Ghatal is a city and a municipality in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Ghatal subdivision. History In ancient times, when Tamralipta was an active port, Ghatal had its own ‘Bandar’ (port), 3 km east of Ghatal PS, used for anchoring boats and ships with goods. Now, the place is the confluence of the Dwarakeswar, Shilabati, Damodar and Jhumi. Ghatal was famous for manufacturing of cotton goods, tussar silk, bell metal utensils etc., and the Dutch had a factory here. The activities continued until the early British period. In the early British period, Ghatal PS and Chandrakona PS were a part of Jahanabad (later Arambagh) in Hooghly district and were transferred in 1872 to Midnapore district. These became a part of the newly formed Ghatal subdivision in 1876. Daspur PS became a part of it in 1877. Ghatal municipality was formed in 1869. Geography Location Ghatal is located at . It has an average elevation of 5 metres (16 feet). Ghatal is a flood-prone area and in many years is flooded by the Shilabati River. The Shilabati River divides the city into two parts. Near Bandar shilabati and Darkeswar river join with the Rupnarayan river. The Ghatal Police station lies on the west bank of the river. There is one peculiar floating bridge on the river made by joining boats tied with rope from both sides in the banks, called "Bhasa Pool" (floating bridge). Also, one cement bridge is constructed on the main pitch road or State Highway 4 passing through Chandrakona Town, Ghatal, Daspur, and Mechogram. Area overview Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, scholar, social reformer and a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance, was born at Birsingha on 26 September 1820. Ghatal subdivision, shown in the map alongside, has alluvial soils. Around 85% of the total cultivated area is cropped more than once. It has a density of population of 1,099 per km2, but being a small subdivision only a little over a fifth of the people in the district reside in this subdivision. 14.33% of the population lives in urban areas and 86.67% lives in the rural areas. 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. Demographics As per 2011 Census of India, Ghatal had a total population of 54,591 of which 27,882 (51%)