Gaighata is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Bangaon subdivision of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

[1] Gaighata CD Block is part of the Ichhamati-Raimangal Plain, one of the three physiographic regions in the district located in the lower Ganges Delta.

[5] As per 2011 Census of India Gaighata CD Block had a total population of 330,287, of which 265,526 were rural and 64,761 were urban.

[6] Large villages in Gaighata CD block were (2011 census figures in brackets): Hanspur (4,113), Patabuka (4,845), Dharmpur (5,090), Jaleshwar (5,602), Narikela (5,222), Rampur (6,936), Ichhapur (5,999), Karola (4,127), Bagchara (5,745), Phulsara (8,716), Mondalpara (5,607), Angrail (6,978), Barnagaria (4,789), Bishnupur (4,119), Barasat (7,441), Panchpota (8,312) and Ramnagar (4,521).

[6] North 24 Parganas district is densely populated, mainly because of the influx of refugees from East Pakistan (later Bangladesh).

[21] 22.70% of households in Gaighata CD Block lived below poverty line in 2001, against an average of 29.28% in North 24 Parganas district.

[23] In more than 30 percent of the villages in North 24 Parganas, agriculture or household industry is no longer the major source of livelihood for the main workers there.

It includes factory, mining, plantation, transport and office workers, those engaged in business and commerce, teachers, entertainment artistes and so on.

[25] There are 100 inhabited villages in Gaighata CD Block, as per the District Census Handbook: North 24 Parganas.

97 villages (97.00%) have telephones (including landlines, public call offices and mobile phones).

[26] The North 24 Parganas district Human Development Report opines that in spite of agricultural productivity in North 24 Parganas district being rather impressive 81.84% of rural population suffered from shortage of food.

With a high urbanisation of 54.3% in 2001, the land use pattern in the district is changing quite fast and the area under cultivation is declining.

In 2010-11, persons engaged in agriculture in Gaighata CD Block could be classified as follows: bargadars 1,405 (2.23%), patta (document) holders 4,578 (7.26%), small farmers (possessing land between 1 and 2 hectares) 3,630 (5.76%), marginal farmers (possessing land up to 1 hectare) 24,655 (39.11%) and agricultural labourers 28,766 (45.64%).

[29] Gaighata CD Block had 164 fertiliser depots, 30 seed stores and 60 fair price shops in 2010-11.

[29] In 2010-11, the net area under effective pisciculture in Gaighata CD Block was 2,173.72 hectares.

However, this is not considered feasible because the river is highly polluted, costs would considerably increased because of installation of chemical treatment plant to remove pollutants, and the volume of water in the river in summer season is not sufficient.

[36] Project Well, a NGO, is implementing a self-supporting community-based mitigation program in Gaighata to provide arsenic safe water by constructing 20 modified conventional dugwells along with education on water related health effects to change behaviour.