Transformation of rural settlement in Salanpur community development block, West Bengal, India

The analysis presented here concerns the transformation of rural settlement in a Community Development Block of Paschim Bardhaman district (Salanpur) of Indian States of West Bengal. The research analysis established different degrees of transformation in the study area. Spatial, demographic, economic, and socio-cultural parameters are included for the analysis of settlement transformation. Transformation in Rural settlement system and its application on future transformation and planning purpose have not been adequately deliberated in the earlier studies of rural settlement. Data for this investigation mainly procured from various official records and a semi-structured (contained both closed and open ended questions) questionnaire survey. Various statistical methods like Rural Residential Percentage, Settlement Expansion Index, Nearest Neighbor Statistics (RN = Nearest Neighbor Index), etc. are employed for analysis. Grounded on all the major findings that reveal the rural settlement of Salanpur have been gradually transforming into an urban settlement and it might be predicted that in future Salanpur may emerge as a new urban centre in Paschim Bardhaman District. So far, the main driving forces behind this transformation are the increasing settlement expansion, increasing population density, improvement in public utility services; building plan and structure, followed by the changing socio-cultural structure in the study area. Rural settlement transformation has many positive impacts on the study area. But the author argued that the transformation of the rural settlement is not comprehensive in the development aspect as the government is not able to provide adequate services and amenities to every rural household and increasing built up area has many adverse effects on ecology and the environment.