The study area consists of six municipalities namely Barasat, Habra, Rajarhat Gopalpur, Ashoknagar, 44 Kalyangarh, Madhyamgram and Gobardanga. It has seven C.D blocks: Barasat–I, Barasat–II, 45 Amdanga, Deganga, Habra–I, Habra–II and Rajarhat. These seven blocks contain eight census towns 46 and 58 gram panchayats. The subdivision has its headquarters at Barasat. 47 48 Map No. 1: Location of study area. 49 50 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES- 51 The study aims to- 52 Analyse the trends and patterns of urbanization in the subdivision in the post-independence 53 period. 54 Study the level of urbanisation in the study area in the last six decades. 55 Determine the spatio-temporal pattern of urbanisation in Barasat subdivision 56 57 MATERIALS AND METHODS -This involves collection of data from various published 58 sources. The study is primarily based on secondary sources of information. Data has been collected 59 from different sources like District Census Handbooks of North 24 parganas for the years 1951, 1961, 60 1971, 1981, 1991 and census CDs of 2001, 2011, published by Census of India,. 61 Methods include compilation, calculation and presentation of collected data. The collected data has 62 been compiled, calculated and presented in the form of maps, graphs and charts with the help of 63 Statistical and GIS Software. Analysis has been done both quantitatively and qualitatively. Various 64 quantitative methods like Mean, Standard deviation, Z score and Composite scores have been used for 65 data analysis. Satistical analysis has been done using MS-Excel. Maps have been prepared to show the 66 spatio-temporal variation of urbanisation in the subdivision. Maps has been prepared to show the 67 spatio-temporal variation of population density of Barasat Sub-Division. All the GIS related analysis 68 was done in ArcGIS 10.2 software. 69 Barasat Sub-Division Map were initially scanned at 300 dots per inch (DPI) resolution and converted 70 into computer-readable Tagged Image File Format (.tiff) files. These .tiff files are then georeferenced 71 using ArcGIS 10.2 Software with WGS 84 datum and Universal Transverse Mercator ( U.T.M.) 72 projection. Digitization of administrative boundary and selected features like major roads, railways, 73 canals, was done through ArcGIS 10.2 Software. Furthermore, population attributes has been attached 74 with the shapefile of Barasat Sub-Division. Finally, population density map of Barasat Sub-Division 75 was prepared in ArcGIS 10.2 Software. 76 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 77 Growth of urbanisation- Historically, in the western world, the process of urbanization evolved 78 after the growth of industry characterized by rapid increase in mass production. The Indian 79 subcontinent shares with Mesopotamia and the Nile valley, a long history of urbanization. 80 Urbanization continued at a much slower pace through the medieval period and started gaining 81 momentum gradually during the colonial period. The phenomenon has shown remarkable progress in 82 the post-independence period. After 1947 urban population is increasing by leaps and bounds, often 83 faster than the global urban growth rate. Urban population has increased from 10.84% in 1901 to 84 17.29% in 1951 to 31.16% in 2011(Census of India, 2011). Similarly in the post –independence period 85 the state of West Bengal in general, and the district of North 24 parganas in particular, has experienced 86 a massive spurt in urban growth. The growth in the percentage of urban population in both has far 87 exceeded the national average. 88 89 90 91 Figure 1: Comparative growth of urban population. 92 The above figure (Fig No.1) depicts the comparative growth of urban population in India, West 93 Bengal, North 24 Parganas and Barasat subdivision in the post independence period. Percentage of 94 urban population has shown a steady increase since independence more remarkably since 1991. The 95 percentage of urban population in India has increased from 17.29 to 31.61 while it has risen from 23.88 96 to 31.89 in the state of West Bengal. West Bengal has shown a slightly higher degree of urbanization 97 as compared to the national average. One of the causes for this trend can be attributed to the colonial 98 legacy of the state. Another cause is the influx of migrant population in the aftermath of partition in 99 1947 and creation of the new nation of Bangladesh in 1971. The district of North 24 parganas has 100 shown a higher degree of urbanization as compared to both national and state average. It has been 101 experiencing a very high pace of urbanization both in terms of volume of urban population and number 102 of urban centres. Urban population has increased from 42.92% in 1951 to 57.27% in 2011. The total 103 urban population in the district has increased from 967790 in 1951 to 5807128 in 2011 implying about 104 a six fold increase during the last six decades. Within the district, Barasat subdivision depicts an 105 interesting picture in terms of urban growth. Here urban population has increased from 5.72% to 106 54.67% during the same time period. Predominantly being an agrarian belt, the region had a very low 107 percentage of urban population at the time of independence and thereafter for a considerable period of 108 time. The process of urbanization started gaining momentum since 1961. Urban population percentage 109 steadily increased thereafter and crossed the state average in 1971. The granting of subdivisional 110 headquarter status to Barasat has further aided the process. Although the subdivision has lower 111 percentage of urban population as compared to the district average but it is far above the state and 112 national average. The following table depicts the change in rural and urban population in the district 113 along with the study area during the census years 1951-2011. 114 Table 2- Comparative growth of urban and rural population in North 24 parganas and Barasat subdivision Percentage of population Change in percentage of population North 24 pgs Barasat Subdivision North 24 pgs Barasat Subdivision Years Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural 1951 42.92 57.08 5.72 94.28 - - - - 1961 45.18 54.82 21.86 78.14 47.34 34.47 520.12 34.55 1971 49.26 50.74 27.91 72.09 45.26 23.31 79.41 29.64 1981 51.03 48.97 31.72 68.28 36.37 27.03 53.26 27.71 1991 51.31 48.69 38.36 61.64 32.06 30.58 79.59 34.09 2001 54.29 45.71 44.23 55.77 30.04 15.36 45.50 14.18 2011 57.26 42.73 54.67 45.33 18.16 4.76 51.80 -0.16 115 Source: Computed by the authors from different census reports, 1951-2011 116 The total number of towns has also grown in the entire subdivision.