Digha

Digha is a seaside resort town in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies in Purba Medinipur district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. It has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach. It is a popular sea resort in West Bengal.[1]

For other uses, see Digha (disambiguation).

Digha
Coastal Town
Sunrise at Digha
Digha
Coordinates: 21°38′18″N 87°30′35″E
CountryIndia
StateWest Bengal
DistrictPurba Medinipur
Development AuthorityDigha Sankarpur Development Authority (DSDA)
Elevation
6 m (20 ft)
Languages
 • OfficialBengali
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Vehicle registrationWB
Websitewww.dsda.gov.in

History

Originally, there was a place called Beerkul, where Digha lies today. This name was referred in Warren Hastings's letters (1780) as Brighton of the East.[1]

An English businessman John Frank Snaith started living here in 1923 and his writings provided a good exposure to this place. He convinced West Bengal Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy to develop this place to be a beach resort. An old church can be seen near the Old Digha Main gate. This place is also known as Alankarpur Digha. A new mission has been developed in New Digha which is known as Sindhur Tara which is beside Amrabati Park its a Church where it is possible to wish for the welfare of family and loved ones. The best way to visit is to book a local van rickshaw. There are so many place where one can travel which give mental refreshments, like Tajpur, Odisa Border, Science City etc.[2][1][3]

Geography
Cities and towns in Contai subdivision of Purba Medinipur district
M: municipal city/ town, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, H: historical/ religious centre, S: port, sea-beach
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly

Location

Digha is located at 21°38′18″N 87°30′35″E. It has an average elevation of 6 metres (20 ft).

It is located 183 km (114 mi) from Kolkata/Howrah via Mecheda and 234 km (145 mi) via Kharagpur, this proximity has probably helped this small hamlet to emerge as a weekend getaway with number of hotels and tourist lodges. Digha is connected to Kolkata/Howrah by a highway and a rail-link via Tamluk. Now many trains including Howrah-Digha Super AC express, Tamralipta express, Kandari express and EMU locals from Santragacchi via Mecheda and Tamluk run between Digha and Howarh and other stations in eastern India.It is also located under Contai Sub division.

Police stations

Digha police station has jurisdiction over part of Ramnagar I (part) CD Block. It covers an area of 3,153 km2 with a population of 35,054. It is located in old Digha.[4]

Digha Mohana Coastal police station is located in Digha.[5]

Urbanisation

93.55% of the population of Contai subdivision live in the rural areas. Only 6.45% of the population live in the urban areas and it is considerably behind Haldia subdivision in urbanization, where 20.81% of the population live in urban areas.[6]

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.

Hospital

There is a District Hospital near old Digha which provides good medical facilities. There is Contai Sub divisional Hospital and Sanjiban Hospital 31 k.m from Digha.

Climate

There are mainly five seasons in Digha, namely summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. Summer starts in April and continues until June with a maximum temperature of 37 °C (99 °F). Although cold wind from the sea keeps the weather pleasant in this time. Next comes monsoon in July and lasts till the end of September. Digha generally experiences an average rainfall with high humidity in the monsoon season. Autumn sets in October and lasts till mid of December with an average temperature of around 25 degree Celsius. The weather remains very pleasant this time. Winter sets in the second half of December and lasts till mid February with an average temperature of 15/16 degree Celsius. The spring is the most enjoyable season in Digha starting from mid February to mid April. The hotels remain full of their capacity as tourist inflow is the highest in this peak season.[2]

Climate data for Digha (1981–2010, extremes 1982–2009)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 32.9
(91.2)		 36.0
(96.8)		 38.0
(100.4)		 41.3
(106.3)		 42.0
(107.6)		 39.0
(102.2)		 37.3
(99.1)		 36.0
(96.8)		 36.2
(97.2)		 38.2
(100.8)		 34.5
(94.1)		 32.5
(90.5)		 42.0
(107.6)
Average high °C (°F) 25.5
(77.9)		 27.8
(82.0)		 30.7
(87.3)		 32.1
(89.8)		 32.9
(91.2)		 32.5
(90.5)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31.2
(88.2)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31.4
(88.5)		 29.6
(85.3)		 27.0
(80.6)		 30.3
(86.5)
Average low °C (°F) 14.0
(57.2)		 18.0
(64.4)		 22.6
(72.7)		 25.5
(77.9)		 26.6
(79.9)		 26.7
(80.1)		 26.4
(79.5)		 26.2
(79.2)		 25.9
(78.6)		 23.7
(74.7)		 18.7
(65.7)		 14.3
(57.7)		 22.4
(72.3)
Record low °C (°F) 7.6
(45.7)		 8.8
(47.8)		 12.6
(54.7)		 17.9
(64.2)		 18.3
(64.9)		 20.8
(69.4)		 20.4
(68.7)		 21.4
(70.5)		 21.0
(69.8)		 15.8
(60.4)		 9.8
(49.6)		 8.8
(47.8)		 7.6
(45.7)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 14.0
(0.55)		 25.7
(1.01)		 32.9
(1.30)		 42.4
(1.67)		 138.9
(5.47)		 299.6
(11.80)		 259.1
(10.20)		 309.3
(12.18)		 330.7
(13.02)		 187.4
(7.38)		 52.8
(2.08)		 3.4
(0.13)		 1,696.1
(66.78)
Average rainy days 1.0 1.8 2.2 2.9 6.2 10.7 13.1 14.3 12.2 6.7 1.9 0.3 73.2
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) 68 71 74 78 79 81 82 82 81 77 71 67 76
Source: India Meteorological Department[7][8]

