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Mirik
Town in West Bengal, India From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mirik is a small town and a Notified Area of Darjeeling district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Mirik subdivision. The name Mirik comes from the Lepcha words Mir-Yok meaning "place burnt by fire".
 | This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: unencyclopaedic and unreferenced information. (August 2016) |
Mirik | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Mirik town with a view of Sumendu Lake | |
  Mirik Location in West Bengal, India  Mirik Mirik (India) | |
| Coordinates: 26.887°N 88.187°E | |
| Country |  India |
| State | West Bengal |
| District | Darjeeling |
| Government | |
| • Type | Notified Area |
| • Body | Mirik Notified Area |
| • Chairman | L.B. Rai (TMC) |
| Area | |
• Town | 6.50 km2 (2.51 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,495 m (4,905 ft) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Town | 11,363 |
| • Density | 1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 58,000 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Nepali, English |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Darjeeling |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Kurseong |
Mirik Bazar began a commercial centre of the region where people from the surrounding villages and tea gardens came to trade and buy their necessities. The present lake area was a marshland with thick growth of sweet flag (Acorus calamus, locally called bojho). A playground stood in the present garden area where the British officers played polo.
In 1969, the West Bengal tourism department began the process of acquiring 335 acres of land from the neighboring Thurbo tea estate. The work of developing this land into a tourist spot began in 1974 when Siddhartha Shankar Ray was the chief minister of West Bengal. The tourist spot, which included the newly built lake and the Day Centre, was inaugurated by the next chief minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, in April 1979. With the flourishing of tourism, Krishnanagar developed on the other end of the lake with hotels and restaurants catering to tourists.
Mirik became the sub-divisional headquarters of Mirik subdivision on 30 March 2017.
Mirik has become a tourist destination for its climate, natural environment and easy accessibility. The centre of all attraction is Sumendu Lake, surrounded by a garden named Savitri Pushpaudyan (after Savitri Thapa, a martyr soldier of INA) on one side and pine trees on the other, linked together by an arching footbridge called Indreni Pool (named after Indreni Thapa, a martyr soldier of INA). A 3.5-km-long road encircles the lake and is used for walks with the view of Kangchenjunga on the far horizon. Boating on the quaint boats and horse riding are available.
Mirik has an average elevation of 1,495 m (4,905 ft). The highest point is the Bokar Monastery at about 1,768 m (5,801 ft). Mirik lake at about 1,494 m (4,902 ft) is the lowest point. Mirik is 52 km (32 mi) northwest of Siliguri city and 49 km (30 mi) south-southwest of Darjeeling town. Mirik subdivision. The name Mirik comes from the Lepcha words Mir-Yok meaning "place burnt by fire".
The map alongside shows a part the southern portion of the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in the Darjeeling district. In the Darjeeling Sadar subdivision 61.00% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 39.00% of the population lives in the urban areas. In the Mirik subdivision 80.11% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 19.89% lives in the urban areas.[2][3] There are 78 tea gardens/ estates (the figure varies slightly according to different sources), in the district, producing and largely exporting Darjeeling tea. It engages a large proportion of the population directly/ indirectly.[4] Some tea gardens were identified in the 2011 census as census towns or villages.[5] Such places are marked in the map as CT (census town) or R (rural/ urban centre). Specific tea estate pages are marked TE.
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
The 2011 Census of India recorded a population of 11,513 in Mirik Notified Area (i.e., urban unit). 5688 were males and 5825 were females.[6] Mirik rural area (under 6 gram panchayats) recorded a total population of 46,374. Males numbered 23,394 and females 22,980.[7]
As per the 2001 Census of India, Mirik urban area had a total population of 9141. Males numbered 4619 and females 4522. Mirik rural area had a total population of 42,237. Males numbered 21,112 and females 21,125. The decadal growth rate of population (1991–2001) was -1.33.
The urban hub at Mirik is administered by a Municipality/Notified Area with nine wards while the outlying rural villages are taken care of by Mirik community development block, which has six Gram Panchayats: Chenga Panighata, Pahilagaon School Dara–I, Pahilagaon School Dara–II, Soureni–I, Soureni–II and Duptin.
A Taluka Court, which has a Civil Judge and a Judicial Magistrate, operates in Mirik.
There is a government Primary Health Centre at Mirik with six general physicians and one dentist. There are no specialist doctors but there is an optometrician. There are several medical shops at Krishnanagar and one pathological lab cum optical shop. There are few more medicine shops at Mirik Bazar.
As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in West Bengal, the area under Mirik municipality and Mirik block will be part of the Kurseong Assembly Constituency of West Bengal. Kurseong Assembly Constituency is an assembly segment of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha Constituency.
Mirik is 52 km (32 mi) northwest of Siliguri city and 49 km (30 mi) south-southwest of Darjeeling town.
Bagdogra (IATA airport code IXB) 52 km (32 mi) south of Mirik is the nearest airport and New Jalpaiguri adjacent to Siliguri is the nearest railway station.
Few buses ply from Mirik to Siliguri and Darjeeling and the fare is Rs. 70. Shared taxis operate from Mirik to Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kakarbhitta (Nepal), Sonada, and Kalimpong. The fare has risen recently to Rs. 150 for Siliguri, Kurseong and Darjeeling (2021) and Rs 120* for Kakarvitta and Sonada (2018) per passenger. One can hire a taxi at a cost of Rs. 1500 to 2500 for Darjeeling, Kurseong, Siliguri and Kakarbhitta(Nepal)*. Shared taxis also operate from Darjeeling, Siliguri, Kurseong, Sonada and Kakarbhitta to Mirik.
Shared taxis are operated from Mirik by Mirik Tours & Travels (Krishnanagar). Taxis are available for internal transportation within Mirik to travel from Mirik Lake (Krishnanagar) to Mirik Bazar at Rs. 20 per head.
Mirik Bazar, Thana Line, Krishnanagar, Deuseydara, Thurbo, Mirik Busty and Byapari Golai are some localities in Mirik where accommodation is available for tourists such as Lake View Villa. However, the majority of the hotels and restaurants are in the Krishnanagar area of Mirik. The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration operates a motel at a hilltop near the helipad at Ahalay and another tourist lodge located near the lake. There are other good hotels in Krishnanagar and some hotels in Mirik Bazar. There are many lodges and private guest houses. There is a Forest Rest House in Mirik that can be booked from the District Forest Office, Kurseong.[citation needed] There is also a PWD (Public Works Department) Inspection Bungalow near the lake that can be booked from Siliguri PWD office.
There are also many home stays that have started sprouting in the region owing to the large number of tourists who flock in.
There are six banks in Mirik, namely, State Bank of India (branch code: 7336) (Krishnanagar), Punjab National Bank formerly United Bank of India (Krishnanagar), Indian Overseas Bank (Krishnanagar), Central Bank of India (Mirik Bazar), Uttar Banga Kshetriya Gramin Bank (Soureni Bazar, 6 km on the way to Siliguri) and Punjab & Sind Bank (Mirik Bazar). There are seven ATMs, two of SBI (one located in Mirik Bazaar, one in Krishnanagar along with Cash Deposit machine), one of Central Bank of India (Mirik Bazaar), one of HDFC Bank, one of Axis Bank (both located at Krishnanagar) and two of IndiCash ATM (one located in Thana Line, Mirik and one in Soureni Bazar).
Other financial institutes like Postal Savings, NABARD, Bandhan Finance, and Customer Service Points of private financial institutions are available.
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