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CHAPTER IV

WEST BENGAL

Location, size and shape

The State of West Bengal is a part of the Eastern Zone of the Indian
Republic. It is bounded on the northwest by Nepal, on the north by States
of Sikkim and Bhutan, on the north-east by Assam, on the east by
Bangladesh, on the west by Bihar and on the south-west by Orissa. On the
south lies the Bay of Bengal.

The State extends from 21° 381 N to 27° 10' N and 85° 50' E to
89° 50' E i.e. latitudinal extent is only six degress and longitudinal spread
is only four degress. The Tropic of Cancer passes through Barddhaman
district, very close to Shantiniketan in the district of Birbhum.

The present shape of the State is elongated and irregular. The north-
south length of the State is about 600 kilometres and an east-west spread of
300 kilometres. The narrowest portion of the State is only 9 kilometres in
width lies in Islampur. The total area of the State is about 87, 616, square
kilometres.

Physiography and'physiographic divisions

With high mountains in the north, rolling plateaus in the west, deep tidal
forests in the south and the rivers flowing over the vast alluvial plains,
the State of West Bengal may be divided into a number of physical regions :

i) Young mountains of the north

This region constitutes the hills and valleys formed in the Middle and
Outer Himalaya in Darjiling district. This area is characterised by
steep slopes, knife-edged ridges and deep gorges.

This region is cut into two- portions by the deep gorge of river Tista
which is only 2 00 metres to 400 metres above mean sealevel. The gorge
runs north to south. To the west lie the hills of Darjiling, which rise
to the Tiger Hill (2600 metres) while to the east Durbin Dara near
Fig. 4
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Kalimpong rises to 1800 metres. From Tiger Hill, a spur descends

northwards to the junction of the Tista and the Rangit, main tributary
of the Tista forming the northern boundary of Darjiling. To the south,
it runs through Dow Hill above Kurseong to the Siliguri plains.
From the Tiger Hill another spur runs westwards through Ghoom to
Sukiapokhri and Simanabasti on the Nepal border, known as the Ghoom
ridge. Another spur runs north-south through Simanabasti which
descends southwards in the plains through Mirik. North of Simanabasti
the spur continues northwards as the Singalila range, the important
peaks are Sandakphu and Singalila range (4000 metres) which stand at
the trijunction of the Darjiling district, Sikkim and Nepal.

The town of Darjiling is situated over the northern spur of Tiger Hill
which is not exposed to rain-bearing winds from the plains. Further,
the Ghoom ridge, running west from the Tiger Hill, protects the town
from the southern winds.

ii) The Duars and Plains of the North

This region covers the districts of Koch Bihar, Jalpaiguri and the
Siliguri sub-division of Darjiling. The plains slope; downwards towards
south from the foothills. Their upper parts are often called Duars.
These areas are intersected by numerous rivers, streams and marshes.
These swift-flowing Himalayan rivers bring down boulders, pebbles,
sand, silt and clay and as they debouch on the plains they loose their
carrying capacity and deposit the load.

iii) Mahananda Corridor

This narrow strip of land connects the northern portions of West Bengal
with the Maldah pouch. Only the northern and southern portion of this
region is traversed by Mahananda in a braided course.

iv) The Maldah Plain

This triangular-shaped region is intersected by numerous rivers. The

river Mahananda flowing north and south divides this region into two
equal parts. The country to the east of the Mahananda is called the
"Barind" which is relatively high land of red clay soil of the old
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alluvium. There are no hills in this region except a few elevated

tracks having an elevation of 50 to 100 feet above the level of the
Ganges.

The country west of the Mahananda is again divided into two well-
S defined tracts by the Kalindri rivers flowing west and east from the
Ganges. North of the Kalindri, the distinguishing feature is the "Tal"
land which floods deeply when the rivers rise and drains by meandering
streams into swamps or into the Kalindri, South of the Kalindri lies
the most fertile land which is seamed throughout by the old courses of
the Ganges.

