Bakkhali

Not to be confused with the Bakkhali river in Cox's Bazar District, Bangladesh
Bakkhali
বক্‌খালি
town
Bakkhali

Location in West Bengal, India

Coordinates: 21°33′48″N 88°15′34″E / 21.563267°N 88.259439°E / 21.563267; 88.259439Coordinates: 21°33′48″N 88°15′34″E / 21.563267°N 88.259439°E / 21.563267; 88.259439
Country  India
State West Bengal
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Telephone code Std code 03210
Vidhan Sabha constituency Sagar bidhan sava
Website s24pgs.gov.in

Bakkhali is seaside hamlet in Namkhana (community development block) in Kakdwip subdivision of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India. It is located on one of the many deltaic islands spread across southern Bengal. Most of the islands are part of the Sunderbans forests. Some of these are joined together with bridges over narrow creeks. This small island juts out into the vast expanse of the Bay of Bengal.[1]

It has a 7 km long beach stretching from Bakkhali to Frasergunj.

History

Remains of the house of Sir Andrew Fraser, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal (1903 -1908) (1903 -1908), at Frasergunj
Windmills at Frasergunj

Sir Andrew Fraser, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal (1903–1908) in the early twentieth century,[2] is credited with “discovery” of the place.In recognition of his efforts a part of the town is named Frasergunj. There is a dilapidated house near the beach, which according to the locals was the one in which Fraser used to stay.

Activities

Bakkhali is unique in many ways. The windmills in Frasergunj serve as a power generating location.The rickshaw van is the only form of local transport. .

Fishing is the primary occupation of the people all. Agriculture is almost non-existent because of the extreme salinity of adjacent sea which indundates the land heavily affecting the fertility of the land.

There is a fishing harbour at Frasergunj and Benfish, a wing of the state government has a presence nearby. Bakkhali and Frasegunj are unadulterated by urbanisation. One can still hear the cock crow at dawn and watch ducks puddle around muddy pools in the backyards of houses. One can see fishing nets spread everywhere. Country boats carrying sackfuls of dried fish is a common sight.

Tourism

Accessibility

Ferry crossing across the Hatania Doania creek at Namkhana

Jambudwip and Lothian are two forested islands nearby. The only means of travel to the islands is by the crude motorised country boat and then there are no jetties in the islands.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Beach festival to tickle senses". The Times of India. Jan 13, 2004.
  2. ↑ Islam, Sirajul (2012). "Fraser, Sir Andrew". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.

External links

Tourism in West Bengal

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.