DISTRICT STATISTICAL HAND BOOK DARJEELING 19 8 1 BiUREAU OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL NIEPA DC D05252 CONTENTS i i o U *£ r Page Introduction (I)* (((IV) Darjeeling at a glance (A)-(D) List of tables (I)- (X) iQatio'nal Systems T3tdt . A .-pir^isttation \ M , r s Ns»Delhi-ll«a^ DOC. B a t e .................. INTRODUCTION DaFjeeling is the northern most District in the slate ofWiest Bengal. It lies between 26°31'and 27°13' north latitmde and between 88°53' and 87°59' east longitude The morthern boundary of the district commences on the \west at the peak of Phalut nearly 12,000 feet high, the junction of the boundary of Nepal and Indiai. The boundary seems in the east from Phalut along; a ridge decending to the Rammam river. From there the boundary reaches the kumani forest of Jal- paigmri district following the course of the rivers Ram man land Tista. On the west the district is bounded by Nepal. From phalut the western boundary follows the Siouth ward ridge until it joins the Meehi river whichi continues as the boundary right upto plains; thcnc<e by the boundary of Nepal upto the south westeirn corner of the district. On the south lies the districct of Purnea and West Dinajpur intercepted by the Mahananda river and on the east the district is bounded by Bangladesh and the Jalpaiguri district. The airea of the district is 3149.0 sq. km. The density of population was 325 per sq. km. according to 1981 censujs. The district comprises of four sub-divisions Sadar of Djarjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Siliguri with their headquarters being their respective namess, the district headquarters being at Darjeeling. The Sadar sub-division covers the Police Stations ^fPuilbazar. Darjeeling, Sukiapokri Jore Banglow and Rangli Rangliot; Kalimpong sub-division consists ot ihe police stations Kalimpong and Garubathan; the Kurseong sub-division consists of the Police stations Mirik and Kurseong and the Siliguri Sub-division covers the police stations of Phansidewa, Siliguri, Kharibari und Naxalbari. There are four towns in the district, all adminis­ tered by the Board of Municipal Commissioners and forming the headquarters of the four sub-divisions of the district. In the district the total number of Mouzas is 590 of which 83 are uninhabited. Darjeeling consists of two district tracts, the ridges and the deep valleys of the lower Himalayas and the level country at their base. The elevation of the latter is only about 300 metres above sea level and the mountains, tower abruptly from the plains in spurs is reaching about 3600 metres, many of them density closeted with forests upto their summ­ its In a region of such varying topography the climate also varies from place to place. The climate of the Terai and the lower valleys resembles very much that of the adjoining districts in West Bengal and Bihar. The hilly tracts in the north show a cool and bracing climate. The period from March to May roughly constitutes the summer climate in this district Monsoon lasts till about the begining of October, then with a short gap of a month and a fact as the past monsoon season the winter appears and lasts till the end of February. January is normally the coldest month. The average rainfall in the district is 2994 milli­ metres and maximum rainfall is normally experienced im July. The Tista, the Great Rangil, the Jaldhaka, the Balasan, the Mahanadi and the Meebi are the import- a nt rivers of the disrict. The population of the district according to 1981 census was 1024269 out of which 542567 were males and 481702 females. The Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes population constituted 14.2 and 14.7 percent respectively of the total population in 1981. Out of the total population 42.5 percent were literate according to 1981 census. The percentages of literacy among males and females were 51.6 and 32 3 respe­ ctively in 1981. Majority of the people of Darjeeling depend on agriculture as their principal source of livelihood. The principal crops in the district are paddy, maize, oilseeds, cardamom and potatoes. Pineapple and orange are the two most important cash crops of the district. The most important industries of Darjeeling are based on tea plantation and forestry. Mention may be made of the places of interest i n the district Darjeeling-Darjeeling town is the headquarter of the district and situated in the lower Himalayas C27“3' N and 88“16' E). The town lying on a long sjpur projecting northwards from the Ghum-Senchal ridge. The spur rises abruptly from Ghum to the top of Kata-pahar ( 2404 metres ) and tlhen gradually decends to 2292 metres at Jalapaihar aAd 2134 metres at the chourasta. It rises again to 2183 metres at observatory Hill just north of ithe ehourasta and devides into two, the Lebong