. The most striking natural feature is the continuous line of islands and
accretions formed in the bed of the Ganges by its everchanging
currents, known as the "diara".

v) Uplands of. the Western Plateau fringe

This region includes the western portions of the districts of Birbhum,

Barddhaman, Bankura and Medinipur. To this is also added the
triangular piece of upland of Puruliya district.

The highlands of Puruliya are actually the- remnants of Chotanagpur

Plateau and acts as watershed of Subarnarekha-Kasai-Damodar group of
rivers. The Ajodhya Pahar forms the main highland region of Puruliya
which acts as an watershed between the Kasai and the Subarnarekha.
Here the highest points is Gorgaburu which is 677 kilometres high. To
the west and south of Ajodhya Pahar, a number of residual hills occur
isolated and detached from the parent body. All these hills are flat-
topped and nearly of the same height. Domeshaped hills are also seen,
ttue most spectacular being the Jahuhatu dome. To the northeast of the
district lies the Panchet Hill (643.5 m). This formation continues
eastward into Bankura district where it rises again as Biharinath
Parbat which is about 447.8 metres above sea-level. Another important
peak is Susunia situated on the northern border of Chhatna police
station and rises abruptly to a height of 439.5 metres.

This rocky undulating upland extends into the western part of the
Barddhaman and Birbhum districts. The general slope of the land is
from north-west to -south-east.
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The north and northwestern portion of Medinipur district is the

eastward extension of the Chotanagpur plateau. Here the landscape is
broken by hills of low range specially in the extreme north-west
where several hills rise over 1000 feet in elevation.

vi) The Western Plains

This region lies between the plateau fringe and the river Bhagirathi -
Hooghly. The plains occupy the western portion of Bhagirathi in
Murshidabad district, eastern portion of Birbhum, eastern part of
Barddhaman, Haora, Hugli and Medinipur. This area is drained by
numerous rivers which rise from the Chotanagpur plateau and flow
eastwards to join the Bhagirathi or Hooghly. The river Bhagirathi has
a highly meandering course throughout. A belt of raised land formed by
silting known as natural levees is formed along the western boundary
of Bhagirathi. Behind this, marshes and bils have been formed. But
the silt brought by the western tributaries are filling them gradually.

The northernmost of the western tributaries is the Mayurakhshi and her

tributaries are Brahmani, Dwarka, Bakreshwar and Kopai which flow
through the old alluvium in slightly incised courses and further east
form intricate meanders. A natural levee is formed between Bhagirathi
and Mayurakshi.

Further south is the valley of Ajoy which forms the boundary between
Birbhum and Barddhaman district. Barddhaman district is bounded on
the south by the river Damodar. On the southern bank of it, a natural
levee has been formed. But through these, new channels called "Hanas"
were formed now and then.

South of it, the alluvial plain is drained by Dwarakeshwar and its

tributaries. Parts of the area between Dwarakeshwar and Damodar are
low-lying and ill-drained. This region except where protected by
embankment is liable to be flooded during rainy season. The area
between the Damodar and the Bhagirathi or Hooghly is a land of dead
and decaying rivers. Another peculiar feature is that most of the small
streams have been more or less silted up and have no visible outfall.
These silted up valleys fail to. carry sufficient amount of water that
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flow through them and subsequently overflow. After cessation of rains

they are represented by a succession of stagnant pools. Another type
of features that occur in this region are the Ox-bow lakes.

These areas slope gently from the north-west towards south-east as is

discernable from the flow of the rivers. Several "chars" are also
formed in the north-western part of the Hugli district.

West of the Damodar is the Rupnarayan which is formed by the

confluence of Dwarakeshwar and Silai. Here the tract is very low and
marshy.

