Sandeshkhali II

Sandeshkhali II
Community development block
Coordinates: 22°22′N 88°54′E / 22.36°N 88.90°E / 22.36; 88.90
Country India
StateWest Bengal
DistrictNorth 24-Parganas
Government
 • TypeRepresentative democracy
Area
 • Total197.21 km2 (76.14 sq mi)
Elevation
6 m (20 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total160,976
 • Density820/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialBengali, English
Literacy (2011)
 • Total literates98,805 (70.96%)
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
743446 (Sandeshkhali)
Telephone/STD code03218
ISO 3166 codeIN-WB
Vehicle registrationWB-23, WB-24, WB-25, WB-26
Lok Sabha constituencyBasirhat
Vidhan Sabha constituency123-Sandeshkhali, 126-Hingalganj
Websitenorth24parganas.nic.in

The Hungry Tide
In the beginning…there was nothing but forests here. There were no people, no embankments, no fields. Just kada and bada, mud and mangrove. At high tide most of the land vanished under water. And everywhere you looked there were predators – tigers, crocodiles, sharks, leopards…This was a time when people were so desperate for the land that they were willing to sell themselves for a bigha or two.[1]

Amitav Ghosh

Sandeshkhali-II is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

  1. ^ Ghosh, Amitav, The Hungry Tide, p. 51, Harper Collins/India Today group