spur and Borch Hill spur. Ghum ;-A Railway station in Jore-Bunglow poliice station about 2256 metres above sea level midwjay between Sonada Railway Station and Darjeelimg. On the top of Ghum is Tiger Hill, Keventer’s Daiiry Farm and the Senchal Lake. Mangpoo :-Situated in Kurseong Sub-division. It is marked for the biggest Cinchona Plantation (of West Bengal, which produces Quinine. DARJEELING—AT A GLANCE Description Year Unit Particular. A. Administrative set up : fi) District Headquarters — — Darieeling fii) Sub-division 1981 Number 4 fiii) Police Station 9# 13 Bv) Inhabited villages 1971 99 507 w) Total Mouzas 99 590 wi) Blocks 1981 99 10 wii) Panchayat Samities 99 10 Aviii) Gram Panchayats 99 77 iix) Municipal Towns ^9 4 x) Non-Municipal Towns „ 3 xi) Notified Areas xi) Out growth 99 B . Area & Population : i ) Area 1981 Sq. Km. 3149 iii) Population >> Number 1024269 ini) Density of Population „ Per Sq. Km. 325 iw) Sex ratio Percent a) Male 99 99 52.97 b) Female 99 99 47.03 V) Ratio of Population 99 1«r 7 a) Urban >» J9 27.55 b) Rural 99 72.45 c) Workers B Description Year Unit Particular^ d) Non-workers 1981 Pejcent 63.76 C. Agriculture and Irrigation : i) Net cropped area 11978-79 ‘OOOhectares 46.2 ii) Yield rate of rice 1980-81 Kg. p er.. 1225 iii) Net arrea irrgated >> ‘000 6.8 D. Medical lacilities : i) Hospitals, dispensaries Health centres and Clinics 1981 Number 118 ii) Family Welfare Centres 1980 99 65 iii) Hospital beds 1981 2392 iv) Hospital bed per lakhs of total population 1981 234 v) Total Population vi) Disabled person a) Total blind 1981 Number 505 b) Crippled >> 645 c) Dumb » 3403 f. Literacy ; a) Male 1981 Percent 51,6 b) Female 32.3 c) Total 42.5 d) Rural 34.4 e) Urban 5> 63.4 D»escription Year Unit Particulars F. hndustries & Labour : i) IRegd. working fiactories 1981 Number 172 li) Employrqent in the above „ 99 9604 iii) Small Industrial Establishments registered under Directorate of C. & S. S I. ft 507 iv) Employment in C. & S. S. I. 99 8999 v) Employment in State (Govt, offices 31.3.1981 99 14855 vi) INo. of Employment Exchange on live Register 1981 50593 G. Piow er: Electricity i) Tcowns electrified 1980-81 99 7(P) ii) Villages electrified 99 184 H. Co-operative: i) Societies 1980-81 9f 87 ii) Member 99 31014 iii) Working capital ’OOORs. 41938 D Description Year Unit Particulars L Transports- Communication i) Road Length 1979-80 Km, a) Surfaced „ 1093 b) Unsurfaced „ 479 c) Total „ 1572 ii) Motor Vehicles on Road 1980-81 Number 6428 iii) Post offices 173 iv) Telegraph oflSce 2 v) Combined office 43 LIST OF TABLES Table No. Page I. Rainfall and Climate 1 1.1 Geographical location of the Darjeeling district and its headquarters 1 1.2 Monthly rainfall in the district of Dar- jeelir.g 2 1.3 Maximum and Minimum temperature by month. Centre : Darjeeling 3 ;1.4 Mean maximum and mean minimum temperature by month, Centre : Darjeeling 5 II. Area and Population 7 2.1 Administrative Units of the district of Darjeeling, 1981 7 2.2 Area, population and density of popula­ tion of the district of Darjeeling, 1981 11 2.3 Growth of population by sex and area in the district of Darjeeling, 1981 13 2.4 Distribution of rural and urban popula­ tion by sex in the district of Darjeeling, 1981 14 2.5 Distribution of population in the district of Darjeeling by age-group 17 (ii) Table No. Pag;e 2.6 Distribution of population by sex in different towns of Darjeeling, 1981 1 8 2.7 Distribution of population according to different categories of workers and non­ workers in the district of Darjeeling 1971 2!0 2.8 Distribution of population according to different categories of workers and non­ workers by sex in the district of Darjee­ ling, 1981 218 2.9 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population by sex in the district of D ar­ jeeling, 1981 310 2.10 Population by religion in the district of Darjeeling . 3 2 III. Public Health 33 3*1 Medical facilities available in the dist­ rict of Darjeeling 3 3 3.2 Number of family welfare centre in the district of Darjeeling 3 5 3.3 Patients treated in hospitals and dispen­ saries in the district of Darjeeling 3 7 3.4 Disabled persons by type of disability (Census, 1981) in the district of Darjee­ ling, 1981 3S (iii) Table No. Page IV. Educational and Cultural 39 Statistics 4.1 Educational institutions by types in the district of Darjeeling 39 4.2 Students by sex in different type of educational institution in the district of Darjeeling 42 4 3 Teachers in types of educa­ tional institutions in the district of Darjeeling 48 4.4 Number of institutions and scholps in primary education by police station in the district of Darjeeling 50 4.5 Percentage of literacy in rural and urban areas of the district of Darjeeling by sex, 1871 52 4.6 Libraries, reading rooms and adult educ­ ation centres