Goalpokhar I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Islampur subdivision of Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
History
Historically the western frontier of ancient Pundravardhana kingdom, bordering ancient Anga of Mahabharat fame, the Dinajpur area remained somewhat obscure in the major empires that held sway over the region and beyond till the rise of the Dinajpur Raj during the Mughal period. Some areas later forming a part of Uttar Dinajpur were parts of kingdoms in Nepal. Dinajpur district was constituted by the British in 1786, with a portion of the estate of Dinajpur Raj. Subsequent to the Permanent Settlement in 1793, the semi-independent Dinajpur Raj was further broken down and some of its tracts were transferred to the neighbouring British districts of Purnea, Malda, Rajshahi and Bogra. In 1947, the Radcliffe Line placed the Sadar and Thakurgaon subdivisions of Dinajpur district in East Pakistan. The Balurghat subdivision of Dinajpur district was reconstituted as West Dinajpur district in West Bengal. Raiganj subdivision was formed in 1948.
In order to restore territorial links between northern and southern parts of West Bengal which had been snapped during the partition of Bengal, and on the recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission a portion of the erstwhile Kishanganj subdivision comprising Goalpokhar, Islampur and Chopra thanas (police stations) and parts of Thakurganj thana, along with the adjacent parts of the erstwhile Gopalpur thana in Katihar subdivision were transferred from Purnea district in Bihar to West Bengal in 1956, and were formally incorporated into Raiganj subdivision in West Dinajpur. The township of Kishanganj and its entire municipal boundary remained within Bihar. Islampur subdivision was formed in March 1959. At the same time, the portion of Chopra PS lying to the north of the Mahananda river covering an area that now comprises Bidhannagar-1 gram panchayat, Bidhannagar-2 GP, Chathat-Bansgaon GP and the southern half of Phansidewa-Bansgaon Kismat GP in Darjeeling district, was transferred from West Dinajpur to the jurisdiction of Phansidewa PS in Darjeling district. With the introduction of the Community Development Programme in 1960–61, community development blocks were set up in West Dinajpur district.
In 1992, West Dinajpur district was bifurcated and Uttar Dinajpur district was established.
Geography
Goalpokhar is located at .
Uttar Dinajpur district has a flat topography and slopes gently from north to south. All rivers flow in that direction. Except for the eastern fringes of Chopra CD Block, most of the district is a part of the catchment area of the Mahanada and also a part of the larger Barind Tract The soil is composed of different varieties of alluvium. The main rivers are: Nagar, Mahananda, Kulik, Gamari, Chhiramati (Srimati) and Tangon. The rivers have little water in the dry season but with heavy rains, during monsoon, overflow the banks. The Nagar river flows along the international border with Bangladesh on the east of Goalpohar I CD Block. The Sartano river flows through the CD Block and Sudana river on the eastern part.
There is one river flowing from north to south in the eastern border of Goalpokhar I block and that river acts as the natural border between West Bengal of India and Bangladesh. The BSF has done much fencing alongside the river. Because of this fencing, a huge area of cultivable land has fallen on the other side of the river which is not accessible to the farmers of this region and it causes lot of trouble to the farmers because it is almost as if they have lost their cultivable lands because of the fencing by the BSF.
Goalpokhar I CD Block is bounded by Islampur CD Block on the north, Baliadangi, Ranisankail and Haripur Upazilas in Thakurgaon District of Bangladesh on the east, Karandighi CD Block on the south and Goalpokhar II CD Block and Kishanganj CD Block in Kishanganj district of Bihar on the west.
Approximately 206 km of the India-Bangladesh border is in Uttar Dinajpur district. It covers the eastern boundary of the district. On the western side Uttar Dinajpur district has 227 km boundary with Bihar.
Goalpokhar I CD Block has an area of 365.11 km2.It has 1 panchayat samity, 14 gram panchayats, 204 gram sansads (village councils), 153 mouzas and 144 inhabited villages. Goalpokhar police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at PO Panjipara, Goalpokhar.
Uttar Dinajpur district is one of the smaller districts in the state and stands 15th in terms of area (3,140.00 km2) in the state.