Transport

Bus service

There is frequent bus service to Digha from Dharmatala, Baruipur Garia and Joka bus stand of Kolkata, Burdwan, Bolpur, Siliguri, Asansol, Kirnahar, Baharampur, Serampore and many other parts of West Bengal. Buses are available from Howrah as well, a connection has been made from Sealdah to Digha where a private bus arrives at 8:30 am throughout the week. It takes the shortest route from Sealdah connecting S.N Banerjee road, Taltala, Wellington, Dharmatala to Howrah station, it departs from Howrah Station within 5 min to Digha. Digha is connected to Kolkata Metropolitan Area with E17 (Barasat), E17/1 (Barasat), E19 (Habra), E19D (Dumdum station), E45 (Joka), E46 (Saltlake Karunamoyee), E54 (Sreerampore), E55 (Madhyamgram), E56 (Baduria), ACT5 (Barasat), ACT8 (Habra), ACT9 (Saltlake Karunamoyee), ST31 (Dharmatala) etc.[9]

Train service

In 2004, train services have started for Digha railway station (Station Code : DGHA). There is one DMU service from Santragachi railway station and there are three new trains from Howrah Station too.

Train NameStart <-> Destination
Tamralipta ExpressHWH <-> DGH
Paharia ExpressNJP <-> DGH
Super AC ExpressHWH <-> DGH
Kandari ExpressHWH <-> DGH
Puri Digha Superfast ExpressPuri <-> DGH
Mecheda LocalMCA <-> DGH
Santragachi LocalSRC <-> DGH

Air

Area

Digha's old beach is not as wide as it used to be due to heavy soil erosion. Big stones and concrete steps are used to hold together the beach. Another problem is the record number of storm surges that have caused many of the unplanned shacks and smaller hotels to succumb to the sea. Since it is one of very few popular beaches in West Bengal, it gets overcrowded, especially during the cooler winter break.

A new beach has been developed "New Digha" which is about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the old beach. This new beach is not only bigger than the old one, but might be considered a better one. It is clean and well-maintained and is not surrounded by a congested locality like the older beach. The latest attraction of New Digha is the Science Centre established by the National Council of Science Museums. The entire stretch of the Digha seaface from Old Digha to New Digha is filled with casuarina plantations.

Marine Aquarium and Research Centre (MARC)

It was established in the year 1989 during the Seventh Five Year Plan. The major objective of the Centre is to display the marine biodiversity of the region and impart its values to the common people and to carryout the research activities.

Lord Shiva Temple At Chandaneswar

This place is only 8 km (5.0 mi) away from Digha the century-old Temple of Lord Shiva at Chandaneswar, near Bengal and Orissa Border. Chandaneswar is part of Odisha. During the Bengali month of Chaitra, an annual fair is organised here. Nearly half million people and pilgrims visit the temple.

Old Digha
  • Express train at Digha station
  • Bus stand at Digha
  • Digha Gate
  • Beach net fishing at Digha

New Digha
  • Sea of humanity at the sea beach
  • Inflatable motor boat riding
  • Horse riding
  • Earning a living

Around Digha

References
  1. "Digha page in National Informatics Centre site". Archived from the original on 7 February 2006. Retrieved 2 April 2006.
  2. "About the Place, Digha Sankarpur development Authority". Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  3. "West Bengal Tourishm, Digha". Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  4. "Digha PS". Purba Medinipur District Police. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  5. "Digha Mohana Coastal PS". Purba Medinipur District Police. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  6. "District Statistical Handbook 2014 Purba Medinipur". Table 2.2. Department of Planning and Statistics, Government of West Bengal. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  7. "Station: Digha Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 251–252. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  8. "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M234. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  9. http://transport.wb.gov.in/transport-services/bus-services/
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