Malda, West Bengal

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**Malda** or **English Bazar** is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the sixth largest city (urban agglomeration) in West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Malda district as well as of the Malda division of West Bengal. It consists of two municipalities, viz. English Bazar Municipality and Old Malda Municipality, under English Bazar Metropolitan Area. The city is located on the banks of the Mahananda River. Malda was an undeveloped city which was enlarging from 1925 to 1930. The city is growing rapidly nowadays with its population inching towards half a million.

## Etymology

The name *English Bazar* is derived from *Angrezābād* ("English-town"), applied in the 17th century to the surroundings of the English factory.

## Geography

### Location

Malda is located at Template:Coord. It has an average elevation of 17 metres (56 feet). It is on the western bank of the river Mahananda.

### Climate

Like the most other places in West Bengal, the weather of Malda is usually extremely humid and tropical. Temperatures can reach as high as Template:Cvt during the day in May and June and fall as low as Template:Cvt overnight in December and January. Malda's highest recorded temperature was Template:Cvt on 27 May 1958 and lowest recorded temperature was Template:Cvt on 3 February 1905.

In Malda, the average annual temperature is Template:Cvt. Precipitation is about Template:Cvt per year. The driest month is December. There is Template:Cvt of precipitation in December. The greatest amount of precipitation occurs in July, with an average of Template:Cvt.

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## Civic administration

There are two municipalities in Malda, i.e. the English Bazar Municipality and the Old Malda Municipality.

The municipality of English Bazar is divided into 29 wards. The Trinamool Congress with 15 councillors holds the power in this municipality (as of 2015).

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The municipality of Old Malda is divided into 20 wards.

## Transport

### Road

 File:Rathbari.jpg
Template:Jct crosses through the city. The Gour Kanya Bus Terminus serves as the bus depot for both private buses and government bus service operated by the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC).

### Rail

 File:Malda Town Railway Station.jpg  There are four railway stations which serves the metropolitan city. The Malda Town railway station serves the English Bazar area; the Old Malda Junction railway station serves the Old Malda area; the Malda Court railway station serves Mangalbari and Naldubi area, and the Gour Malda railway station serves Mahadipur and Gauḍa (Gour) area.

 File:Malda Town Railway Station at night.jpg
### Air

Malda Airport (IATA: LDA, ICAO: VEMH) was closed in 1972 due to the Bangladesh War. Before that there were direct daily flights from Malda to Kolkata, Delhi, and Guwahati. In 2014, direct helicopter services were started between Malda and Kolkata, by the government of West Bengal. As of 2017, the airport is under construction and the flight service will start very soon.

## Demographics

See also: List of cities in West Bengal by population
Template:As of 2011 census, Malda metropolitan city had a total population of 324,237.

Template:As of 2011 census, English Bazar municipality had a population of 216,083. The municipality had a sex ratio of 877 females per 1,000 males and 14.9% of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 84.69%; male literacy was 85.44% and female literacy was 83.86%.

Template:As of India census, Old Malda Municipality had a population of 62,944. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Old Malda has an average literacy rate of 61%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 67%, and female literacy is 54%. In Old Malda, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age. Most of the people are Hindu. Some Muslim, Shikh, Christian people live here.

### University

* The University of Gour Banga, established in 2008. Almost all the 28 colleges in Malda, Dakshin Dinajpur and Uttar Dinajpur districts (except for Raiganj University College), are affiliated with it.

### Colleges

General degree colleges
* Malda College
* Gour Mahavidyalaya
* Malda Women's College

Engineering colleges
* Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering & Technology (GKCIET)
* IMPS College of Engineering and Technology

 File:University of Gour Banga.jpg
Polytechnic colleges
* Malda Polytechnic

Medical colleges
* Malda Medical College and Hospital

### Schools

Boys' high schools
 File:A.C Institution.jpg
* A. C. Institution
* Lalit Mohan Shyam Mohini High School
* Malda Town High School
* Malda Zilla School
* Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Vidyamandir

Girls' high schools
* Barlow Girls' High School
* Malda C C Girls' High School

Rail schools
* Malda Railway High School

English medium schools
* Usha Martin School, Malda

## Notable people

* A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury - (1927 – 2006) politician and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress party.
* Benoy Kumar Sarkar - (1887-1949) Indian social scientist, professor, nationalist and founder of several institutes in Kolkata.
* Subhash Bhowmick - born in Malda West Bengal is a retired Indian football international player and club level coach and manager.
* Subhamita Banerjee - Bengali singer who specializes in modern songs, Ghazals.
* Mausam Noor
* Sukhendu Sekhar Roy
* Sabina Yeasmin
* Nihar Ranjan Ghosh
* Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury

## See also

* English Bazar (community development block)
* Malda Museum
* List of cities in West Bengal
* List of metropolitan area in West Bengal

## References

1. ↑ Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above. *Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011*. Retrieved on October 10, 2011.
2. ↑ Template:Cite book English-Bazar
3. ↑ Maps, Weather, and Airports for Ingraj Bazar,India. *fallingrain.com*.
4. ↑ Battle of couples in Malda civic polls | Kolkata News - Times of India.
5. ↑ Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011; Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved on March 27, 2012.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011; Cities having population 1 lakh and above. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved on March 27, 2012.
7. ↑ Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional). Census Commission of India. Retrieved on November 1, 2008.

## Further reading

* Chakrabarti D.K. (1992). Notes on the archaeology of Maldaha and West Dinajpur districts, West Bengal. South Asian Studies, 9:pp. 123–135

## External links

* Malda District - Home
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