Bandel


Bandel is a city in the Hooghly district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It was founded by Portuguese settlers and falls under the jurisdiction of Chandernagore Police Commissionerate. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. Bandel is a major rail junction station of Eastern Railway zone, and is 38 km from Howrah railway station. Sir James Brooke, the first White Rajah of the Kingdom of Sarawak was born here in 1803.

Geography

Location

Bandel is located at and it has an elevation of 16 meter. The main river that flows by Bandel is Hooghly. The town is in Gangetic Plain.

Climate

Like the rest of the Ganges Delta of West Bengal, the climate is tropical wet-and-dry in nature. A prolonged hot and humid weather is the main characteristic of the climate of Bandel. The monsoon stays from early June to mid-September. Winter persists for almost three months, from mid-November to mid-February. The weather remains dry during the winter and humid during summer.
During the recent years, Bandel has been experiencing extremely high temperature with the maximum of 41°C occurring in the month of May. The lowest temperature observed in 2024 is 16°C in January. The summer season is usually observed first in April, but the high temperatures have once again, taken over. In 2025, temperature rise was observed as early as the beginning of February. Winter started in 2024 from the end of November. Low temperatures of winter are now no longer so high. In 2017, the lowest temperature of January was 13°C, and over the next 4 years it has dropped to about 8.4°C, a drop of 4.6°. And as for summer, the maximum temperatures have risen quite a bit. June is regarded as the hottest month of the year in Hooghly District with the temperature rising from 35°C in 2017 to 37.1°C in 2021, a rise of 2.1° followed by May.
Rainfall and precipitation is quite diverse in Bandel and also Hooghly District. In 2025, it rained in both January and February. This is quite rare considering rainy season usually starts in May, which is also regarded as the hottest season of the year. One day, presumably February 20 is the day of the highest rainfall in Bandel of February in 2025. On this day, the sky became very dark accompanied by thunderstorm, strong winds and eventually, rainfall. So much water had collected in the low-lying areas that it reached up to waist-level and it was technically impossible for two wheelers to pass through it. The rain continued for 8-12 hours and almost every ground was under water. All the places where rainwater had collected was left with water for about a day before it eventually drained. The rainfall on this day is approximately. Which is classified as 'Very Heavy Rain' according to the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology. The month of the highest rainfall is July, with more than 300 mm per year followed by August with more than 180 mm. The others with more than 80 mm are May, June, September and October.

Economy

  • Dunlop Factory: The famous Dunlop factory is situated at Sahaganj near Bandel. This factory was built by Dunlop India Limited in 1936. It is the first tyre manufacturing plant in Asia. However, it has been shut down owing to some issues in its administration.
  • BTPS: 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.
  • Bakery: Bandel is the base of many bakery industries.
  • Bandel Bazar: Bandel Bazar is one of the biggest and important markets of the district. It is the hub of agricultural import and export. Vegetables, fruits and rice are exported from the market.
  • Banks: At Bandel, there are branches of banks such as Allahabad Bank, Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, State Bank of India, UCO Bank, and, HDFC Bank.
  • Jupiter Wagons Ltd: Jupiter, an engineering company which manufactures railway based products such as Fright Wagons, Bogie & CMS Crossings, is located in front of Bandel ITI near Sahaganj.

    Transport

Train

Bandel has its own railway junction. At Bandel, there are two railway stations, Hooghly railway station and. Bandel Junction is an important railway station of Eastern Railway and is a model rail station. Bandel junction has 4 lines trains can go to. The station is situated approximately 40 km from Howrah station on the Howrah–Bardhaman main line. The Bandel–Katwa line meets the Howrah main line, here at Bandel Jn. Another branch line connects Bandel with Sealdah railway station and Kolkata railway station via. An EMU car-shed, as well as a goods yard, is situated in the neighbourhood of Bandel station.

Road and bus

/Grand Trunk Road passes through Bandel. The Grand Trunk Road divides Keota and Sahaganj. It passes through the urban areas of the city. To the north, the road is divided into two parts because the flyover at Dunlop is not yet completed and its construction is halted. However, the flyover has been untouched for or months or even years and will possibly not resume its construction and be completed. The flyover is said to start from Keota and end at the north part of Iswarbaha covering a distance of more than 1 km.
Government taxis and government buses are not found in Bandel like the rest of Hooghly district. This is simply because of the lack of major places to visit in the district and because railway services serve as the main transport method of the cities and towns. The nearest originating government buses are found in Naihati and the nearest originating government taxis are found in Howrah city before Bardhaman city.

Private bus

Auto rickshaws, e-rickshaws, and cycle-rickshaws all contribute to the public transport of Bandel.

Water

There is only one ferry ghat in Bandel, the Dunlop Ferry Ghat at Sahaganj. It is located beside the Dunlop Factory. Most ferries operate here between Halisahar and Sahanganj.
There are no bridges in Bandel. The closest rail bridge is Jubilee Bridge and Sampreeti Bridge in Chinsurah and the closest highway bridge is Ishwar Gupta Setu that serves the Barrackpore-Kalyani Expressway in Bansberia.

Air

The nearest airport to Bandel is the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Dum Dum, Kolkata.

Prominent places

Bandel Church

The most well known place in Bandel is the Bandel Church. Bandel Church is one of the oldest Christian Churches in West Bengal. It is located in the southern part of Sahaganj, Bandel. It was built by the Portuguese in 1599, dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Rosário. It is a parish church and part of the Archdiocese of Calcutta. It is one of the most prominent historical landmarks in Hooghly district as well as West Bengal.

Notable people

Like other parts of West Bengal, Durga Puja is the biggest festival of Bandel. Kartik Puja is one of the famous festivals celebrated in Bandel. Lakshmi Puja, Kali Puja, Viswakarma Puja, Saraswati Puja, Poila Boisakh, Ganesh Puja, Chhath Puja, Dol Yatra are also widely celebrated at Bandel. Puja pandals are built in various places for many of the above festivals. Olaichandi Mela is the biggest fair observed at Bandel in early summer after the Dol Yatra. Christmas is well attended at Bandel Church. Eid is the major festival celebrated by the Muslim community of Bandel. Another festival, 'Sitala Puja' is exclusive to Bandel, which is celebrated few weeks after the Dol Yatra.

Education

Schools

ICSE affiliated Schools

Debanandapur

is a village and gram panchayat in Bandel. It is the birthplace of the Bengali author Sarat 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.

Manushpur

Manushpur is a census town in Chinsurah Mogra CD Block in Chinsurah subdivision of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at As per the 2011 Census of India, the place has a population of 8,148. Keota, Manushpur, Naldanga, Kodalia, Kulihanda, Dharmapur and Simla form a cluster of census towns on the eastern side of Hugli-Chuchura.