Ghorsala is a

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

in the Raghunathganj I CD block in the Jangipur subdivision of the Murshidabad district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Geography

Location

Ghorsala is located at .

Area overview

Jangipur subdivision is crowded with 52 census towns and as such it had to be presented in two location maps. One of the maps can be seen alongside. The subdivision is located in the

Rarh region ''Rarh region'' () is a toponym for an area in the Indian subcontinent that lies between the Chota Nagpur Plateau on the West and the Ganges Delta on the East. Although the boundaries of the region have been defined differently according to vari ...

that is spread over from adjoining Santhal Pargana division of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

. The land is slightly higher in altitude than the surrounding plains and is gently undulating. The river

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

, along with its distributaries, is prominent in both the maps. At the head of the subdivision is the long Farakka Barrage, one of the largest projects of its kind in the country. Murshidabad district shares with Bangladesh a porous international border which is notoriously crime prone (partly shown in this map). The subdivision has two large power plants - the 2,100 MW Farakka Super Thermal Power Station and the 1,600 MW Sagardighi Thermal Power Station. According to a 2016 report, there are around 1,000,000 (1 million/ ten lakh) workers engaged in the

beedi A beedi (also spelled bidi or biri) is a thin cigarette or cigar, mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu (''Diospyros melanoxylon'') or ''Piliostigma racemosum'' leaf tied with a string or adhesive at one end. It ...

industry in Jangipur subdivision. 90% are home-based and 70% of the home-based workers are women. As of 2013, an estimated 2.4 million people reside along the banks of the

alone in Murshidabad district. Severe erosion occurs along the banks. Note: The two maps present some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the maps are linked in the larger full screen maps.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India, Ghorsala had a total population of 7,837, of which 4,077 (52%) were males and 3,760 (48%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 1,157. The total number of literate persons in Ghorsala was 4,513 (67.56% of the population over 6 years). India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Ghorsala had a population of 6252. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Ghorsala has an average literacy rate of 50%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 56%, and female literacy is 44%. In Ghorsala, 19% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Infrastructure

According to the ''District Census Handbook, Murshidabad'', 2011, Ghorsala covered an area of 3.6 km². xIt had 8 km roads. The protected water-supply involved overhead tank, tube well/ borewell. It had 408 domestic electric connections, 10 road lighting points. Among the medical facilities it had 1 nursing home, 2 charitable hospitals/ nursing homes, 5 medicine shops. Among the educational facilities, it had 1 primary school in town, other school facilities at Saidpur 3 km away, general degree college at Jangipur 9 km away. It produced

, plastic goods.

Healthcare

Raghunathganj I CD block is one of the areas of Murshidabad district where ground water is affected by a high level of arsenic contamination. The WHO guideline for arsenic in drinking water is 10 mg/ litre, and the Indian Standard value is 50 mg/ litre. The maximum concentration in Raghunathaganj I CD block is 3,003 mg/litre.

References

{{Murshidabad District Cities and towns in Murshidabad district