Ratua is a town in the

Ratua I Ratua I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Chanchal subdivision of Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Gauda and Pandua Gauda was once the "capital of the ancient bhukti or political ...

CD block in the

Chanchal subdivision Chanchal subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Chanchal subdivision covers the Tal, one of the three physiographic sub-regions of the district. The Tal region gradually s ...

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. The capital of the Bengal Sultanate, Gauda and Pandua, was situated in this district. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this ...

in the state of

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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Location

Ratua is located at .

Area overview

The area shown in the adjacent map covers two physiographic regions – the ''

Barind Varendra (), also known as Barind (), was an ancient and historical territory of Northern Bengal, now mostly in Bangladesh and a little portion in the Indian state of West Bengal and Eastern Bihar. It formed part of the Pundravardhana or Pund ...

'' in the east and the ''tal'' in the west. The eastern part is comparatively high (up to 40 metres above mean sea level at places) and uneven. The soils of the eastern region are “hard salty clays of a reddish hue and the ground is baked hard as iron.” It lies to the east of the

Mahananda River The Mahananda ( ) is a trans-boundary river that flows through the Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal before crossing into Bangladesh. It is an important tributary of the Ganges. Course The Mahananda river system consists of two streams- ...

. The area lying to the west of the Mahananda River, the ''tal'', is a flat low land and “is strewn with innumerable marshes, bils and

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...

s.” The ''tal'' area is prone to flooding by local rivers. The total area is overwhelmingly

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

. There are two important historical/ archaeological sites in the area –

Pandua Pandua may refer to: * Pandu (actor) (1947–2021), a Tamil film actor * Pandua (community development block), Hooghly District, West Bengal * Pandua (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Hooghly District, West Bengal * Pandua, Malda, now known as Adina, ru ...

and

Jagjivanpur Jagajjibanpur or Jagajivanpur (in Bengali language, Bengali: জগজ্জীবনপুর) is an archaeological site in Habibpur block of Malda district in West Bengal state in eastern India. This site is located at a distance of 41 km e ...

. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the area. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Civic administration

Police station

Ratua police station under West Bengal police has jurisdiction over

CD block.

CD block HQ

The headquarters of Ratua I CD block is at Ratua.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India, Ratua had a total population of 5,498, of which 2,850 (52%) were males and 2,648 (48%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 800. The total number of literate persons in Ratua was 3,053 (64.99% of the population over 6 years).

Transport

Ratua is on National Highway 131A/ State Highway 10 (partly common route). Well connected to the district town Malda with regular Bus & Minibus Services. You can also get a bus for Kolkata at Evening. The nearest railway station is located at Samsi. It is well connected to Kolkata, Delhi, Siliguri, Katihar with various express train.

Healthcare

Ratua Rural Hospital at Ratua (with 30 beds) is the main medical facility in Ratua I CD block. There are primary health centres at Debipur (with 10 beds), Mahanandatola (with 10 beds) and Samsi (with 10 beds).

References

{{Malda District Villages in Malda district