Barobisha

Barobisha বারবিশা
Town
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	[Alipurduar]]
Government
• Body	Gram Panchayet
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	736207
Telephone code	03564
Vehicle registration	WB
Nearest city	Alipurduar
Lok Sabha constituency	Alipurduar
Civic agency	Gram Panchayet
Climate	Tropical humid (Köppen)

Barobisha satsangha mandir বারবিশা সৎসঙ্গ মন্দির in the name of Anukul Thakur শ্রীশ্রী অনুকূল ঠাকুর

File:Barobisha Baro-kalithakur in Vivekananda club 26 Dec 2008.jpg

Barobisha Baro-kalithakur বারবিশা বড়কালী ঠাকুর in Vivekananda club বিবেকানন্দ ক্লাব premises on the eve of Diwali কালীপুজা

Barobisha or Barabisa বারবিশা is a fast developing business and cultural hub located on the National Highway 31C, towards Assam. It is 8 km away from the Bengal-Assam border.

Barobisha comes under Kumargram Block. Gram panchayats of Kumargram block/ panchayat samiti are: Chengmari, Kamakhyaguri I, Kamakhyaguri II, Khoardanga I, Khoardanga II, Kumargram, Newland, Kumargram Sankosh, Rydak, Turturi Khanda, Valka Barovisha I and Valka Barovisha II.

Barobisha is the gateway to exotic locations like Newlands Tea Garden, Rasikbil migratory bird sanctuary (West Bengal), Kalikhola, Geylegphug, and Phuntsholing ফুলশিলিং Bhutan. The place is famous for its Marathon football league and Kali-mela (the fair on the eve of Goddess Kali worship বড়-কালীমেলা). To its north lies Bhutan hills, south lies Bangladesh and east lies Assam state. Raidak রায়ডাক and Sankosh সংকোশ (Wang Chhu and Tsang Chu in Bhutan) are two rivers on the west and east sides of the place. Currently the major portion of Barobisha is getting a massive facelift as it has been demolished on 7 December 2010 due to reconstruction for the National Highway expansion project, which is almost complete (July 2014).

Location

• Latitude: 26.28 North
• Longitude: 089.49 East
• Pin Code: 736207
• Outpost: Barobisha
• District: Alipurduar
• Nearest City: Alipurduar
• State: West Bengal (North)
• Subtropical plains

Major localities

Barobisha bazar and Montala মনতলা, Howlipotty, Christian math and Laskar Para, Radhanagar and Laal School, JNV ( Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya ) Central Board School with full Resident, Chakchaka চকচকা & New town, Satsang mandir সৎসঙ্গ মন্দির & Dakshin rampur, Bawt-tola বটতলা and Shalbagan শালবাগান, commercial sales tax office at Assam gate & Shantibon.

Noted places include Christian Math (Mantola), Gaurion math (Laskar Para লস্করপাড়া), Barobisha Indane Gramin Vitarak, flood shelter (now Police Fadi পুলিশ ফাঁড়ি - Jorai Road), Seventh Day Adventist School (Mission More),Tirkey Villa, (Laskarpara/mission more) Open Truth School (Chakchaka), girls' school (Shikkhok palli শিক্ষকপল্লী) and higher secondary school (opposite to Vivekananda Club), Saroda Pally (Vivekananda football ground), Lions International club, State Bank of India, and Uttar Banga Kshetriya Gramin Bank.

The nearest railway station Jorai and nearest Hospital Laal School (towards Bhutan Pahar).

Occupation

Most of the people rely on business like timber, fishing, vegetable, and retail clothing. Assam-Bengal Commercial/Sales Tax office also provides a large number of employments. Computer learning centres, state government jobs and agriculture provide other job opportunities.

Prominent personalities

Sri Rajendra Nath Das, Birendrakrishna Sarkar, Budhendra Kumar Singha Roy, Sri Madan Mohan Sutradhar, Rohini Kumar Pal, Niranjan Mallik, Manoranjan Basak, Sankar Kumar Ghosh, Birendrakishore Sarkar, Binodbihari Barman, Kanai Lal Barman, Manindranath Pal, Dhiresh Barman, Santosh kumar sarkar, Nelson Tirkey. Most of them were or are retired teachers and prominent socialites of Barobisha.

Cultural activities

Cultural activities which was started with the emergence of Natyam নাট্যম-the drama club and "Udaisree Sangha" in the 1980s and 1990s was further geared up by the "Pratyusha প্রত্যুষা Cultural Unit" with their annual drama festival. Apart from this, Dishari, Bawt-tola (or Battala) বটতলা, Swadhin-Bharat club, New-town, Man-tola মনতলা Friends Union Club, Chhanna Chhara Unit and Netaji Sangha নেতাজী সংঘ have also played a considerable role in this regards.

The local cable news network broadcasts a Sunday news bulletin. Local newspapers like Simanto Barta and Volka Samachar, edited by eminent literary persona the late Shantonu lahiri (Volka Samachar presently being published by his widow, M/s Dipali Bagchi) are reliable sources of information.

Sports initiatives

Barobisha has a strong and inspiring sports heritage, football in particular. The marathon football league held every year on the eve of Independence day witnesses a massive upsurge of spectators around the district or its neighbourhood area. However, with the advent of cricket in the 1990s, the craze for football has been reduced considerably.

Tourist guide

From here one can visit forests like Chilapata, Rajabhatkhawa, Khutimari, Nimti, Tiamarighat, Dhumpara, Newlands tea garden, and Shill-Bunglow.

The following info may be helpful for tourists:

• Hotels, Lodges & Resorts are available here for dine-in and night stay.
• China-made small, lucrative toys and utilities (imported from Siliguri Hong-Kong market and Dhulabari) are readily available here.
• Rasikbil রসিকবিল migratory bird sanctuary, near Kamakhyaguri
• Kalikhola, Bhutan, Rasikbil forest Cooch Behar and Shil Bungalow - Purba Shal Bari Near Barobisha good picnic spot Bhutan
• Barobisha: Bawt-tola (or Battala) Shaal-Bagan (collection of a large number of shorea robusta orsShaal trees).
• Buxa tiger reserve is just 60 km away from Barobisha.
• The nearest railway station, Kamakhyaguri, (although Jorai station is 2 km away but it is not the stoppage for important trains) is just 7 km away which connects to New Alipurduar, New Jalpaiguri, Howrah/Kolkata.
• The nearest airport is Bagdogra-179 km away, near Siliguri. Guahati airport is 267 km away.
• One can see Bhutanese currency Ngultrum here
• Boirali maach (বৈরালী মাছ): The rare fishes of Himalyan foothills - Danio rerio, Danio dangila and Barilius Barila are available in Raidak, Jorai and Sankosh river. Boirali fish derives its nutrition from microscopic Dufnia, Cyclop or from green algae Spirogyra or Volvox. These fishes are nowadays facing the crisis of extinction due to water pollution, excess use of pesticides and the frequent vibration caused by dynamite explosions in the hills. (Web page developed by Sudipto Ghosh)