Further west is the valley of the Kangsabati or Kasai. The tract,

drained by Kalighai, the tributary of the Kangsabati is also low,
monotonously flat and marshy.

vii) Plains of the moribund delta

These plains lie between Bangladesh border in the east and Bhagirathi-
Hooghly on the west. Further south, Jamuna and Kalindi borders the
eastern boundary. The districts of Nadia and 24-Parganas excluding the
Sundarbans fall within this region. This tract is mainly drained by
Jalangi and Churni and further south by Ichamati. Here the rivers show
signs of decay, therefore, it has been designated as moribund. This
tract is intersected by , abandoned meandering channels, bils,
backwaters, marshes which gradually increases towards the south. One
such salt-marshes ; is situated in the east of Calcutta.

viii) The Sundarbans

This tract lie on the southern portion of the district of 24-Parganas.

This land gradually slopes towards the sea. This area is a network of
tidal channels, rivers, creeks and islands. It presents the last stage
in the life of great rivers.

ix) Kanthi Coastal strip

This littoral tract lies at the head of the Bay of Bengal. The coastline
is more or less a smooth convex curve broken only by the mouths of
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small streams of Rasulpur and Pichabani. Long stretches of sandy beach

occur although salt marshes are present here and there. In some places
off-shore sandbars are also seen. Sanddunes occur between the streams
mentioned above. Sometimes the sand dunes are extended landwards upto
30 kilometres. Plantation of trees are going on to check them.

River systems

The State of West Bengal is pre-eminently a land of -rivers. The main river
here is the Ganges which enters this State near Rajmahal Hills. It forms the
boundary between Murshidabad and Maldah district and the main branch flows
into Bangladesh as Padma. The other branch named Bhagirathi flows
southward. Further south it is known as Hooghly after its confluence with
Jalangi. The Ganges divides the river system of this State into two. The
rivers of the north and the rivers of the western part of the Ganges.

The rivers of the northern part have their origin in the Himalayas.
These rivers mostly are snow-fed and flows from north to south. The rivers
either join the Ganges or flow into Bangladesh. The names of the rivers
worth-mentioning are Tista, Jaldhaka, Torsa, Raidak, Sankos. The rivers to
the west of Tista is the Mahananda. It is formed by the confluence of three
riversMahananda, Balason and Mechi. They get no snow-melt water, rather
they are spring-fed as they rise south of the Ghoom ridge. All of these
rivers flow into the Ganges. Other rivers of this region areTangan,
Punarbhava and Atrai. '

The rivers of the western part of the State have originated in the
Ghotanagpur Plateau. During the rainy season, these rivers swollen up but
during the winter season, there is hardly any water in them. Most of these
rivers falls into the Ganges and the direction of flow is form west to east.

The northern most of the western tributaries is Mayurakshi or mor and

her tributaries are Brahmani, Dwarka, Bakreshwar and Kopai. South of
Mayurakshi is the valley of Ajoy which forms the boundary between Birbhum
and Barddhaman district. Further south is the valley of Damodar. The
triangular area between Hooghly and Damodar is a land of dead and dying
rivers which carried a lot of water in the past. One such river is Saraswati
which has a slight connection with Hooghly at Tribeni.
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West of the Damodar is the river Rupnarayan. This river is formed by

the junction of Dwarakeshwar and Silai rivers.

Further west is the valley of Kangsabati or Kasai which traverses

Puruliya, BankuraandMedinipur District.

South of Kasai is the river Haldi formed by the confluence of Kasai and
Kalighai. It is the tributary of Hooghly river. Rasulpur is the last tributary
within the Medinipur district.

Another river of importance in this region is Subarnarekha which drain

extreme south-west portion of Medinipur, passes into Orissa and falls into
the Bay of Bengal.

To the east of Bhagirathi, the notable rivers are Jalangi, Churni and
Mathabhanga. Near the border of Bangladesh, Ichamati is the most important
river. Due to tidal action this river is free from silt for quite a long
distance It connects with Haribhanga tidal creek in the Sunderbans.

Further south in the 24-Parganas the rivers are mostly tidal rivers,
the names of some of which are Bidyadhari, Piyali, Jamuna, Baratala,
Saptamukhi, etc.