North Dum Dum
North Dum Dum (also known as Uttar Dumdum) is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). History. North Dumdum Municipality, established in 1870, comprised villages known as Birati, Nimta, Kadihati, Jangalpur Patna, Gouripur and a large area of what is now Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. In 1998, Bisharpara gram panchayat and half of Sultanpur gram panchayat were merged with the Municipality. With the partition of Bengal  in 1947, "millions of refugees poured in from erstwhile East Pakistan." In the initial stages bulk of the refugees were non-agriculturists. A few of them made their own arrangements, but "it was squatters who made the East Bengali refugees famous or infamous." Squatting ("jabardakhal" in Bengali) ranged from the forcible occupation of barracks to the collective take-over of private, government and waste land. By 1949, there were 65 refugee colonies in the Dum Dum and Panihati zone. The squatters were in a way “self-settlers” in the absence of adequate official arrangements for rehabilitation. Within a very short  time the refugees (quite often with government/ administrative support) not only found a place to stay but developed a society with markets, schools, temples and sometimes even colleges, hospitals and recreational centres. Geography. Location. North Dum Dum is located at . North Dumdum is bounded by Panihati (Municipality), Teghari, Muragachha, Chandpur (all three census towns in Barrackpore II CD Block) and New Barrackpore (Municipality) on the north, Madhyamgram (Municipality) and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation area on the east, Dum Dum (Municipality) and South Dumdum (Municipality) on the south and Kamarhati (Municipality) on the west. Although not spelled out explicitly such localities as  Nimta, Birati and Durganagar are neighbourhoods in North Dumdum Municipal area. In this Google map , published in the website of North Dumdum Municipality, the outline of the limits of the Municipal area is shown. On expanding the map, one can view the neighbourhoods and other location in North Dumdum Municipality. 96% of the population of Barrackpore subdivision (partly presented in the map alongside, all places marked on the map are linked in the full screen map) lives in urban areas. In 2011, it had a density of population of 10,967 per km The subdivision has 16 municipalities and 24 census  towns. Police station. Nimta police station under Barrackpore Police Commissionerate has jurisdiction over North Dumdum Municipal area. Airport police station and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport police station partly covers an area shown in census maps as part of North Dumdum Municipality, have been placed under Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate from 2012, along with the entire airport and neighbourhoods through which VIP Road (Kazi Nazrul Islam Sarani) passes. Post Offices. North Dum Dum is a vast locality with many Postal Index Numbers: Nimta has a delivery sub post office, with PIN 700049 in the North Presidency Division of North 24  Parganas district in Calcutta region. The only other post offices with the same PIN is Udaipur. Nilachal has a delivery sub post office, with PIN 700134 in the North Presidency Division of North 24 Parganas district in Calcutta region. Birati has a delivery sub post office, with PIN 700051 in the North Presidency Division of North 24 Parganas district in Calcutta region. The only other post offices with the same PIN is Sultanpur. Kolkata Airport has a non-delivery sub post office, with PIN 700052 in the Kolkata North Division of Kolkata district in Calcutta region. The only other post  office with the same PIN is Kendriya Vihar. Durganagar has a non-delivery sub post office, with PIN 700065 in the Kolkata North Division of Kolkata district in Calcutta region. Demographics. Population. As per the 2011 Census of India, North Dum Dum had a total population of 249,142, of which 126,279 (51%) were males and 122,863 (49%) were females. Population below 6 years was 18,411. The total number of literates in New Barrackpore was 209,964 (91.00% of the population over 6 years). Kolkata Urban Agglomeration. The following Municipalities, Census Towns and other locations in Barrackpore subdivision were part of Kolkata  Urban Agglomeration in the 2011 census: Kanchrapara (M), Jetia (CT), Halisahar (M), Balibhara (CT), Naihati (M), Bhatpara (M), Kaugachhi (CT), Garshyamnagar (CT), Garulia (M), Ichhapur Defence Estate (CT), North Barrackpur (M), Barrackpur Cantonment (CB), Barrackpore (M), Jafarpur (CT), Ruiya (CT), Titagarh (M), Khardaha (M), Bandipur (CT), Panihati (M), Muragachha (CT) New Barrackpore (M), Chandpur (CT), Talbandha (CT), Patulia (CT), Kamarhati (M), Baranagar (M), South Dumdum (M), North Dumdum (M), Dum Dum (M), Noapara (CT), Babanpur (CT), Teghari (CT), Nanna (OG), Chakla (OG), Srotribati (OG) and Panpur (OG). Economy. KMDA. North Dumdum municipality is included in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area for  which the KMDA is the statutory planning and development authority. Education. The following institutions are located in Dum Dum: Infrastructure. As per the District Census Handbook 2011, North Dumdum municipal city covered an area of . Amongst the civic amenities it had both open and closed drains. Amongst the educational facilities It had 56 primary schools and 18 secondary schools. Amongst the social, recreational and cultural facilities it had 1 auditorium/ community hall and 3 public libraries. It had 9 bank branches.