Tingachhia

Geogaraphy

Tingachhia is a small locality in the township of katihar. Before creation of Katihar as a municipality Tingachhia used to be a village. Now it is part of Katihar municipality and it falls within Ward No 31 and Ward No 35. It is a prominent land mark of town. This particular locality boasts of many uniqueness. The area is part of Great Gangetic Plain. The area is creation of Kosi river and can be considered part of Kosi belt. This is evident from the dried Kosi Dhars(streams). One of the most prominent natural drainage known as Kathotia has taken shape of a dirty town sewage. The general elevation is very low. The Kosi canal passes by the side of Tingachhia. Once upon a time large area of Tingachhia was covered with mango orchards and Litchi orchards known as Phulwari- the prominenet being Narayan Mandal Phulwari, Mohan Mahto Phulwari and Doma Babu Phulwari. Now all these Phulwaris are no more in existence and one finds unplanned houses all around. The wells of Mangal Chand Jain, Manager and Balu Tola have dried up as it was lying unused for a long time. The area receives good rain fall, however, the cool environs of early times are missing.

History

Tingachhia is a very old locality and one finds its reference in the trade route from the Bihar plateue to Madhesh region. The origin of the name "Tingachhia" literally means place with three trees. The traders used to rest in the soothing shadows of these three trees and hence the name.Initially population was very scarce and most of the land owned by Zamindars were used for cultivation. With the increase in population the locality grew. However, this locality came in to prominence with industrialization. A Jute Mill was set up which is now known as Purana Jute Mill. At the same time one match factory was also set up however due to fires in the match factory twice the factory was closed.The Government of Bihar set up two agricultural farms for the development of farming. One of the farm known as Rajendra Jute Research Institute is doing pioneeering work in the area of Jute cultivation. This institute is a premier institute in India for the development of Jute cultivation.Under the ageis of Government of india the Bihar government set up a Krishi Bazar Samiti(Agriculture Market Yard) for marketing of agricultural produce in 974. This samiti is the centre for sell and purchase of agri products for whole of the Katihar district.The godowns and offices of State Food Corporation and Central Ware Housing Corporation are located in the Bazar Samiti premises.There is an office and centre of Jute Corporation of India for sale and purchase of Jute. In fact Tingachhia had been a trade centre for raw jute. The once famous Jute gola( now extinct) of Mangal Chand Jain in the 60s and 70s used to supply jute to the mills of Katihar and Calcutta(Kolkata).

Economy

The area is dotted by rice mills and large godowns. The people are mostly engaged in trading and transportation activities. Sizeable population is employed in education centre as there are schools and coaching institutes in the area. Many people are government employees. The Bazar Samiti itself is a big trading centre for paddy and jute. This is also a center for trading in the milk giving livestocks. In fact high yielding animals are brought here from other part of India and Bihar and sold to the people of adjoining area inculding the province of West Bengal. The cost of living is cheap. One can find fresh vegetables, fish and pure milk at a very cheap rate. Besides rice mills and Jute products there are two firms which are engaged in manufacturing of agricultural equipments. These agricultural equipments are even supplied to West Bengal and Nepal.

People & Culture

Most of the people in the area are settlers from outside commensurate with the industrialization and trading activities. The earliest and prominent employer being the Jute Mills. People mostly speak Hindi however in their houses they speak Bhojpuri, Maithili, Angika etc. There is sizable migrant population from Myanmar(Burma) settled in the Burma Colony. Some refugees from East Bengal now Bangla Desh have also chosen Tingachhia as their home. This locality boasts of two very old small colonies of Mushars( a scheduled caste) who speak a different dialect and have a unique cultural identity. Mushars is derived from the word "mouse-eaters". However, the urbanization and mixing with other people their identity is at a crisis and I am afraid that very soon they will be extinct. The another distinct set of people worth mentioning are Kadars. Like Mushars they are also scheduled caste and boast of a distinct cultural identity. As in other parts of Bihar caste factor is on rise and slowly it is becoming the deciding factor in the day to day activities. Most of the peoples in the locality of Tingachhia are out-siders.

Communication

The locality of Tingachhia is located at the southern fringe of Katihar Town. The main road passing throgh Tingachhia goes up to Manihari and now it is designated as Highway. This highway (north-south) bisects Tingachhia in two parts. The highway is very busy at is life line of the rural area coming to Katihar town. One can find rush of people coming from Manihari with Kaanwar during the month of Shravan to offer Ganga-Jal to Lord Shiva throgh this highway. During all pious occassion requiring bathing in the river Ganges this road becomes busier. The locality is three kilometers south-east of Katihar railway station and one has to pay Rs. 20 to take a rickshaw(cheapest mode of conveyance) to Tingachhia from the railway station. However, auto rickshaws and hired cars are also available at railway station. The nearest commercial airport is Bagdogra. The telecommunication facility is available in the locality and one can choose from fixed line of BSNL to mobile services of all the operators. There is DLC telephone exchange of BSNL in Tingachhia.