Journal of Global Resources
doi.org/10.46587/JGR.2020.v06i02.020

Volume 6 (02)

July 2020
Page 142-149
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

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ASCERTAINING THE PHYSICAL BASE FOR PLANNING IN BINODPUR VILLAGE, SOUTH
24 PARGANAS, WEST BENGAL
Sanchari Sengupta
Scholar, Jadav Ghosh Road, Sarsuna, Kolkata (WB) India
Email: sancharis8@gmail.com
Abstract: Regional Planning issues today are complex and frequently overlap with other policy
areas such as economic development, transport education provision, healthcare facilities. Oneof the functions of the planning system is to support the sustainable development of land in theinterests of common good. This study aims at ensuring the presence of an efficient physical set
up at Binodpur village, South 24 Parganas, within which a comprehensive planning program
can be implemented. The village is located on a low-land area which slopes southwards. Mostof the land area of Binodpur is devoted to double crop cultivation and the region is dissected byinnumerable canals and large ponds. The village is characterized by neutral soil, rich in Potashand receives an excess annual rainfall every year during the wet season. Despite this fact, aconsiderable proportion of rainwater is wasted as runoff because of the lack of proper
knowledge and technique to utilize that water. If proper planning is implemented to channelize
the excess water and use it for agricultural practices, the village shows ample prospect ofdeveloping its own self-sustained irrigation unit.
Key words: Regional Development, Local Knowledge, Rainfall Budget, Irrigation Potential.
Introduction‘Physical Base for Planning provides a planned spatial framework of development for thephysical environment within which balanced social and economic development can be carriedout. Development Plan in a region seeks to achieve greater balance in regional development
and enabling all areas to develop their maximum potential. A planning program must set out aphysical framework of the area that is to be structured in order to achieve the objectives ofplanning. The planning process in Binodpur village of Kultali block, South 24 Parganas, should
be responsive to the planning issue arising from the existing physical diversity as well as
growing cultural diversity. Thus it is necessary to analyse the physical and cultural setting of thearea, beforehand, so that planning operations in the concerned region can be smoothly carriedon.
Location of the Study Area
Binodpur mouza lies within the administrative subdivision of Maipith-Baikunthapur grampanchayat of Kultali block, South 24 Parganas. The area is enclosed by 88°30'51.5" E and 88°
32'45.9" E longitudes and 21°51'27" N and 21°55'01.2" N latitudes. The sub-district headquarter
Jamtalahat is situated 27.5 kilometres away and district headquarter is located 94.3 kilometresaway at Alipore. The mouza is surrounded by Bhuvaneshwari Char on the north western part,
Maipith on north east CD Block Basanti on the east and CD Block Mathurapur II on the southwestern portion. Thakurain River flows southwards along the north western boundary of theMouza while Kankalmari River flows southwards along the north eastern margin of the Mouza.
Sunderban Reserve Forest binds the Mouza at its south east.
Selection of the Study Area
Development of a backward region of India by means of implementation of micro-level planningwas put as the prime criterion while selecting the study area. According to Indian Rural143

Development Report 2013-2014 by IDFC (Infrastructure Development Finance Company)
Limited, CESS (Centre for Economic and Social Studies), IRMA (Institute of Rural managementAnand) and IGIDR (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research); Kultali is the 1300th
ranking (in descending order) backward block of India (among 5955 studied blocks of thecountry). This ranking is based on the availability of rural infrastructural facilities like road
networks, electricity, sanitation, health, housing, drinking water and education. MaipithBaikunthapur Gram Panchayat, the southern last habitable island of West Bengal is one of themost backward gram panchayats of this block. Within the gram panchayat, Binodpur village
where 20.28% of the population thrives below poverty level has been chosen for this study.
Land resource potential of the village has been evaluated.
Figure 01: Location of the Study Area

