Geography
Location :~
North-Eastern part of West Bengal; bounded by the districts of Alipurduar in the north and Jalpaiguri in the north-west, state of Assam in the east (bounded by the districts of Kokrajhar & Dhubri in Assam) and the International Border in the form of Indo-Bangladesh boundary in the south-west, south and south-east. Beside this bounded area there are enclaves (called Chhits) which are outlying and detached tracts of land situated inside Bangladesh. There are 110 such Chhits.
Cooch Behar district lies between 25°57’47” & 26°36’20” North Latitude ; between 88°47’44” & 89°54’35” East Longitude. The District Headquarter lies between 26°19’86”N Latitude and 89°23’53″E Longitude. [Source : District Census Handbook, 1961]
The Area of the district is 3387 sq. KMs, which contributes 3.82% of the land mass of the State of West Bengal.
Cooch Behar is essentially a flat country with a slight south-eastern slope along which the main rivers of the district flow. Most of the high lands appertain to Sitalkuchi area and most of the low lands lie in Dinhata area. The soil is alluvial of very recent formation. It is mostly sandy and loose. The surface soil is loam and hardly any good clay is found.
Rivers :~
The rivers flow in a slanting course from north-west to south-east. Six river systems cut through the district flowing in a south-easterly direction. From the west to east these are : the Tista system, Jaldhaka system, Torsa, Kaljani, Raidak and Gadadhar system. Some notable rivers are :
| Sl No. | Name | Sl No. | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dharla | 7. | Mansai |
| 2. | Dudua | 8. | Raidak – I |
| 3. | Gadadhar | 9. | Raidak – II |
| 4. | Ghargharia | 10. | Sankosh |
| 5. | Jaldhaka | 11. | Teesta |
| 6. | Kaljani | 12. | Torsa |
Climate, Rainfall Statistics :~
A highly humid atmosphere and abundant rains characterise the climate of this district, with the temperature being seldom excessive. The Period from June to beginning-of-October is south-west monsoon season. October to mid-November constitutes post monsoon season. Cold season being November to February and hot season being March to May.
January is the coldest month with temperature varying between 5°C to 28°C, April is the hottest month with mean maximum temperature of 31°C and mean minimum temperature of 20°C (as per 2012 data). Lowest temperature up to 5°C and maximum temperature up to 37°C have been recorded in the year 2012. The atmosphere is highly humid throughout the year except February to May when relative humidity is as less as 50 to 70%.
ASSAM Border :~
Cooch Behar has 84 K.M. long border with Assam. Only one Police Station of this district (Boxirhat P.S.) is the bordering Police Station of Assam (district of Dhubri and Kokrajhar). Due to proximity of location, people from Assam use Cooch Behar as corridor for their movement to Bhutan and other places outside Assam. Moreover , sometimes they come to this district for their treatment or consulting with doctors.
INDO-BANGLADESH Border :~
Cooch Behar district has 549.45 K.M. long Indo-Bangladesh border. Out of this 549.45 K.M. long Indo-Bangladesh Border fencing to be constructed, more than 300 K.M. long Indo-Bangladesh Border is fenced. Rest is open and at many places open Indo-Bangladesh Border is riverine. There is a heavy deployment of BSF (Border Security Force) personnel on the Border. Eight Battalions (BN) of BSF are deployed in Cooch Behar district. Although the border crimes such as smuggling, infiltration and property offences have considerably decreased over the years, infiltration and cattle smuggling still continues in some portions of the border, specially the riverine border. District Police is extending all sorts of help and co-operation to BSF authority in keeping effective check on illegal activities in the border areas. There are 11 (eleven) police stations in this district of which 8 (eight) are bordering police stations with Bangladesh for guarding of the Indo-Bangladesh Border and to check infiltration, smuggling etc.
The work of erection of border fencing and construction of border road is in progress. The said work is being done by CPWD authority. Till now, many bordering areas are left unfenced. There is an urgent need to complete the erection of border fencing in Indo-B.D. border area as early as possible to check infiltration/ smuggling/ movement of extremist elements in bordering areas and ensure security of the country. There are reportedly many problems for the delay in the progress of border fencing work such as inconvenience of the people having land or houses on the other side of the fencing., the problem of their movement through the fencing gate, existence of rivers, etc.
