Diamond Harbour subdivision is a rural subdivision with patches of urbanization. Only 14.61% of the population lives in the urban areas and an overwhelming 85.39% lives in the rural areas. In the western portion of the subdivision there are 11 census towns. The entire district is situated in the Ganges Delta and the western part, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, is covered by the Kulpi Diamond Harbour Plain, which is 5-6 metres above sea level. Archaeological excavations at Deulpota and Harinarayanpur, on the bank of the Hooghly River indicate the existence of human habitation more than 2,000 years ago. 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.
Location
Raichak is located at. It has an average elevation of.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Indian Census, Raichak had a total population of 1,243, of which 630 were males and 613 were females. There were 125 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The total number of literate persons in Raichak was 823, which constituted 66.2% of the population with male literacy of 72.2% and female literacy of 60.0%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Raichak was 73.6%, of which male literacy rate was 80.4% and female literacy rate was 66.7%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 1,133 and 3 respectively. Raichak had 282 households in 2011.
The proposal for a bridge across the Hooghly River from Raichak to Kukrahati, which will connect Haldia to Kolkata, had been hanging fire for many years. In earlier years, it was thought that the 2 km long cable bridge costing over Rs. 3,000 crore would be built with Malaysian support. Thereafter, the Japanese came into the picture. Subsequently, the Japanese were replaced by the Indonesian Salim Group. The construction of the Eastern Link Highway, linking Barasat with Raichak, which would have been 100 km long and 100 m wide and spread over, was also on the anvil. The road would have ultimately terminated at Nandigram. The projects were to be implemented by New Kolkata International Development Private Ltd, a special purpose company that had been promoted by the Salim Group, the Universal Success Group and Unitech. The entire project and associated programmes were abandoned by the Left Front government after the Nandigram violence in 2007.