Objectives
The paper aims at exploring the natural resource base of Binodpur village of Kultali block ofSouth 24 Parganas.
Literature Review
According to R.C. Chandna (2000) “The basic objective of any development planning is toimprove the standard of the people in general and to improve the quality of life in the region.
Improvement in the standard of living could be achieved by following the principles of land use
planning namely, optimum use of land, multiple use of land and no waste of land. By following
these principles the land resource base is put to its optimal use without any wasteful use ofland.” Jayashree Roy Chowdhury (2001) holds the view - “…… economic plan can hardly beexpected to succeed without a proper infrastructure. Mahesh Chand and V. K. Puri (1983)
stated that- “…… for the purposes of planning it is necessary to study the natural resources ofregions in detail, and also to find out areas of potential development and to trace inter-linkages
among them (and within them) in such a fashion as to promote maximum development ofresources.”
Methodology
To develop an idea about the physical setup of the study area, a field survey had been144

conducted to Binodpur Mouza of Maipith-Baikunthapur gram panchayat, Kultali block, South 24
Parganas. In course of primary survey, local knowledge was utilized and an instrument survey(using GPS Garmin 72H) was conducted. Prior to this secondary information and maps werecollected from the block office situated at Jamtalahat, Kultali. Climatic data was collected from
Agro-meteorology Division, Department of Agriculture, and Government of West Bengal.
Information regarding soil characteristics was derived from Vivekananda Institute ofBiotechnology, Soil, Water and Organic Fertilizer Testing Lab, Sri Ramkrishna Asram, Nimpith,South24 Parganas. Later it was tallied with information provided by the local farmers during
primary survey. The final report was prepared by classification and analysis of data using GISSoftware and different cartographic techniques. The entire study has been carried out on thebasis of local people’s knowledge and personal expertise. The complete procedure in which theresearch work has been carried out is determining the planning problem, setting out theplanning objectives, analysing the physical and cultural setup of the region, identifying the land
resource potentials of the region and preparation of the developmental plan.
Micro Relief
Micro Relief refers to the slight irregularities of land surface causing variations in elevation
amounting to less than 50 feet. The entire study area has been divided into 3 consecutive zones
on the basis of variation in elevation. It is briefly demonstrated below:
 Land surface with elevation below 10 feet- Only 12.84% of the land area of the village
have elevation below 10 feet. It is found along the southern fringes of the village.
 Land surface with elevation ranging between 10 feet to 14 feet- The average elevationof the entire village varies between 10 to 14 feet. 62.0008% of the total land area of thevillage comes under this subdivision.
 Land surface with elevation above 14 feet- Parts of north -west and north exhibits land
surface with elevation more than 14 feet. It covers 25.539% of the total land area of thevillage. The general direction of slope of land is from north to south and the village has anaverage elevation of 10-14 feet covering 3967897.250 square meters (3.97 squarekilometres) area.
Figure 02: Relief Map

