Butwal


Butwal officially Butwal Sub-Metropolitan is one of the twin cities of rapidly growing Butwal-Bhairahawa urban agglomeration in Nepal. It lies in Province No. 5, Rupandehi District and also the interim capital of province 5 of Nepal. It was given the title “Green City of Nepal 2019”. It is also home to the administrative headquarters of Lumbini Zone. This city stands beside the bank of Tilottama or Tinau River, and at the northern edge of the Terai plain below the Siwalik Hills. Its name, Butwal was derived from Batauli Bazaar, the town's oldest residential area which is located on the western bank of Tinau river. Butwal is a lively city comprising the Panoramic views of the combination of hills and plains.
Geographically, Butwal is at the intersection of Nepal's two different National Highways, Mahendra Highway and Siddhartha Highway. It connects western Nepal with the capital Kathmandu through highway and air links. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Nepal for education, infrastructure, highway, marketing, health and safety, communication, trade and banking sectors. It has highway connections to the Indian border at Sunauli and to the hilly towns in Tansen and Pokhara valley, and holds the title of being "The Best City in Nepal" five times in a row.
Notable areas within Butwal includes:
Butwal was officially declared as sub-metropolitan city on 2 December 2014 by combining two neighbouring VDCs Motipur and Semlar.

History

Prehistory

s of ancient hominoids Ramapithecus were found near the Tinau River as early as 1932, including a 10.1-million-year-old tooth.

Modern history

The area was a loose settlement which acted as a trading post between the hilly districts of Lumbini zone and the Indian plains. Thus, historically Butwal connected Nepali people with their Indian neighbors. As the British East India Company annexed Awadh from its hereditary rulers while the Shah Dynasty attempted to annex the Terai, Butwal became one of bones of contention leading to the Gurkha War 1814–16.
When King Tribhuvan fled to India in 1950 during the revolt against the Rana dynasty he travelled through Butwal. Then it was little more than a village on the western bank of Tilottama River.
Butwal is a relatively newly urbanized area, emerging and growing rapidly only since 1960. With the completion of Siddhartha Highway in 1968, starting from the border at Sunauli through Butwal to Pokhara and then in the 1990s Mahendra Highway across the full east–west expanse of Nepal's Terai; i.e. Mechi Zone in the east to Mahakali Zone in the West, Butwal have made a tremendous progress in the country.

Demographics

The population of Butwal is 91,733, according to present stage the population is rapidly increasing with around 150,000 above and consists of people of mixed groups and castes; these includes Pahari immigrants from nearby hill districts especially Palpa, Arghakhanchi, Parbat, Gulmi, Syangja and also local people from Terai origin.l
The population distribution in different wards in 2011 was as follows:
Ward No.HouseholdsPopulationMaleFemale
1205980489491
21891053520522
32401337664673
41491648733533134
530391084254765366
62,3689,6034,9954,608
7669320217251477
81,5986,7873,4703,317
926311059750195578
1031751194258566086
112445917047234447
12111424361209222269
137258281931383414359
141566654231013441
151674736634913875
16778356616401926
17****************
18****************
19****************
20****************
21****************
22****************
Total296621184625880859654

The majority of the population is Hindu. They celebrate Holi, Teej, Maha Shivratri, Dashain, Tihar and Bhai Tika. There are also Buddhists and Muslims.
Nepali, Bhojpuri and Maithli are the common languages spoken in Butwal.

Economy

Butwal is mostly a commercial and trading city, an upcoming link city for the nearby tourist spots. The GDP of Butwal was about US$1 billion in 2018 making one of the major city in Nepal. The economy of Butwal centers around trade, services and industries. The old trading spots are Traffic Chowk, B P Chowk, Amarpath, Raj Margh Chaurah and Nepalgunj Road. Besides modern shopping, a traditional form of market called Haat Bazar similar to greengrocer, runs twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It has the second largest vegetable market in the country called Butwal Sabji Mandi in local terms. All kinds of traders, farmers and entrepreneurs sell goods and vegetables directly to the retail & wholesale customers in busy market setup.
Service aspects of the economy are mainly centered on banking, education, transportation and health sectors. Thus, increasing numbers of people are involved in these sectors for their jobs.
Butwal is also a connecting city between nearby tourist towns of Tansen, Kapilvastu, and Lumbini. It is the gateway to nearby cities of Sunwal, Pokhara and Bharatpur. It is also a busy land-route to enter Nepal from India for tourists and others. Thus, Butwal is witnessing huge investments in the hospitality sector as well. To boost up tourism and MICE opportunities, the government plans to set up an international conference centre at Ramnagar in Butwal. All these developments hint towards a large economic potential for development of the region.
The private commerce and trade in Butwal is united under the umbrella of Butwal Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Audhyogig Byapar Mela-Butwal is an industrial exhibition held in Butwal. This exhibition is organized annually in the month of Poush, and is one of the largest of its kind in Nepal.

Transport

This city dominates any other city in terms of number of bus services in Nepal. Until 2003, most of the fleet was older large buses; since then operators have added newer minibuses popularly called micro. Older jeeps are used to take people to nearby hilly regions. Rickshaws are used for short-distance urban transport. Motorcycles are a common means of personal transportation around town. The number registered has increased from 1,200 in 1999 to 80,000 in 2008.
Nearly 100 buses depart everyday to Kathmandu from Butwal Bus Terminal. Besides the capital Kathmandu, the bus services are also frequently available to other major cities of Pokhara, Dharan, Kakarbhitta, Janakpur, Birgunj, Hetauda, Bharatpur, Tansen, Siddharthanagar, Dang, Nepalgunj, Dhangadi, and Mahendranagar.

Education

Butwal is set to be an educational hub in Rupandehi district. Literacy rate in the city is considered to be high. It has held the record for Nepal Top students in SLC as well as HSEB examination numerous times.