Kandi is a sub-divisional city and a municipality in Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Kandi subdivision and is located on the east bank of Kana Mayurakshi River. It is also known as the rice store of Murshidabad district, owing to its large production of rice. It is situated 30 km away from Berhampore, the district headquarter of Murshidabad and approximately 195 km from Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal.
Geography
Location
Kandi is located at . It has an average elevation of .
Kandi is present in the Mayurakshi River basin. Mayurakshi River and its tributaries are bound in this area. This area is part of the Rarh Anchal.
Kandi is a small sub-divisional administrative headquarters in the district of Murshidabad, West Bengal.
It is from the district headquarters of Berhampore. It is in close proximity to two other districts namely Burdwan at 32 km and Birbhum at 21 km.
The town is renowned for being one of the oldest municipal bodies in India. It has acquired the status of a municipality in 1869.
The area is critically prone to perpetual flood and drainage congestion and remain totally cut-off for many days together from other parts of the district during flood. The aforesaid area is drained by three main river systems namely, the Mayurakshi - Bele, the Brahmani- Dwarka and the Bakreshwar – Kopai – Kuye. All the three systems combine into one and finally outfalls into the river Bhagirathi through the Babla – Uttarasan system. The river systems described above carry huge discharge during monsoon causing wide spread flood and drainage congestion in Kandi and adjoining areas as most of the embankments, constructed decades ago through ex-zamindary or other sources, are in dilapidated conditions. The perpetual occurrence of flood and drainage congestion cause untold misery to the people. The average annual damage is to the tune of Rs. 97.55 Crore. Transport of relief materials and rapid evacuation of affected people becomes really challenging task in such time.
Area overview
The area shown in the map alongside, covering Berhampore and Kandi subdivisions, is spread across both the natural physiographic regions of the district, Rarh and Bagri. The headquarters of Murshidabad district, Berhampore, is in this area. The ruins of Karnasubarna, the capital of Shashanka, the first important king of ancient Bengal who ruled in the 7th century, is located south-west of Berhampore. The entire area is overwhelmingly rural with over 80% of the population living in the rural areas.
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivisions. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Census of India, Kandi had a total population of 55,632, of which 28,442 (51%) were males and 27,190 (49%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 5,889. The total number of literate persons in Kandi was 40,816 (82.05% of the population over 6 years).
India census, Kandi had a population of 50,345. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Kandi has an average literacy rate of 65%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%, and female literacy is 60%. In Kandi, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Infrastructure
According to the District Census Handbook, Murshidabad, 2011, Kandi covered an area of 12.97 km2. It had 118 km roads with both open and covered drains. The protected water-supply involved overhead tank, tap water from treated source, hand pump. It had 7,788 domestic electric connections, 1,985 road lighting points. Among the medical facilities it had 2 hospitals (with 200 beds), 2 dispensaries/ health centres, 1 family welfare centre, 1 maternity & child welfare centre, 1 maternity home, 1 TB hospital/ clinic, 1 nursing home, 1 veterinary hospital, 132 medicine shops. Among the educational facilities, it had 30 primary schools, 1 middle school, 4 secondary schools, 4 senior secondary schools, 2 general degree colleges. It had 19 non-formal education centre (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan), 1 specialised school for disabled. Among the social, recreational & cultural facilities it had 1 cinema theatre, 1 auditorium/ community hall, 3 public libraries. It produced handloom, tobacco, bell metal products. It had the branch offices of 4 nationalised banks, 1 private commercial bank, 1 cooperative bank, 2 agricultural credit society, 45 non-agricultural credit society.