Social,
Environmental & Economic Sustainability
Our analysis of the rank of the district
Backwardness : 182
Sex Ratio Rank : 195
(Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : C
(HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 - 2006)
Disability : 43 (Census 2001)
Literacy Ratio : 550 (Census 2001)
Minority : Yes
Water : Occurrence of High Arsenic in Ground Water
Challenges of the district : Our research with local communities
Corruption is prevalent in most of the government
schemes for the underprivileged of the district. As a result many
of the deprived people are not getting the benefits of various government
programmes. Most of them (underprivileged) are anyway unaware of
various government programme and its benefits.
Teachers do not attend the schools. Students waste their time by
playing during the school hours, as there is no one to teach them.
Anganwadis in the district are not functioning properly.
Brief About Darbhanga District
Wet land areas of Darbhanga district in general
and Kusheshwarasthan block (Biraul Sub-division) in particular
is the WINTER CAPITAL of approx 15 rare and endangered species
of MIGRATORY BIRDS. The WINGED GUESTS coming from over eight countries
swarm the vast water bodies spread in approx 8100 hects. during
winter between November and March.
Location: Longitude: 85 degree 40' -86 degree
25' East, Latitude: 25 degree 53' - 26 degree 27' North
Height from sea level: 49 meters.
Approx 45 Kms East of Darbhanga Town.
Santuary Area: 6700 hects Chour Area, 1400 hects
of Low land area. No. of Ponds/Chours - 202 govt. 412 Private.
History
The history of Darbhanga dates back to the Ramayana and Mahabharata
periods. According to the Vedic sources, the Videhas of Aryan
stock first migrated to the area from the banks of Saraswati in
Punjab. They were guided to the east of Sadanira (Gandak river)
by Agni, the God of Fire. Settlements were established and, thus,
flourished the kingdom of Videhas-the Selfless. In course of time
Videhas came to be ruled by a line of kings called Janaks. In
this line of kings there was a very famous king named Mithi. To
commemorate his greatness the territory was named as MITHILA.
Another famous king was Janak Sirdhwaja, father of Sita. The legends
speak of various learned men patronized by Janak Sirdhwaja, who
himself was an erudite scholar. Among them prominent were Yagyavalkya,
who codified the Hindu law in his Yagyavalkya Smriti and Gautam,
who had various valuable philosophical treatises to his credit.
King Janak was himself a great philosopher and his ideas have
been eternally enshrined in the Upanishads.
Traditions also speak of Kapil Muni's relationship with this area
that propounded the Sankhya philosophy. Association of this area
with Pandavas is also evident by the belief that they stayed here
during their period of exile.
The learned men like Vidyapati, Kumaril Bhatt, Mandan Mishra,
Nagarjun, Vibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhya and Vidushi Bhariti belonged
to this reason.
The name of the district has been derived from its head quarter
and principal town, which is said to have been founded by Darbhangi
Khan. It is also said that the name Darbhanga was derived from
Dwar-Banga or Dar-e-Bang meaning "THE GATEWAY TO BENGAL".
Darbhanga is one of the important districts of North Bihar situated
in the very heart of Mithilanchal - the fertile, alluvial plains
of North India. Under the British rule, Darbhanga was a part of
Sarkar Tirhut upto 1875, when it was constituted into a separate
district. The sub-divisions of the then district Darbhanga were
created as earlier as Darbhanga Sadar in 1845, Madhubani in 1846
and Samastipur in 1867. Darbhanga was part of Patna Division till
1908, when the separate Tirhut Division was carved out. Darbhanga
became the Divisional headquarters in 1972 when all its three
sub-divisions got the status of separate districts. Thus the present
Darbhanga district took shape.
Geographical Profile
Presently Darbhanga district is having the total geographical
area of 2279 sq. km. and population of 2507815 according to 1991
census. It is situated between longitude 85 degree 45’- 86 degree
25’ East and latitude 25 degree 53’ - 26 degree 27’ North and
is bounded on the north by Madhubani district, on the south by
Samastipur district, on the east by Saharsa district and on the
west by Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts.
Geological Profile
The District of Darbhanga can be divided into four natural divisions.
The eastern portion consisting of Ghanshyampur, Biraul and Kusheshwarsthan
blocks contain fresh silt deposited by the Kosi River. This region
was under the influence of Kosi floods till the construction of
Kosi embankment in the Second Five Year Plan. It contains large
tracts of sandy land covered with wild marsh.
The second division comprised of the anchals lying south of the
Boorhi Gandak river and is the most fertile area in the district.
It is also on higher level than the other part of the district
and contains very few marshes. It is well suited to the rabbi
crops.
The third natural region is the doab between the Burhi Gandak
and Baghmati and consists of the low-lying areas dotted over by
chaur and marshes. It gets floods every year.
The fourth division covers the Sadar sub-division of the district.
This tract is watered by numerous streams and contains some up-lands.
The district has a vast alluvial plain devoid of any hills. There
is a gentle slope from north to south with a depression on the
centre. Numerous rivers originating in the Himalays water this
district. Out of these rivers Kamla, Baghmati, Kosi and Kareh
are of most importance.
The District has somewhat dry and healthy climate. There are three
well-marked seasons, the winter, the summer & the Rainy season.
The cold weather begins in November and continues up to February,
though March is also somewhat cool. Westerly winds begin to blow
in the second half of March and temperature rises considerably.
May is the hottest month when the temperature goes up to 107 degree
Fahrenheit. Rain sets in towards the middle of June. With the
advent of the Rainy seasons, temperature falls and humidity rises.
The moist heat of the Rainy season is very oppressive up to August
.The rain continues till the middle of October. Average rainfall
is 1142.3 mm. around 92% of rainfall is received during monsoon
months.