Land Cover and Land Use
The general land cover and land use of the area has been analysed with the help of the dataobtained through primary survey and Google earth. A detailed demonstration of it has been
given below.
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A. Land Coveri. River: The village is marked by rivers Thakurain and Kankalmari along its north westernand eastern margins respectively. Only a small part of the river Thakurain enters the village
from its north-west boundary.
ii. Mangrove Forest: The village is flanked by mangrove vegetation along its entire west andcovers an area of 147102.41 square meters.
B. Land Usei. Big Pond: There are numerous large ponds located inside the village and they cover anarea of 16250.5 square meters. These were excavated during the time when zamindari
system prevailed in the area. Presently they lack ownership and are used for local fishing.
ii. Single Cropped Agricultural Land: These types of agricultural lands are very few innumber and constitutes of 222599 square meters. These lands are devoted to thecultivation of only one type of crop such as Aman Rice. Sometimes Boro Rice is also grownin these types of lands.
iii. Double Cropped Agricultural Land: This type of agricultural land constitutes a major
portion of the land area of the village i.e., 2850009.87 square meters. The double cropping
cultivation in Binodpur has a distinctive unique feature. The actual farmland is used togrown single crops like Paddy (mainly Aman), ‘Khasari Karai’, Sunflower, Potato etc. But
the ‘bandh’ (or raised lands between two adjacent farmlands) are cultivated twice a yearwith crops like ‘Mug Karai’, Okra (Bhindi), Bitter Gourd (Karela), Eggplant etc.
iv. Plantation Agriculture: A significant stretch of plantation farmlands are visible in thewestern part of the village, nearer to mangrove forest and they cover an area of162250.150square meters. These farmlands are mostly used for strip plantations of eitherside irrigation canals. Casuarina (Jhow) is usually planted alongside the canals. Within thecultivable lands this type of farming is undertaken in the localities the traditional forested
areas and executed on a participatory mode involving the local communities. This is mainly
an outcome of social forestry program by Department of Sunderban Affairs, Government ofWest Bengal.
v. Settlement: Settlement areas cover 301604.120square meters of the total village area.
Small patches of nucleated settlements are found near state highway, agricultural canals
and large ponds. Linear settlements are viewed in a few places along the unmetalled roads.
vi. Canal: The village is intersected by innumerable canals and the total land area covered bythose is 122440.690 square meters.
vii. Roadways: A state highway passes through the centre of the village. Apart from that thevillage is connected all through via unmetalled roads.
Climatic Profile
The climatic profile of Binodpur village has been analysed on the basis secondary datacollected from Agro-meteorology Division, Department of Agriculture, and Government of West
Bengal. The different aspects of climatic conditions prevailing in the village are discussed
belowa. Monthly Mean Temperature: The monthly mean temperature of the village remains
moderately high throughout the year. The highest temperature of 29.3°C is recorded in themonth of May. January exhibits the lowest temperature of 19.1°C.
b. Monthly Rainfall: The village receives a total rainfall of 191.94 cm throughout the year. Thevillage receives the highest amount of rainfall in the month of August (419.3mm) while thelowest amount of rainfall is received in the month of January (9.9mm).
c. Potential Evapotranspiration: The total amount of potential evapotranspiration taking
place in the area is 1631.5mm. Maximum evapotranspiration takes place in the month ofMay (262.8mm) whereas the minimum amount of evapotranspiration takes place in the146

month of December (88.3mm). It has been observed that an excess amount of moisture in
the atmosphere is available from June to October. The remaining part of the year exhibits adeficit of moisture.
Figure 03: Land Use Land Cover Map[Soil CharacteristicsThe soil characteristics of Binodpur village have been analysed on the basis of the dataobtained from Vivekananda Institute of Biotechnology, Soil, Water and Organic Fertilizer TestingLab, Sri Ramkrishna Asram, Nimpith, South24 Parganas. The agricultural plots of selected
farmers of Binodpur Mouza are considered as sampling units for the soil survey by the Institute.
It has been found that the village soil is deficient in Organic Carbon, soil PH is neutral, some partof the village land is deficient in Nitrogen while some have considerable Nitrogen content,phosphate content is low, potash level is moderate to high. Due to excess downpour taking
place in the region the bases contained in the upper strata of soil are leached out, making it
neutral in state and deficient in nitrogen, phosphorous and organic carbon. Potash level ismoderate to high due to application of fertilizers.
Rainfall Budget
The major proportion of the land area of the village is covered by agricultural land (2900 squaremeter). The agricultural lands are found to receive an excess of 0.814850311 cubic metermoisture during the wet period (June to October). Due to lack of proper knowhow to trap andutilize this water for agricultural practices, 0.594840727 cubic meter of water flows as run off.
Canal Irrigation Potential
The village has considerable potentials for developing its own irrigation system. The entire area
is intersected by numerous small canals. The density of the canals is found to be greater near
the village boundary than its interior due to their proximity to the source of their water supply.
The sources of water to these canals are the main large canals which are located outside theadministrative boundary of the village. These small canals were once the branches of theBhuvaneswari Khal. But at present some part of it is segmented to meet the needs of theemerging trend of the fragmented landholdings whereas some parts of it are covered andconverted to uplands (or, ‘Aal’) on which cultivation is practiced. But if the canals are extended
or connected with each other, it will increase the irrigation potential of the village.

