Bengal likely to get three new districts by end of year
Kolkata Apr 22 PTI The West Bengal government in its bid to simplify administrative operations is planning to trifurcate South 24 Parganas creating new districts of Baruipur Sundarbans and Diamond Harbour a top official said on FridayWork was being undertaken on war footing to complete formalities necessary to split South 24 Parganas the largest district in the state into three parts the official saidWe are planning to create three new districts — Baruipur Diamond Harbour and Sundarban — by the end of the year Once the proposal gets Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees nod South 24 Parganas — currently stretching from the city to the coastal villages along Bay of Bengal — will cease to exist he told PTICurrently Diamond Harbour Baruipur and Sundarbans are police districtsExplaining the rationale behind the division the bureaucrat said geographical location of different blocks of South 24 Parganas often caused problems to people who had to travel miles after miles to get administrative work doneThe split was being planned in a certain way to ensure that the new districts get to have one sub-divisional court each he statedBaruipur spanning around 2500 sq km is likely to have 11 blocksWith 11 blocks Baruipur will be the biggest of the three proposed districts Suggestion to make Gosaba a part of Baruipur has been made he saidSundarbans was likely to have eight blocks four in the entire Kakdwip sub-division and an equal number in Diamond Harbour sub-division he saidThe Diamond Harbour district was expected to constitute the entire Alipore Sadar area and a part of the current Diamond Harbour sub-division the official elaboratedKakdwip has been proposed as the district headquarters of Sundarban and Tongtala of Baruipur We are yet to decide on a zilla head office for Diamond Harbour he saidAsked if the creation of the three proposed districts would in any way affect the configuration of assembly segments in South 24 Parganas the official said that Baruipur was likely to have 11 assembly constituencies Diamond Harbour nine and Sundarban sixAll paperwork is ready for the division Lack of adequate IPS and IAS officers was one reason why the process was getting delayed As of now we are waiting for her Mamata Banerjee to sanction the proposal and make an announcement the bureaucrat maintainedLast week the state government had written to the Centre asking it to increase allotment of IAS and IPS officers in the stateThe Mamata Banerjee government had in the past eight years created three new districts — Alipurduar in June 2014 Kalimpong February 2017 and Jhargram in April 2017It also split Bardhaman into two districtsCurrently West Bengal has 23 districtsNotably prior to March 1980 24 Parganas was the largest district in the country It was then bifurcated into North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas PTI SCH RMS RMS
Kolkata Apr 22 PTI The West Bengal government in its bid to simplify administrative operations is planning to trifurcate South 24 Parganas creating new districts of Baruipur Sundarbans and Diamond Harbour a top official said on FridayWork was being undertaken on war footing to complete formalities necessary to split South 24 Parganas the largest district in the state into three parts the official saidWe are planning to create three new districts — Baruipur Diamond Harbour and Sundarban — by the end of the year Once the proposal gets Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees nod South 24 Parganas — currently stretching from the city to the coastal villages along Bay of Bengal — will cease to exist he told PTICurrently Diamond Harbour Baruipur and Sundarbans are police districtsExplaining the rationale behind the division the bureaucrat said geographical location of different blocks of South 24 Parganas often caused problems to people who had to travel miles after miles to get administrative work doneThe split was being planned in a certain way to ensure that the new districts get to have one sub-divisional court each he statedBaruipur spanning around 2500 sq km is likely to have 11 blocksWith 11 blocks Baruipur will be the biggest of the three proposed districts Suggestion to make Gosaba a part of Baruipur has been made he saidSundarbans was likely to have eight blocks four in the entire Kakdwip sub-division and an equal number in Diamond Harbour sub-division he saidThe Diamond Harbour district was expected to constitute the entire Alipore Sadar area and a part of the current Diamond Harbour sub-division the official elaboratedKakdwip has been proposed as the district headquarters of Sundarban and Tongtala of Baruipur We are yet to decide on a zilla head office for Diamond Harbour he saidAsked if the creation of the three proposed districts would in any way affect the configuration of assembly segments in South 24 Parganas the official said that Baruipur was likely to have 11 assembly constituencies Diamond Harbour nine and Sundarban sixAll paperwork is ready for the division Lack of adequate IPS and IAS officers was one reason why the process was getting delayed As of now we are waiting for her Mamata Banerjee to sanction the proposal and make an announcement the bureaucrat maintainedLast week the state government had written to the Centre asking it to increase allotment of IAS and IPS officers in the stateThe Mamata Banerjee government had in the past eight years created three new districts — Alipurduar in June 2014 Kalimpong February 2017 and Jhargram in April 2017It also split Bardhaman into two districtsCurrently West Bengal has 23 districtsNotably prior to March 1980 24 Parganas was the largest district in the country It was then bifurcated into North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas PTI SCH RMS RMS
