Browsing by Subject "Darjeeling District"

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    Bank erosion and associated problems in upper mahananda basin in Darjeeling district, West Bengal
    (University of North Bengal, 2021) Sarkar, Pompi,; Mandal, D.K.
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    Drug addiction among the youths of Darjeeling District: A sociological study'
    (University of North Bengal, 2024) Majumdar, Pintu; Biswas, Saswati
    Drug addiction has become one of the severe menaces all over the world, and India is no exception to that. In India, 26th June is celebrated as the 'Anti-Drug Abuse Day' every year, and a great awareness campaign has been organized nationally to reduce the magnitude of drug addiction. Irrespective of the government's initiatives, the extent of the behaviour is rising daily. The issue is very dynamic and complex in its existence. Thereby, a keen analysis of the subject is needed as it hampers the lives of the youth in most cases in India. The present study is an endeavor to know and understand drug addiction in the Darjeeling district from a sociological point of view. The region has been selected as a field for the study due to its vibrant activities concerning drug-related activities. The region under study is strategically significant and shares international and national boundaries which makes the region prone to cross-border smuggling and trade of illegal substances. The region is being used by the traffickers to store, traffic, and sell different drugs thereby, the region becomes prone towards drug-related activities. An attempt has been made to understand the extent and pattern of drug addiction in the region under study. The researcher has reviewed several secondary literature of the existing scholarship on drug addiction to get the basic idea of drug addiction and the way the behaviour has been perceived in society historically. A review of the literature enables the researcher to find out the specific research gap for the study. The study continues to assess the problem comparatively as the hills area and plains area of the district. To accomplish the research on the issue, the study set off some major objectives to comprehend the dynamicity of the issue in the field. The study intends to find out the specific pattern and magnitude of the behaviour based on the major causes that countenance the problem in contemporary times. Moreover, the study tries to locate the role of different factors like religious, cultural, political, and economic, as these factors were found very crucial in different research works on addiction. In drug addiction, peer groups play a vital role in the dissemination and extension of the problem, and that remains a pertinent factor which deserves a sociological analysis. The study finds causal relationships between factors that influence the problem irrespective of age, sex, and community recognition in society. Also, the study discusses the socio-economic impact of the problem on the everyday life of the respondents. The endeavor links possible theories concerning drug addiction in contemporary times. A triangulation of theories has been employed to contextualize the present situation. Durkheim’s concept of Anomie and Merton’s idea of Strain helped to perceive the ideas relating to the major causes that push individuals toward drug abuse and addiction. Moreover, the study has made use of Social Learning Theories, Social and Self Control Theories, Differential Association, Liquid Modernity, and other theories to uncover the undermining issues relating to the problem. The theoretical background of the work helped in identifying major areas of the problem and also, analyzing the major dynamic factors along with their contribution to the behaviour. Methodologically, the study has followed a qualitative approach to comprehend and to detail the issues relating to the behavior, although the quantitative approach has been considered in some ways to represent the total respondents of the study. Both, primary and secondary data have been used in accomplishing the task. For secondary data, the study has consulted different books, journals, governmental reports, news articles, and many more to get a concrete idea. Primary data has been collected empirically with the help of different methods from the field of the study. Moreover, some methods are applied to cross-check the data and to get the actual scenario of the problem. The study has collected a total of forty case histories of the respondents from the region under study. The data of the study has been distributed in tabular form comparatively as respondents of rehabilitation centres and non-rehabilitation centres (local drug hubs). The study relied on ethnomethodological and phenomenological analysis of the behaviour of the respondents regarding drug abuse and addiction. To understand the relation between region and drug addiction, how/why regions vary on social problems from one another, the researcher discusses the basic characteristics of the region (Strategic, Administrative, Economic, Educational, Religious, Cultural) and their contribution in influencing the problem independently. An attempt has been made to discover the relationship between the region and drug-related activities and also the ways in which the very problem is increasing with the participation of youth continuously. In searching the above-mentioned statement, many factors have been found that are essential to the issue and also trigger drug-related activities in the region. Socio-economic background of the respondents has been analyzed on the basis of the empirical data which were collected from the field. Also, a critical overview has been placed concerning the basic background of the respondents in relation to the existing scholarship. Moreover, the study has identified major causes that intrigue individuals to indulge themselves in drug abuse and addiction-related activities. The study has found that although causes guide people towards drug consumption initially but, eventually, drug in-takers tend to produce new causes only for their association and continuous consumption of different drugs and to justify their activity. Contextualization of the problem shows that causes push individuals to the behaviour as a gateway but concerns (pleasures) are the main urge which takes users/abusers deep into the addiction. The findings of the thesis also say that the gendered participation in drug addiction and related activities is on the rise, and the participation of girls in the drug trade extends the path for other different crimes in contemporary times. Increasing involvement in drug addiction has a direct impact on other crimes like, sex work, murder, rape, et cetera, and they are also on the rise accordingly. An attempt has been made to assess the structural and functional analysis of the problem of drug abuse and addiction in the present situation. The researcher has prepared two complementary diagrams to denote the functional and structural operations that push individuals toward drug abuse and indulge further in the process. Major and vital factors have been identified which work severely in the process of addiction. As in the existing scholarship, the process of addiction is neglected. Thereby, an attempt has been put forward by the current scholar to portray the whole operational analysis by presenting different elements along with their contribution to the behaviour. The study suggests that during COVID-19, drug addiction and related activities increase due to the participation of people in the cross-border drug trade. The pandemic was the time when non-drug abusers (students and petty traders of goods and services) also participated on a large scale to earn easy money, which made the region available on
