Malda, West Bengal

Malda or English Bazar is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the sixth largest city (urban agglomeration) in West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Malda district as well as of the Malda division of West Bengal. It consists of two municipalities, viz. English Bazar Municipality and Old Malda Municipality, under English Bazar Metropolitan Area. The city is located on the banks of the Mahananda River. Malda was an undeveloped city which was enlarging from 1925 to 1930. The city is growing rapidly nowadays with its population inching towards half a million.

Etymology
The name English Bazar is derived from Angrezābād ("English-town"), applied in the 17th century to the surroundings of the English factory.

Location
Malda is located at 25.0119°N, 88.1433°W. It has an average elevation of 17 metres (56 feet). It is on the western bank of the river Mahananda.

Climate
Like the most other places in West Bengal, the weather of Malda is usually extremely humid and tropical. Temperatures can reach as high as 42 °C during the day in May and June and fall as low as 8 °C overnight in December and January. Malda's highest recorded temperature was 45.0 °C on 27 May 1958 and lowest recorded temperature was 3.9 °C on 3 February 1905.

In Malda, the average annual temperature is 26.4 °C. Precipitation is about 1554 mm per year. The driest month is December. There is 4.3 mm of precipitation in December. The greatest amount of precipitation occurs in July, with an average of 352 mm.

Civic administration
There are two municipalities in Malda, i.e. the English Bazar Municipality and the Old Malda Municipality.

The municipality of English Bazar is divided into 29 wards. The Trinamool Congress with 15 councillors holds the power in this municipality (as of 2015). The municipality of Old Malda is divided into 20 wards.

Road
crosses through the city. The Gour Kanya Bus Terminus serves as the bus depot for both private buses and government bus service operated by the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC).

Rail
There are four railway stations which serves the metropolitan city. The Malda Town railway station serves the English Bazar area; the Old Malda Junction railway station serves the Old Malda area; the Malda Court railway station serves Mangalbari and Naldubi area, and the Gour Malda railway station serves Mahadipur and Gauḍa (Gour) area.

Air
Malda Airport (IATA: LDA, ICAO: VEMH) was closed in 1972 due to the Bangladesh War. Before that there were direct daily flights from Malda to Kolkata, Delhi, and Guwahati. In 2014, direct helicopter services were started between Malda and Kolkata, by the government of West Bengal. As of 2017, the airport is under construction and the flight service will start very soon.

Demographics
2011 census, Malda metropolitan city had a total population of 324,237.

2011 census, English Bazar municipality had a population of 216,083. The municipality had a sex ratio of 877 females per 1,000 males and 14.9% of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 84.69%; male literacy was 85.44% and female literacy was 83.86%.

India census, Old Malda Municipality had a population of 62,944. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Old Malda has an average literacy rate of 61%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 67%, and female literacy is 54%. In Old Malda, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age. Most of the people are Hindu. Some Muslim, Shikh, Christian people live here.

University

 * The University of Gour Banga, established in 2008. Almost all the 28 colleges in Malda, Dakshin Dinajpur and Uttar Dinajpur districts (except for Raiganj University College), are affiliated with it.

Colleges

 * General degree colleges
 * Malda College
 * Gour Mahavidyalaya
 * Malda Women's College


 * Engineering colleges
 * Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering & Technology (GKCIET)
 * IMPS College of Engineering and Technology


 * Polytechnic colleges
 * Malda Polytechnic


 * Medical colleges
 * Malda Medical College and Hospital

Schools

 * Boys' high schools
 * A. C. Institution
 * Lalit Mohan Shyam Mohini High School
 * Malda Town High School
 * Malda Zilla School
 * Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Vidyamandir


 * Girls' high schools
 * Barlow Girls' High School
 * Malda C C Girls' High School


 * Rail schools
 * Malda Railway High School


 * English medium schools
 * Usha Martin School, Malda

Notable people

 * A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury - (1927 – 2006) politician and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress party.
 * Benoy Kumar Sarkar - (1887-1949) Indian social scientist, professor, nationalist and founder of several institutes in Kolkata.
 * Subhash Bhowmick - born in Malda West Bengal is a retired Indian football international player and club level coach and manager.
 * Subhamita Banerjee - Bengali singer who specializes in modern songs, Ghazals.
 * Mausam Noor
 * Sukhendu Sekhar Roy
 * Sabina Yeasmin
 * Nihar Ranjan Ghosh
 * Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury