Bakkhali


Bakkhali is a village within the jurisdiction of the Namkhana police station in the Namkhana CD block in the Kakdwip subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

History

Sir Andrew Fraser, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal in the early twentieth century, is credited with "discovery" of the place. In recognition of his efforts, a part of the town is named Fraserganj. There is a dilapidated house near the beach, which according to the locals was the one in which Fraser used to stay.

Geography

Area overview

Kakdwip subdivision has full rural population. The entire district is situated in the Ganges Delta. The southern part of the delta has numerous channels and islands such as Henry Island, Sagar Island, Frederick Island and Fraserganj Island. The subdivision is a part of the Sundarbans settlements. A comparatively recent country-wide development is the guarding of the coastal areas by special coastal forces. The area attracts large number of tourists – Gangasagar and Fraserganj-Bakkhali are worth mentioning. Gobardhanpur holds a promise for the future.
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Location

Bakkhali is located at. It has an average elevation of.

Activities

Bakkhali is unique in many ways. The windmills in Frasergunj serve as a power generating location. The rickshaw van is the only form of local transport.
Fishing is the primary occupation of the people. Agriculture is almost non-existent because of the extreme salinity of adjacent sea which inundates the land heavily affecting the fertility of the land.
There is a fishing harbour at Frasergunj run by Benfish, a wing of the state government has a presence nearby.

Tourism

Accessibility

and Lothian are two forested islands nearby. The only means of travel to the islands is by crude motorised country boat and then there are no jetties in the islands.

Transport

Bakkhali is on the National Highway 12.
Namkhana railway station is located nearby.

Healthcare

There is a primary health centre at Fraserganj, with 10 beds.