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Indian Journal of Spatial Science Vol - 6.0 No.1 Summer Issue 2015 pp. 1 - 73 Indian Journal of Spatial Science EISSN: 2249 - 4316 homepage: www.indiansss.org ISSN: 2249 - 3921 Changing Scenerio of Urbanisation Pattern in West Bengal, India: A Case Study of Haora District Susmita Bhowmick1 Dr. Lakshmi Sivaramakrishnan 2 1 Junior Research Fellow, UGC, The Department of Geography, The University of Burdwan 2Associate Professor, The Department of Geography, Jadavpur University Article Info Abstract _____________________ _________________________________________________________ Article History An important aspect of urbanization in the world is the uneven pattern of development and Received on: distribution of small towns and big cities within a system. In every urban system there are a number 12 November 2014 of large cities and a large number of small towns but the fact is that the large cities hold a larger Accepted in Revised Form on: proportion of population as compared with the smaller towns in respect to their space. This is very 15 January 2015 true in case of Indian urban system also. West Bengal is one of the most populous states in India Available Online on and from: which is no exception to this regard. The process of urbanization in the different parts of West 23 March 2015 Bengal shows a changing expression in the 21st century. The sudden reversal of demographic and _______________________ also urbanization pattern in West Bengal indicates a flicker of 'in situ urbanization' which is no Key Words doubt very weak in India but it is important for urban sustainability .A visual investigation of the Urban Hierarchy Census of India 2011 confirms the tremendous increase in the number of invisible towns (commonly Urban Sustainability known as census towns or non statutory towns) in India where West Bengal registered the highest Unrecognized Towns number of census towns. Moreover, in West Bengal the district of Haora has the highest number of Spatial Distribution Pattern non statutory towns which indicates the changing phase of urbanization pattern. This actually helps to widen the view point of the geographers to establish the fact of decentralization although it is in initial phase of execution. So, the present investigation tries to unfold the changing nature of urbanization pattern with the identification of the existing urban structure and also to highlight the spatial distribution of 'unrecognized towns' in the district. © 2015 ISSS. All Rights Reserved __________________ _______________________________________________ Introduction over the last decade. The present investigation critically The area under study is the Haora district of West unfolds the reality of changing faces of urban centres by Bengal (earlier Howrah) which lies to the west bank of identifying its spatial expression. the river Hooghly. The name of the district Howrah may have been derived from hawor which means a vast Study Area swamp. Geomorphologically, this area is formed by the The district of Haora is an important centre of industry process of sedimentation by the Hooghly Bhagirathi and a centre of rapid growth in West Bengal. The river system whose main branch flows along the eastern present is dependent on the past: so let us take a look at part of the district, named as Hooghly River (Census of the history of the district. From the beginning, Haora India, 1961). This district lies between the latitude 22°12′ was a low and marshy land which was covered with N and 22°48′ N and 87°50′E and 88°23′ E. This is a dense forest. It was certainly inhabited by the people as triangular tract of the country which has two sub this place is important for its situation along the western divisions, named Haora and Uluberia, two bank of the Hugli River. Actually, Haora existed as an municipalities, namely Bally and Uluberia and one big important trade centre even before 500 years. The city corporation i.e. Haora Municipal Corporation (H.M.C) of Haora started to increase its importance with the which is considered the heartland of the district. arrival of British Company who used this river as a source of development (KMDA, 2025). The 1971 Objectives Bengal partition also has added an extra energy in the The objective of this paper is concerned with the growth of population of the district. In Haora, changing spatial and temporal pattern of urbanization urbanization during the last decades had been www.h-net.org/.....ID=201577 30 Advanced Science Index...ID=1260 Indian Journal of Spatial Science Vol - 6.0 No. 1 Summer Issue 2015 pp. 1 - 73 phenomenal, as it has been responsible for the Shyampur I- Shyampur II. Here, the blocks are used as population explosion over here. To take an account from units according to the requirement of the data analysis. the year of 1901 till 1991 the increasing trend of To maintain the parity in the analysis, Haora Municipal population has remained same and its spatial Corporation (H.M.C) and other two municipalities agglomeration has also not changed. The north eastern (Uliberia and Bally) have been taken into consideration part of the district along the Hugli River can be treated as but they are treated as an exceptional urban unit. the magnetic field as it bears positive growth rate with For the same purpose, the changes in the area high population density and this is chiefly due to great of the blocks in the different census year have also been industrialization along the bank of Hugly river. Haora taken into consideration because many mouzas forms one of the most densely populated districts with a (smallest rural administrative unit) have been density of 3306 per sq km in 2011. It acquires 9th rank in reclassified and declassified with the blocks, some are sharing population with respect to the total population merged with the municipality and some are not. They of West Bengal and with respect to population density have been brought under lens to maintain the parity. Haora ranked 2nd after Kolkata in the state. Presently, These reclassified and declassified related data have the census towns of Haora contribute 57% of urban been obtained from the relevant Census report of 1961- population to the total urban population of the district 2011. A block level map of the Haora district has been which has increased from only 38 percent in 2001.The georeferenced in the software, Arc GIS 9.3. A polygon extreme density of population was observed even in the layer has been built to vectorise all the blocks of the first Indian census 1872. So, this situation denotes that district and also line layers have been built to vectorise Haora is one of the most crowded districts of the state as the rivers and roads. Point layers have been prepared to well as of the country where, 63.4% of the total vectorise the urban centres which have been derived population are living in the urban area at present. from the Google Earth in KML (Keyhole Markup Actually rapid rate of rural urban migration is an added Language) file format after identifying their locations cause for the concentration of population in the large over there. cities. That is why over the time, the increasing population makes these large cities very packed which Result and Discussion help them to lose its carrying capacity because of the a) Spatial Pattern of Urbanization space saturation. Each and every person has his/her own individual right In 2001, Haora Municipal Corporation had to live in a place, rural or urban according to their choice already crossed its mark of one million (KMDA, 2005). .But rapid migration of a large number of people can For this specific reason, recent decades have change the physical size and shape of a settlement experienced the population spilling from the urban core (Ramachandran, 1989). The whole world, especially to its periphery. There is a tendency of the residents to the developing world has experienced this flee from the most urbanized part of the district towards phenomenon and India is one of them. Especially in the the other blocks (mainly rural part) which shows that a last decade with the whole India, West Bengal has also new chapter is commencing. This process ultimately experienced the changing expression of urbanization influences the sub urban growth and this statement can pattern. The visual map of West Bengal has come out in be proved by the visual, quantitative and qualitative 2011 with a mirror reflection of sudden change of interpretation of the urban structure of the concerned urbanization pattern where Haora, an industrialized district. The increasing number of census towns (not district is one of them. having urban administration) from 51 in 2001 to 135 in The increasing population in the urban, semi 2011 is an addition that denotes the deconcentration of urban areas enhanced the urbanization process which population from the urban core to the periphery (Fig.2). is characterized by the growth of 'transitional towns' (commonly named as Census Town) in the district. This Database and Methodology pattern shows that due to the dominancy of non For analyzing the overall growth pattern at macro as agricultural activities among these towns, they are yet well as at micro level in the studied district, the block not considered as a municipal unit and for that only they wise census data has been taken into consideration are neglected in granting funds for development .Data related to temporal change of population, (Bhagat, 2002; Pradhan, 2013; Samanta, 2014) changing spatial concentration of census towns have although they have potential for future development. been taken from the District Census Handbook, Census The Register General of India has defined the criterion of India for several years (starting from 1961 to 2011) to for identifying the census towns which are as follows— unfold the reality of urban growth and its dynamic 1) Population size should be more than 5000.