Bandel

:For the German-American structural engineer see Hannskarl Bandel

Founded by Portuguese settlers, Bandel () is a town in Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is under chinsurah police station of Chinsurah subdivision. A major junction station of Eastern Railway, it is 40 km from Howrah station. The Howrah–Bardhaman line, the Bandel–Naihati line and the Bandel–Katwa line meet here.

History

Bandel church

Earlier, there was a Portuguese settlement at Bandel. The Church and the Monastery were built around 1660 by the Portuguese. Bandel Church is one of the oldest Christian churches in West Bengal. It is dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Rosário, also known as "Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem", meaning "Our Lady of the Good Voyage". The keystone of an older church with the year 1599 on it adorns the riverside gate of the monastery attached to it.

Geography

Bandel is located at

Economy

Bandel Thermal Power Station was started with a capacity of 82.5 MW in 1965. It has since been expanded and currently has a rated capacity of 530 MW. It is operated under the West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL).

Schools

Bandel Mahatma Gandhi Hindi High School (Co-Ed)

Blooming Buds School Bandel (Est.1989)

Dunlop English Medium School

Bandel Vidyamandir High School

Auxilium Convent

Don Bosco

Sahaganj Dunlop High School

Bandel St. John's High School

Abbot Shishu Hall (Estd. 1979)(Co-Ed)(English)

Hooghly Gour Hari Harijan Vidya Mandir

Elite Co-Ed School

Bandel St. John's High School,Bandel Church,Hooghly Hooghly Branch (GOVT) high school Pratibandhi Kalyan Kendra, a centre for children with disability.

Colleges

Hooghly Engineering and Technology College

Modern Institute of Engineering and Technology

Chandernagore Government College

Hooghly Mohsin College

West Bengal Survey Institute

Hooghly Mohsin College (Estd. 1836)

Hooghly Women's College

Hooghly Institute of Technology[HIT]

Bengal School Of Technology

Techno India College (Estd.-2007)

Hooghly Engineering and Technology College

Technique Polytechnic Institute

Modern Institute of Engineering & Technology

ChandanNagar Institute of Management & Technology

Academy of Technology

Nearby places

Debanandapur

It is the birth place of the Bengali author Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay and is about 3 km west from Bandel Station. His dwelling house is still there. There also is a library named Sarat Smrithi Pathagar, which includes a museum room containing the things used by the famous writer. The village has some 19th century atchala temples. It is one of the seven important villages named Saptagram at the time of Mughals.

Sahaganj

Sahaganj is 4 km from Bandel station. A unit of Dunlop India Ltd. is located here. Ruias purchased Dunlop India Ltd. from the Dubai-based Jumbo group owned by the Chhabarias.the pin code is 712104. and resumed production in January 2007 after 8 years.

Satellite view of Sahaganj and adjoining areas

Tribeni

Tribeni is 8 km from Bandel on the Bandel-Katwa line. Tribeni Tissues Limited, a specialty paper manufacturing company and a major supplier of tissue paper to the cigarette industry, is located at Tribeni. It was taken over by ITC in 1990.

Other places

Mogra - 7 km

Bansberia - 4 km

References

Category:Cities and towns in Hooghly district