Rajpur Sonarpur
Rajpur Sonarpur () is a city and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Rajpur and Sonarpur are two separate towns. Since the formation of the municipality, these twin towns are known together as Rajpur Sonarpur. History. Many "janapadas" grew up along the old Bhagirathi channel from the ancient times till around the 16th century: Kalighat, Boral, Rajpur, Harinavi, Mahinagar, Baruipur, Baharu, Jaynagar, Majilpur, Chhatrabhog etc. Bipradas Pipilai's "Manasavijaya", composed in 1495, mentions many places  in this region. "Chand Sadagar, a merchant character of the "Manasavijaya", reached Baruipur, from Kalighat, through the old Bhagirathi channel. From there he proceeded towards Chhatrabhog, and then traveling through Hatiagarh pargana reached the open sea". Chaitanyadeva (1486–1534) also went through this route. Travelling by boat to Puri he halted at the village of Atisara, near Baruipur. "His last stoppage in 24 Parganas was at Chhatrabhog, now a village within the jurisdiction of the Mathurapur police station. Chhatrabhog seems to have been an important river-port on the old Bhagirathi channel". Rama Chandra Khan, the "zamindar" of Chhatrabhog, helped Chaitanyadeva  to continue with his journey. The area was home to the feudatory landlords ("zamindars"). The name Rajpur has been thus derived from the Bengali words "Rajar Puri" to "Rajpuri" and in this form to the now Rajpur. Being on the banks of the Adi Ganga, Rajpur was one of the major locations of Bengal at that time. The proximity to Kolkata's southern district and being on the banks of Adi Ganga, which is just across the river made the place to be well connected. The old zamindar's house in Rajpur Harinavi is like the Roy Choudhury's. The  family stayed in Rajpur. The ancestral houses of Sarat Chandra Bose and Subhash Chandra Bose were at Kodalia, a neighbourhood in Rajpur. Both of them were members of the first 24 Parganas District Committee of the Congress Party, which was formed in 1921. Geography. Area overview. Baruipur subdivision is a rural subdivision with moderate levels of urbanization. 31.05% of the population lives in the urban areas and 68.95% lives in the rural areas. In the northern portion of the subdivision (shown in the map alongside) there are 10 census towns. The entire district is situated in the Ganges Delta and  the northern part of the subdivision is a flat plain bordering the metropolis of Kolkata. Location. Rajpur Sonarpur is located at . It has an average elevation of . Danga and Ramchandrapur are adjacent to Rajpur Sonarpur on its south-eastern side, as per the map of the Sonarpur CD block in the "District Census Handbook 2011" for the South 24 Parganas district. Petua, Panchghara, Mallikpur and Hariharpur form a cluster of census towns in the Baruipur CD block, as per the map of the Baruipur CD block in the "District Census Handbook 2011" for the South 24 Parganas district. This cluster  has Rajpur Sonarpur on the east and Bidyadharpur on the north, both in the Sonarpur CD block, as per the map of the Sonarpur CD block in the "District Census Handbook 2011" for South 24 Parganas district. Climate. Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as tropical wet and dry (Aw). Demographics. According to the 2011 Census of India, Rajpur Sonarpur had a total population of 424,368, of which 215,405 were males and 208,963 were females. There were 35,274 people in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The total number of literate people was 350,721, which constituted  82.6% of the population with male literacy of 85.4% and female literacy of 79.8%. The effective literacy (7+) of population over 6 years of age was 90.1%, of which male literacy rate was 93.2% and female literacy rate was 87.0%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 78,655 and 2,340 respectively. Rajpur Sonarpur had a total of 106,604 households as of 2011. Kolkata Urban Agglomeration. The following municipalities and census towns in the South 24 Parganas district were part of the Kolkata Urban Agglomeration in the 2011 census: Maheshtala (M), Joka (CT), Balarampur (CT), Chata Kalikapur (CT), Budge  Budge (M), Nischintapur (CT), Uttar Raypur (CT), Pujali (M) and Rajpur Sonarpur (M). Civic administration. Municipality. Rajpur Sonarpur Municipality covers an area of . It has jurisdiction over parts of the Rajpur Sonarpur. The municipality was established in . It is divided into 35 wards. According to the 2022 municipal election, it is being controlled by the All India Trinamool Congress. Police station. Sonarpur police station covers an area of . It has jurisdiction over parts of the Rajpur Sonarpur Municipality, and the Sonarpur CD block. CD block HQ. The headquarters of the Sonarpur CD block are located at Rajpur Sonarpur. Transport. Rajpur  Sonarpur is on the State Highway 1. Sonarpur Junction railway station is on the Sealdah–Namkhana line of the Kolkata Suburban Railway system. Commuters. With the electrification of the railways, suburban traffic has grown tremendously since the 1960s. As of 2005-06, more than 1.7 million (17 lakhs) commuters use the Kolkata Suburban Railway system daily. After the partition of India, refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan and Bangladesh had a strong impact on the development of urban areas in the periphery of Kolkata. The new immigrants depended on Kolkata for their livelihood, thus increasing the number of commuters. Eastern Railway  runs 1,272 EMU trains daily. Healthcare. Sonarpur Rural Hospital, with 25 beds, is the major government medical facility in the Sonarpur CD block. The Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences is a super speciality hospital that treats liver diseases. It has come up as a private initiative with government support.