About Ranaghat Municipality
Ranaghat Municipality was established in 1864. It started functioning on 21.9.1984 with its office housed in a building donated by the then Zaminder family viz. Pal Chowdhury family. In the beginning area of the municipality was 3.32 sq. miles and this area was demarcated into 6 wards covering a total population of 6000. It was the 7th Municipality of undivided Bengal. No. of councilors of the first Board was 18 out of which 12 were elected by citizens, 4 were nominated by the state Govt. and the remaining 2 were ex-officio councilors. In course of time Nasra Colony, a refugee settlement, was added to the Municipality and its area became 7.72 sq.k.m. With the increase of area and population the municipality had to be demarcated into 16 wards in 1990 and to 19 wards since 1995 by bifurcation of ward nos. 11, 12,14,16,17. Present population of the municipality is 68,754 as per census 2001.
Location and Administrative Boundaries
The town of Ranaghat is located to the North West direction of Kolkata Metropolitan area. The town is easily accessible from Kolkata by railway and by road. Kolkata is at a distance of about 75 km. Ranaghat is located in the Southern most sub-divisional of the district lying between 220 53’ and 23020’ N and 88020’ and 88045’ East with an area of 540 sq. miles. The sub-division shapes a deltaic tract, bounded on the west by the River Hooghly, on the South by the Barasat sub-division of the 24-parganas district, on the east by the Bangaon sub-division of 24-parganas district, and on the north by the Krishnanagar sub-division. The sub-division contains four towns, viz. Ranaghat, Santipur, Chakdah and Birnagar and three new ones, Fulia, Kalyani and Kanchrapara. The town of Ranaghat is situated in 23011’ N and 88034’ E on the Churni River. The district headquarters of krishnanagar is at a distance of about 40 k.m.
Linkages
Ranaghat Municipality is well connected by Rail and Road to Kolkata, Berhampur, Krishnanagar, Gede, Bongaon and many other towns of West Bengal. Eastern Railway connects Ranaghat with Sealdah in the north and with Krishnanagar in the south. Other more railway connectivity exists in Ranaghat with Bongaon, Gede and shantipur. NH-34 passes through this Municipality and several bus routes are available for journey to remote towns of North Bengal namely Siliguri, Coochbehar, Raigunj, Malda etc. Besides, there is a river named Churni flowing by the side of this Municipality and journey by boat through this water-ways to adjacent Gram Panchayet areas is also possible. Ranaghat being a sub-divisional town, it is connected by several motorable roads to different villages lying in its hinterlands.
Economic Base including Major Establishments
Conventionally a town is identified by the predominant economic activity carried out within its boundaries. Thus we have a trading town or an industrial town etc. But such labeling of towns misses out on the most crucial aspect which underlies all economic activities. This is the distribution of urban resources – assets, wealth, income, employment etc. - which delineates the form of all economic activities and determines the social structure of a town.
In the town of Ranaghat there is no large scale industries present within Ranaghat Municipal area whereas maximum concentration of medium and small scale industries are exist. A list of few medium and small scale industries in Ranaghat municipal area is given below.
Medium Scale Industries
| Sl.No | Name of Medium Industries with Address | Nature of Business | Proprietor’s Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DEEP FOOD INDUSTRIES, 30, Park Street, Ranaghat, Nadia | Soyabeen Manufacturing | Sri Dipak & Rakhi Roy |
| 2 | ASHOKE TRUNK MANUFACTURING, 62, P.C.Street, Ranaghat, Nadia | Trunk Manufacturing | Sri Ashok Kr. Mukherjee |
| 3 | SRI DURGA PROCESSING & FINISHING MILL, 2, Old Baharampur Road, Ranaghat, Nadia | Processing Mill | Sri Krishnalal Bajaj & Sri Murarilal Bajaj |
| 4 | RAJENDRA TEXTILE MILLS, 101, G.N.P.C.Road, Ranaghat, Nadia | Processing Mill | Sri Amarendra Bose |
| 5 | BHOLANATH COTTON MILLS PVT. LTD., 47, Beharampur Road, Ranaghat, Nadia | Processing Mill | Sri Dulal Saha |
| 6 | TAJ BALTI, Shitalatala, Ranaghat, Nadia | Balti Manufacturing | Sri Narayan Chakraborty |
| 7 | KAMALA ENTERPRISE, 34, G.N.P.C.Rod, Ranaghat, Nadia | Batasa Factory | Sri Bipul Paul |
| 8 | GHOSH INDUSTRIES, 15, S.V.Sarani, Ranaghat, Nadia | Welding | Sri Rabindra Nath Ghosh |
| 9 | AMIT CHANACHUR, 32, Nasra (south) Ranaghat, Nadia | Chanuchur Manufacturing | Sri Dilip Gope Ghosh |
| 10 | PAPIA FOOD PRODUCTS, 173/1, Nasra para Lane, Ranaghat, Nadia | Chanuchur Manufacturing | Sri Papia Sarkar |
| 11 | CHATTERJEE COKE BRIQUETTE WORKS, Sarat Pramanick Lane, Ranaghat, Nadia | Briquette Manufacturing | Sri Dipankar Chattarjee |
| 12 | MAA MONGAL CHANDI PLASTIC WORKS, 87, Mahaprobhupara, Ranaghat, Nadia | Plastic toy Manufacturing | Sri Dipak Roy |
Key issues
At present, the entire population of Ranaghat Municipality is fully dependent on Ground water. According to Public Health Engineering Report on water quality, the quality of the source has reached to an alarming level due to the presence of Arsenic beyond its permissible limit. Other than this, severe water logging even so in rainy season is a major problem. Drainage seems to be an inherent and the most serious problem in Ranaghat as well as parts of adjacent Panchayat areas. Management of solid waste to keep out city clean and at the same time to make ourselves able to live a healthy life has become a serious problem and Ranaghat municipal area.
Road
In most of the slum pockets approach roads are kancha and narrow varying 1.2 m. to 2.4 m. Few important roads connected with Panchayet and nearby Cooper’ Camp are in very poor condition. Few roads are partly damaged. Therefore, Technical study suggests that need to upgrade damaged brick paved roads to the Pucca Road (Cement Concrete and as well as Black Topped Road).The damaged roads are measured and estimated the cost for formulating Project Proposal.
Drainage
In most of the slum pockets there is no drainage network. These areas are generally low land therefore facing water logging problems. The technical group emphasized the requirement of construction of drains and maintenance of existing drainage system.
Sanitation
There is no sewerage system. In few locations Open defecation creates problem. Therefore the technical group suggests that there is requirements of construction of two pit pour flush latrine, construction of community toilet for improvement of sanitary condition.
Street Lighting
In the prioritized slums there are few Street Light posts required in few locations .Very much load shading creates social problems; like increasing anti-social activities etc. Initiatives need to be taken with WBSEDCL to remove the problems.
Parks / Play Grounds
There is a shortage of Parks and children’s Parks. Existing parks need to take care and there are not many properly maintained children amenities. Playgrounds need to be well maintained.
