Birpara

Birpara বীরপাড়া
Town
Nickname(s): BRP
Birpara Location in West Bengal, India
Coordinates: 26°30′N 89°30′E / 26.50°N 89.50°E / 26.50; 89.50Coordinates: 26°30′N 89°30′E / 26.50°N 89.50°E / 26.50; 89.50
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Alipurduar
Population (2011)
• Total	50,080
Languages
• Official	Bengali, Hindi language
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	735204
Telephone code	+91 3563
Vehicle registration	WB 70
Nearest city	Siliguri
Lok Sabha constituency	Alipurduars
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Madarihat
Climate	cool with adequate rainfall (Köppen)

Birpara is a small commercial town in the centre of the Dooars region of Alipurduar district. It is a hub for transportation and trade for the tea garden region of the area.

Etymology

Birpara got its name from the conjunction of two words. Bir stands for Veer (means brave) and para meaning place in Bengali. Initially there was no place called Birpara, and the place known as Birpara today was a part of another village called Dalgaon. This part was often visited by outlaws so people used to stay away from this place. However, gradually more and more people, who were initially mostly tea garden employees started to live here. They were called Bir people or brave people for daring to live in such place. Later on, it was given a separate identity.

People

Today, Birpara is predominantly inhabited by various ethnic groups such as Bengalis, Gorkhas, Marwaris, Adivasis, Muslims and Biharis. Other small ethnic groups are also represented such as Sikhs, Mizos and Anglo-Indians. Many languages are spoken in Birpara, with the main languages being Bengali, Gorkhali/Nepali, Hindi, Sadri, Marwari and English. The people of Birpara take keen interest in sports activities. An annual football competition is held at Jubilee Club between neighbouring towns. Since its origin, people here have lived in harmony. However, of late, there have been many instances of rifts between racial outfits, mainly due to the 'Gorkhaland' propaganda and the Bengali & Aadivasis opposing it. Other small religions have lived there such as Buddhist and Bodo.

Economy

Birpara, being surrounded by several tea gardens, developed a strong economy during the nineties, but now with the failure of the tea gardens, there has been a rapid and a severe setback in the economy of the place. It is now much more dependent on trade with Bhutan. The town is also crippled by strikes and bands every now and then, not to mention the outcries of racial outfits. Still, the local economy is doing well, thanks to the entrepreneurship of a few local Hindi speaking youths, who have put up factories in Ethelbari and generated employment to local educated and uneducated people.

Education

Birpara has several government and private schools and a college like Birpara College is affiliated to the North Bengal University which earlier used to have only Arts and Commerce streams but recently Science stream has also been added to the college.There are schools with different mediums i.e Hindi, English, Bengali & Nepali medium at Birpara.Demdima Fatima higher secondary school, St.Marry gorethi girl's higher secondary school, Birpara Boys High School, Birpara Girls High School, Sri Mahabir Hindi High School, Nepali High school, Sunshine Higher Secondary School (an English medium school situated just 3 km away from Birpara), Bhagat Ram Vidyapith, Birpara Biddya Ashram, Falakata Road Choupati, Daniel's School, Penwood academy, Baptist Mizoram Mission School(CBSE), Birpara Academy .However Sunshine Higher Secondary School(CISCE) considered an ideal place to get your child educated. Demdima fatima higher secondary school has Arts & science faculties with regular classes. School provides digital classes for all subjects up to class 12. This school is many times district and state champion of many talent contests and competition such as Youth parliament competition,science exhibitions e.t.c

Transport

The town has an adequate network of roads. Asian Highway 48 passes through it. It connects not only the nearest larger cities, Siliguri and Jalpaiguri (on which the trade and commerce of the town is heavily dependent), but also with Thimphu (capital of Bhutan), via Phuentsholing

The town also has a rail station, called Dalgaon station, connecting the town with the rest of the country. There are frequent trains plying between Birpara and Siliguri. Trains like Kanchankanya Exp.(Sealdah to Alipurduar), Mahananda Exp. (New Delhi to Alipurduar), Capital Exp.(Kamakhya to Danapur), Jhajha Exp.(Jhajha to Guwahati), Kavi Guru Exp.(Jaipur to Kamakhya) connect it to main rail network. Intercity Express and Passenger Express connects Alipurduar Town and Siliguri City. Most of the people travel from Alipurduar to Siliguri by train. ^[1]

Politics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a speech for the 2016 state elections at Birpara, which helped Manoj Tigga win the Madarihat seat.^[2][3]

References