TOP 6 CHEAPEST CITIES/TOWNS OF WEST BENGAL EXCEPT KOLKATA

1. BARASAT: In the survey Barasat has scored the top position in the Top 6 Cheapest/Town of West Bengal based on the survey of ESPY-TNI Research. The historical town was famous from the time of Pratapaditya (The then King of Jessore, Bangladesh). Later, the British Government converted it into a town of retreat by building many garden houses in and around the town. However, today in terms of the transportation, cost of essential items, average house rent, costing of school education and other essential things available here, Barasat has scored the top position of the cheapest city/town in West Bengal after Kolkata. Proximity to the city of Kolkata too was also one of the factors which added to the cost-effective living style in this town. Though, maximum people also voted for this place as one of the cheapest towns after Kolkata in our survey i.e. almost 36.9% votes went in favor of this town. Overall, a great place to live in.

2. SIURI: Siuri or Suri is the district town of Birbhum district of West Bengal, scored the second position in the ESPY-TNI Research survey. It is one of the oldest municipalities in West Bengal, established in the year of 1876. Though, with the extreme climatic condition of the place, due to its proximity with Chotanagpur Plateau in the west, the town got the second highest score in terms of the low cost of transportation, essential food items, house rent, basic education, recreational facilities etc. As far as transportation is concerned most the transportation is based on Rickshaw, Van, Toto services etc. Apart, from this, Government owned Transport corporations also adds to the facilities. Since the town is acting as an agricultural feeder town; the cost of essential items is very less in comparison to other towns. School education mostly is dependent on Government Sponsored schools, so the cost of education is also lesser. The vote percentage in this town as the cheapest town in West Bengal after Kolkata is 28.8% in the recent survey of ESPY-TNI Research.

3. BARDHAMAAN: The town of Bardhamaan was named by Jahangir as Badh – e – Dewan (Meaning, the capital of District). The town is famous for its history right from the Moghuls till the British period. It is being known Worldwide for its sweetmeats like famous ‘Langcha’, Mihidana, Sita Bhog etc. However, in our survey, it has bagged the third position in terms of the top 6 cheapest cities/towns after Kolkata. It can be contributed to the following factors as agriculture contributing to the low cost of essential food items. As a historical town, Bardhamaan is already flooded with transportation both domestic and outbound, so the average cost became lesser in compared to the other towns. Education is mostly based on Government institutions and Government sponsored schools/Colleges, automatically the average cost comes down. Last but not the least; Bardhamaan got a score of 21.2% in the voting of the people.

4. BALURGHAT: Balurghat is the fourth among the Top cheapest cities/towns of West Bengal and the only entrant from North Bengal, according to this survey. One of the most less talked about places of West Bengal is actually a district town of Dakshin Dinajpur district. It also has a history which dates back from the age of Maurya rulers to Palas of Bengal and much more. Surrounded by the river Atreyee, which is mostly a very calm River, but shows off its might during floods. No one can forget the devastated flood of River Atreyee in the years like 1987, 1988, 1991 and 1998. During the time of independence, Balurghat stayed under East Pakistan for 3 days. Later on 18th August 1947, it was included in the Indian Union. The name of Balurghat came from the small hamlet existed in this area called ‘Balarghatta’. However, there were many opinions associated with it. The proximity of the town with the agricultural areas of Mid Bengal has made the town very cheap in essential items. The rest of the reason of its low cost of living is somewhat similar to its previous counterparts. As far as the percentage score in the survey it has scored 16.7% in voting in the survey.

5. CHINSURAH: Chinsurah, the district headquarters of Hooghly in West Bengal got the 5th position in terms of being the cheapest city/town in West Bengal just after Kolkata. The historic town boasts of its rich heritage and history of its own. The town is just 35 kms from the state capital and is under KMDA (Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority) and also bears the same telephone code of Kolkata i.e. 033. Chinsurah is basically a twin town made by merging two areas called ‘Hugli’ and ‘Chuchura’. Chinsurah was earlier known as ‘Ugulim’ later it came under the control of the Dutch. Presently, the town enjoys the facility of the state capital to a large extent in terms of low-cost domestic transportation, Government sponsored education system etc. yet it has its own identity. The rest of the reasons behind its low-cost living is similar to the previous cities/towns of this survey. The total percentage of votes, the town has bagged is 12.6% in this survey.

6. HOWRAH: The most talked about the city of West Bengal after Kolkata in South Bengal is Howrah, which is famous for its iconic Bridge is known as Howrah Bridge. Nothing more to add to it is the next biggest industrial city after Kolkata both in the History and presently and is the upcoming metropolis of West Bengal. It is more importantly known as the twin city of Kolkata and is the second smallest district after Kolkata in the state. Currently, in administrative terms Howrah is the state capital of West Bengal because of ‘Nabanna’, the administrative secretariat of West Bengal is located here. Though it’s surprising, however, based on the opinions and survey votes the city ranks 6th in the top cheapest cities/towns of West Bengal. As far as the percentage score is concerned in the general voting in the survey, it scored 11.3% overall.

NB: The rank and position of the cities/towns are based on the survey conducted by ESPY-TNI Research team. ESPY Research is a North Bengal Based Research group working under the aegis of M/s ESPY Films, Siliguri which is specialized in Online and Commercial Research. This is the first in the series of social research to be done in collaboration with timesofnorth.IN in the future.

The output of the research reflected above is not a conclusive one and is totally based on an opinion poll conducted by an online survey which started from 13-03-2016 and ended on 25-03-2016 covering respondents across West Bengal. Apart from the general online survey, an opinion survey was also conducted on a number of respondents who had stayed in those cities mentioned in the survey options i.e. a total of 18 cities/towns across West Bengal for at least 5 years continuously. The weightage of both the online opinion survey and questionnaire survey were combined. The main cost parameters used in the survey were a) average cost of domestic transportation, b) cost of essential food items, c) average cost of elementary and secondary education, and lastly d) average general house rent in the cities/towns.