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    Geospatial analysis of road transport network of Siliguri City, Darjeeling District, West Bengal
    (University of North Bengal, 2023) Paul, Biswajit; Sarkar, Subir
    An understanding of the potential traffic effects associated with the development of a well-managed transportation system is typically provided by a transportation network analysis, which contributes to overall urban development. The transportation system in Siliguri City includes both roads and railroads; however, roads are the predominate means for carrying a significant amount of the traffic produced in the city. Rapid urban transportation systems like the metro and local trains are not an option in the city. Because commuters are unable to use alternative modes of transportation, the city becomes extremely congested, reducing both human and technological productivity. The current study examines the condition of the Road Transport Network in Siliguri City of Darjeeling District (West Bengal), using both primary and secondary data and information. Some of the methodologies adopted are: descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk test, segment delay, delay rate, relative delay rate, delay ratio, average travel speed, density of vehicles, graph theoretic measures, volume of traffic/hour, PCUs/hour, day-of-week variability pattern, Single factor ANOVA, composite score, and Spearman’s rank correlation. The study area includes the entire Siliguri Municipal Corporation, covering an area of 41.9 square kilometres and 47 wards. Four objectives are met in order to examine the current conditions of the city's major roads, such as, Physical and functional characteristics of the major arterial roads; examining the degree of accessibility and connectivity of the major roadway network; analysis of the traffic flow along the major arterial roads and the relationship between road transport and various service facilities of Siliguri city. As the city has already begun to experience intense and protracted traffic congestion at key intersections, causing the average travel time to multiply within a few years, Siliguri urgently needs to pay attention to its urban road and traffic management. By examining the connection between road development and urban services, the study considers the road transport system from both a geographical and an overall developmental perspective. Additionally, the study aims to offer some suggestions and recommendations for addressing Siliguri's traffic issues in a methodical and effective manner. There are a number of findings established from both the qualitative and quantitative analysis in the previous chapters. Following are the major findings made from the analyses: Hill Cart Road is the busiest and most important road in Siliguri, holding the maximum share of daily PCUs per hour. The primary mode of transportation is private two-wheelers or motor cycles. The proportion of slow moving vehicles, consisting of e-rickshaws, bicycles, and rickshaws, is the second-highest mode of commutation, resulting in traffic V congestion along the arterial road sections. Except for AH 2 (30-45 km/h) and the Eastern Bypass Road (> 45 km/h), the average travel speed remains below 30 km/h on most arterial roads. Throughout the day, vehicle density on Hill Cart Road between Safdar Hasmi Chowk and Gurunanak Chowk remains high (> 11000 vehicles per hour or kilometre). Considering the alpha index, which is used for checking the network connectivity, it is seen that ward no 11 has the highest index value i.e. 0.33, Ward 28 has an index value of 0.29 and Ward 12 has 0.2. Other than these three wards all the other 44 wards in the city have alpha index value ‘0’ (table 4.3). Beta index has been calculated for the road networks in the city, according to the different existing wards (47 in number). It is seen that ward 20 and 23 has the lowest beta index value, ‘0’ and the highest value is in ward number 28, i.e. 1.17. Ward 11 and 12 have a similar beta index value i.e. 1. Whereas gamma index calculated shows that wards 13, 16, 19, 20,21, 22, 23, 30,36, 37 have the lowest index value, i.e. 0, the highest index value can be seen in wards 5,9, 11,29, 25,39 And 44. In case of the eta index calculated Ward Number 20 and 23 have the lowest value 0. Whereas the ward 42 of the city has the highest value 1.39. Like the other indices that have been calculated and discussed prior to this. We see in case of the pi index calculated, Ward 20 has the lowest value and ward 11 the highest. Road density in terms of major roads is maximum in the Ward Number 14 whereas road density is highest in Ward Number 18 considering all major and local roads. Nodal density is also highest in Ward Number 18. Ward Number 8 and 18 recorded with highest composite connectivity score whereas the low zone of connectivity includes 55.32 % of the 47 wards. Out of 41.9 square kilometres area, 11.65 square kilometres falls in most accessible physical zone of accessibility. In terms of total accessibility Safdar Hasmi Chowk and Mahabirsthan placed first position with more than 280000 scores representing most accessible nodes of the city. Inadequate transportation could also be responsible for traffic jams, congestion, travel delays, environmental degradation, and loss of productivity. Arterial roads are very few in Siliguri, the total length of arterials is 28.68 kilometres out of 547.81 kilometres of total length. An effective plan has to be made by the authority for balanced distribution in order to improve overall connectivity and accessibility. Siliguri has become one of the fastest growing cities in India because of its geographical significance and is the gateway to the north eastern states of India and the Eastern Himalayan region. Despite having a number of arterial roads that have been widened and facilitated with road dividers, Hill Cart Road holds the maximum share of overall traffic.
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    ItemOpen Access
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    ItemOpen Access