Muzaffarpur district of Bihar is spread over an area of 3172 sq. kms. The district is bounded on the north by East Champaran and Sitamarhi districts, on the south by the district of Vaishali, on the east by the districts of Darbhanga and Samastipur (part) and on the west by Saran and part of Gopalganj districts. The district headquarters is located at Muzaffarpur.

The district has a population of 2.95 million (1991 census). Overall, there were 906 females per 1000 males. Rural population in the district is 90.7% and urban population is 9.3%. The Scheduled caste and scheduled Tribe contributed about 15.7% and 0.04% of the population respectively. The decennial growth rate between 1981 and 1991 was 23.3%. The density of the population was 929 per sq. kms. Hindi is the main language spoken in the district.

Muzaffarpur district consists of 2 sub-divisions and 14 Community Development Blocks. It has 3 towns and 1796 villages (Table 1).

Amenities available in the villages are shown in table 2.

The Muzaffarnagar district comprises of an extensive plain formed by the alluvium brought by the Gandak, the Bagmati and other rivers, which flow through it. The ground is not marked by any high contour and at many places there are chains of shallow marshes, which serve the purpose of drainage for excessive water due to rainfall and overflow of the stream. The alluvial plain is a tract of great fertility. The soil of the district is largely alluvial. A special feature of the district is that due to continuous deposit of silt many of its riverbeds are higher than the adjoining areas. This leads to frequent floods during the rainy season particularly in northeast and southwest parts of the district.

The Gandak, Bagmati, Burhi Gandak and Baya are the important rivers besides a few streams. The Gandak and Bagmati have their origins in the mountains of Nepal. The Burhi Gandak is navigable during the greater part of the year. River Baya emanates from the Gandak a little west of the Muzaffarpur district. It enters the district near Karnaul in Sahebganj block and flows in the southeasterly direction almost parallel to the parent river and ultimately joins the Ganga.

Table 1. Administrative Units in District

Table 2. Villages having one or more amenities in the district (1991 census)

The district has well developed means of communication. It has a network of railways and well-maintained roads. Country boats also ply in the larger rivers. All the block headquarters are linked with the district headquarters, Muzaffarpur by pucca roads. Train and buses are the main sources of communication. Almost all the roads are nationalised and the buses of Bihar Rajya Transport Corporation ply on these roads. Besides, private buses also ply on some routes,

Rice is the main crop of the district. It accounts for the major portion of the gross area sown. Maize is the next important crop for the district. Wheat is also grown in some parts of the district. Sugar cane, potato and barley are some of the non-cereal crops grown. The district is famous for mango and lichi, which are exported to other parts of the State.

Main livestock of the district include cows, buffaloes, bulls and bullocks, sheep, goats and pigs. The Animal Husbandly Department of the State Government has established veterinary hospitals, sub-centres, artificial insemination centres, poultry farms and village schemes all over the district, covering majority of villages. Poultry development has received considerable attention in the community development blocks and the rapid increase in the number of fowls is largely attributable to these measures.

Muzaffarpur district is the center of several Industries, big and small. The Prabhat Zarda Factory, I.D.P.L., Bharat Wagon and Engineering Ltd., units of Leather Develop­ment Corporation, Muzaffarpur Dairy, a unit of the Bihar State Dairy Corporation are the major industries located in Muzaffarpur town and its periphery. The above industries have generated considerable employment and have also been helpful in establishing a number of small industries including a few cottage industries. The most important item that is manufactured in Muzaffarpur town is railway wagon. Muzaffarpur town is a very important trade centre for cloth.

Educational facilities one type or the other is found in 1393 of the inhabited villages. Primary and middle class schools are generally available in the town. The number of Higher Secondary/Inter/ PUC/ Junior College per ten thousand population in Muzaffarpur (M) works out to 3.10.  The number of Secondary/ Matriculation level school works out to 0.74.  Similarly, the number of Junior Secondary/ Middle and Primary Schools per ten thousand population is 3,26 and 3.83 respectively for Muzaffarpur town.

The availability of medical amenity in the villages is considerably low as only 644 inhabited villages have got it. The number of beds in medical institutions per 1000 population for urban areas of the district works out to 4.45. The availability of beds in the hospital in Muzaffarpur (M) the only town is also the same.

National Surveillance Programme for Communicable Diseases (NSPCD)

The National Surveillance Programme for Communicable Diseases (NSPCD) was launched in the district in the year 1998.  District Nodal Officer had been identified.  District RRT has been constituted and trained.  The training of Medical Officers, Health Supervisors, Health Workers and Laboratory Technicians has been undertaken partially.  District laboratory has been identified and upgraded.  Weekly and Monthly reports are not received by NICD. Table 3 shows the list of the members of RRT in Muzaffarpur district.

Table 3. Muzaffarpur District RRT