Before 1947 Malbazar was a very small place, mainly known for its tea gardens mostly owned by British people. Those tea gardens had a few Bengali white collar employees and the work force consisted of tribal people.
After independence of India as well as partition of Bengal refugees from the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) started to settle here by cutting down forests. By that time, Narayan Chandra Bannerjee, Dr Amalendu Biswas (came from Pabna), Debaprasad Ghosh(Patal Babu), Dr Tarak Mukherjee, Nripendra nath Choudhary who came there from Dhaka established this city. Bannerjee had earned a lot of respect for his effective medical treatments and social services. He took initiatives to get the refugees settled there in an organised way. As a result, some colonies came up.
Later, due to efforts of Bannerjee, Amalendu Biswas, Nripendra nath Choudhary, Debaprasad Ghosh (Patal Ghosh), Sarat ch Ghosh, Dulal Sengupta, Makhan Bose established Adarsha Bidya Bhaban (a boys' high school). Narayan Chandra Bannerjee and Bipin Bihari Bandyopadhyay established Subhasini Balika Vidyalay (a girls' high school) in the 1950s. The Government Mal Grameen Hospital was established. Biswas contributed a lot as the only dentist of Malbazar. Nath Choudhury had helped the refugees get settled. Soon, the police station was shifted to Malbazar from nearby Kranti.
During that time, Jogesh Chandra Dutta was closely associated with Narayan Chandra Bannerjee, Amalendu Biswas, Nripendra nath Choudhary and others. Jogesh Chandra Dutta was the only practising ophthalmologist in that area. He was also closely associated with development of Mal RR Primary School.
In the 1970s Malbazar got its fire service station. Later, a street was named after Narayan Chandra Bannerjee. The street is called "Dr. Narayan Banerjee Sarani" just behind Subhasini Balika Vidyalaya and Mal Adarsha Bidya Bhaban.
Geography
8km 5miles
B
H
U
T
A
N
Jaldhaka River
Gatia River
Teesta River
Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary
NP
Gorumara National Park
NP
Chalsa TE
TE
Aibheeli TE
TE
Chalouni TE
TE
Jiti TE
TE
Hope TE
TE
Leesh River TE
TE
Meenglas TE
TE
Zurantee TG
R
Sulkapara
R
Samsing
R
Nagrakata
R
Murti
R
Gurjangjhora TG
R
Gajoldoba
R
Dam Dim
R
Batabari TG
R
Bagrakote
R
Dakshin Odlabari
CT
Odlabari
CT
Matelli
CT
Lataguri
CT
Mangalbari
CT
Malbazar
CT
Chalsa
CT
Places and tea estates in Malbabazar subdivision (including Mal, Nagrakata and Matiali CD blocks) in Jalpaiguri district CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, N: neighbourhood, NP: national park/ wildlife sanctuary, TE: tea estate Abbreviations used in names – TG for Tea Garden (town/village), TE for Tea Estate, JRS: junction railway station Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly
There is a government tourist lodge in Malbazar apart from a few private accommodations. An annual flower show is held, visited by people from places far and near.[citation needed]
Area overview
Gorumara National Park has overtaken traditionally popular Jaldapara National Park in footfall and Malbazar has emerged as one of the most important towns in the Dooars. Malbazar subdivision is presented in the map alongside.[7][8] It is a predominantly rural area with 88.62% of the population living in rural areas and 11.32% living in the urban areas.[9][10] Tea gardens in the Dooars and Terai regions produce 226 million kg or over a quarter of India's total tea crop.[11][12] Some tea gardens were identified in the 2011 census as census towns or villages.[13] Such places are marked in the map as CT (census town) or R (rural/ urban centre). Specific tea estate pages are marked TE.
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.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Census of India, Mal had a total population of 25,218 of which 12,814 (51%) were males and 12,404 (49%) were females. There were 1,161 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The total number of literate people in Mal was 20,354 (84.61% of the population over 6 years).[14]
In the 2001 census, Malbazar had a population of 23,212 out of which 12,111 were males and 11,101 were females. Decadal growth for the period 1991–2001 was 13.81% for Malbazar, against 21.52% in Jalpaiguri district. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84%.[15]
^"Mal municipality". Official website of the Department of Municipal Affairs, West Bengal. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