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Proposed and Implemented Governmental SchemesBinodpur village shows a notable prospect for development of its land resources irrigation andagricultural system. With this growing concern, a few BRGF schemes are introduced in thevillage. But unfortunately the BRGF scheme has been terminated in the recent years.
In the annual action plan (2016-2017) of MGNREGS the following schemes are proposed andimplemented. This has in turn increased work participation in the excavation and construction
works. The MGNREGS implemented actions provided work opportunity to the villagers andpeople of the adjoining areas.
Proposed Plan for joining and Extension of Canals
After a comprehensive study of the physiography, climate, soil, land use features and irrigation
potentiality of the village, a suggestive plan has been proposed for joining and extension of thecanals of the village in order to trap the excess moisture received by the area. Two considerably
long canals are spotted in the village- one at the north-eastern part and the other in the southeastern portion. If provisions are made to join these two canals and channelize the excess
through these, agricultural fields in the entire eastern part will be benefitted. Besides the amountof rainwater, which would, otherwise have been lost as runoff can be checked. The supply ofwater in the fragmented small canals of the nearby agricultural lands can also be enhanced ifthey are inter-connected. This, in turn, will increase the agricultural productivity of the village.
The hindrances from road connections can be overcome by constructing culverts. The influx ofsaline water from the nearby river can be prevented by the maintenance of the pre-existingsluice gates.
Increase in workforce by implementation of Governmental Schemes
The Government as well as local administrative body must be more active in proper
implementation of developmental schemes so as to extend the irrigation techniques in thevillage in order to enhance its agricultural productivity. Besides MNREGS should introduce moreaction plans as it will as a result create local participation through increase in workforce, leading
to increase in employment opportunities. As per the standards provided by MGNREGS, 62
cubic feet earth is extracted per day per labour. If the proposed plan for joining and extension ofcanal is brought into action, 5873037500 cubic feet earth will be extracted for canal construction
purposes. This will provide employment of labour for approximately 94726412 days. Besides if
the proposed MGNREGS schemes as per their 2016-2017 action-plan is implemented it will
create a high labour demand, such as the pond excavation works needs 385 labour forces
each, repair of earthen drains connecting culverts and river embankments require 631 labour
power each and the road extensions for accessing irrigation units involves 308 workforces each.
The involvement of local works and workers from surrounding areas in the constructional works
will enhance local participation increased job opportunities.
Recommended Plan for Agricultural Practices
The village exhibits spatial variation of land surfaces on the basis of its elevation. This feature
can be taken into consideration while planning agricultural land use because it can yield themaximum productivity. In addition to Aman cultivation, the following cropping pattern must berecommended: Upland areas ranging above 14 feet in elevation can be used to growvegetables; Whereas the relatively low lands should be devoted to grow pulses; The low lands(below 10 feet) should use for growing fodder crops (Dhonche) as this will in one hand help in
nitrogen fixation and besides will also protect the watershed areas of the river embankments;
Proper management of agricultural land can affect availability and supply of water. It will
preserve soil moisture for more crop production. Apart from this it will also regulate groundwaterlevels and discharge of water from upland to low land.

148Figure 04: Canal Density Map

Figure 05: Proposed Plan for joining and Extension of Canals

References
1. Chand, Mahesh and Puri, V.K. (1991). Regional Planning in India, p. 19-20
2. Chandna, R. C. (2014). Regional Planning and Development, p. 183
3. Fatima Aftab (2006). ‘Optimum Water by Some Boro Rice Mutant Lines’ Department ofirrigation and water management (Unpublished PhD Thesis)
4. Roy Chowdhury, Jayashree (2011). An Introduction to Development and Regional Planning,
p. 30
5. Village Based District Planning (1985). An Outline of Methodology, District Planning
Committee, Midnapore, Government of West Bengal.

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