Geographical Appraisal on Spatial Pattern of the Declassification Trends among Census Towns in West Bengal

<p>The last three decades witnessed a colossal surge in the transformation of villages into Census Towns (CTs), as an outcome of the ongoing rapid urbanization in West Bengal. Interestingly, it can be noticed that along with the emergence of the new CTs, a substantial number are losing or are on the verge of losing their “urban” status by census of India. A few studies have been done in the past to understand the spatial nature and reasons for such an unusual phenomenon. However, this paper focuses on understanding and bringing out the spatiality and trend of declassified towns in relation to their reasons for declassification. The primary data sources for the study are the various primary census abstracts and district census handbooks of the different districts. Different spatial analysis methodologies like Nearest Neighbor Analysis, Kernel Density Analysis, Standard Deviation Ellipses, and the Moran’s I index (both Global and local) for spatial autocorrelation have been employed to understand the spatiality and distribution of these CTs throughout the state. Upon analysis, it has been noticed from the LISA cluster map that the individual clusters identified for these declassified towns, are near the border area of the districts or surrounding states or international borders. In the different census years, different spatial patterns have been noticed, varying from dispersed to cluster in nature. An estimation of Census Towns that are likely to get declassified in the 2021 Census has also been attempted and its probable spatial nature has been determined accordingly. Field survey was undertaken in selected declassified CTs, to understand people’s perception and their level of awareness about the changing status of their town and the changes in their socio-economic condition over time.</p>