Places and tea estates in the southern portion of Darjeeling Sadar subdivision (including Jorebunglow Sukhiapokhri CD block), and Mirik Subdivision in Darjeeling district CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, NP: national park/ wildlife sanctuary, TE: tea estate Abbreviations used in names – TG for Tea Garden (town/village), TE for Tea Estate Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly
Area overview
The map alongside shows a part of the southern portion of the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in the Darjeeling district. In the Darjeeling Sadar subdivision 61.00% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 39.00% of the population lives in the urban areas. In the Mirik subdivision 80.11% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 19.89% lives in the urban areas.[1][2] There are 78 tea gardens/ estates (the figure varies slightly according to different sources), in the district, producing and largely exporting Darjeeling tea. It engages a large proportion of the population directly/ indirectly.[3] Some tea gardens were identified in the 2011 census as census towns or villages.[4] 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.
There are several Tea Estate located in Sonada Valley: Oaks, Rungmook, Ceder's, Milling, Moondakotee, Ringtong, Balasun, Margaret's Hope, Kalej Valley. Balason River is best place for fishing where fish like trout is found in this region. Chatakpur Eco Village, 6 km uphill from the town is a very beautiful place attracting many tourists from where sunrise can be seen.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Census of India, Sonada Khasmahal had a total population of 11.635 of which 5,793 (50%) were males and 5,842 (50%) were females. There were 861 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The total number of literate people in Sonada Khasmahal was 9,482 (81.50% of the population over 6 years).[5]
Infrastructure
According to the District Census Handbook 2011, Darjiling, Sonada Khasmahal covered an area of 5.8073 km2. Among the civic amenities, it had 3 km of roads, the protected water supply involved overhead tank, spring and tap water from untreated sources. It had 2,075 domestic electric connections. Among the medical facilities, it had 1 dispensary/ health centre, 1 veterinary hospital and 4 medicine shops. Among the educational facilities it had were 11 primary schools, 4 middle schools, 4 secondary schools, 2 senior secondary schools, 1 degree college. It had 5 shorthand, typewriting and vocational training institutes, 5 non-formal education centres (Sarva Siksha Abhiyan) and 1 special school for the disabled. Among the social, recreational and cultural facilities it had 1 orphanage home. It had the offices of 2 non-agricultural credit centres.[6]
Salesian College was established at Sonada in 1933. Affiliated with the University of North Bengal it offers honours courses in English, education, history, geography, mass communication & journalism, political science, psychology, sociology, accountancy, finance, management, computer science and mathematics, and general courses in arts, science and commerce.[7]
Sonada Degree College was established at Sonada in 1985. Affiliated with the University of North Bengal it offers honours courses in Nepali, English, history, political science and a general course in arts.[8]
References
^"Darjeeling". District Profile - General Information. District administration. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
^"District Census Handbook Darjiling, Census of India 2011, Series 20, Part XII A"(PDF). Section II Town Directory, Pages 419-422: Statement I: Status and Growth History, Pages 423; Statement II: Physical Aspects and Location of Towns, Pages 424-425; Statement III: Civic and other Amenities, Pages 426-427; Statement IV: Medical Facilities 2009, Pages 428-430 Statement V: Educational, Recreational and Cultural Facilities, Pages 431: Statement VI:Industry and Banking. Directorate of Census Operations V, West Bengal. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
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