Durgapur


Durgapur is a tier-II city and a municipal corporation in Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the fourth largest urban agglomeration after Kolkata, Asansol and Siliguri in West Bengal and was planned by two American architects, Joseph Allen Stein and Benjamin Polk in 1955. Durgapur is the only city in eastern India to have an operational dry dock. Durgapur was once known as the Rurh of Bengal.

Geography

Location

Durgapur is located at. It has an average elevation of.
Durgapur is in the Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal, on the bank of the Damodar River, just before it enters the alluvial plains of Bengal. The topography is undulating. The coal-bearing area of the Raniganj coalfields lies just beyond Durgapur; some parts intrude into the area. The area was deeply forested till recent times, and some streaks of the original Sal and eucalyptus forests can still be seen.

Civic administration

Police stations

Durgapur police station, located on Aurobindo Avenue, Durgapur Steel Township, has jurisdiction over parts of Andal CD Block. The area covered is 80 km2 and the population covered is 292,841.
Coke Oven police station, located near Durgapur railway station, has jurisdiction over parts of Durgapur municipal corporation. The area covered is 49 km2 and the population covered is 136,181.
New Township police station, located in MAMC township, has jurisdiction over parts of Durgapur municipal corporation and Faridpur Durgapur CD Block. The area covered is 23 km2 and the population covered is 160,411.

Demographics

In the 2011 census, Durgapur Urban Agglomeration had a population of 581,409 out of which 301,700 were males and 279,709 were females. The 0–6 years population was 51,930. Effective literacy rate for the 7+ population was 87.70.Durgapur Urban Agglomeration included Durgapur and 2 census towns: Bamunara and Arra.
In the 2011 census, Durgapur Municipal Corporation had a population of 566,937 out of which 294,349 were males and 272,588 were females. The 0–6 years population was 50,512. Effective literacy rate for the 7+ population was 87.84.

Religion

According to Census of India 2011, Hinduism is the predominant religion in this city, followed by Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and others. Out of 5,66,517 people living in Durgapur ; 5,19,122 are Hindus, 35,923 are Muslims, 1889 are Christians, 2346 are Sikhs, 513 are Buddhists, 382 are Jains, 906 are other religions and 5436 did not state their religion.

Economy

Durgapur is one of the biggest industrial hubs of India and was planned as an integrated industrial town. It lays on the banks of Damodar river and coalfields of Raniganj. Durgapur was a dream of former prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru and chief minister of West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra Roy. The first project in Durgapur was Damodar Valley Corporation's Durgapur Barrage which attracted many public sector units. Durgapur Steel Plant was the first PSU established in the region in 1955 with the help of U.K which was later undertaken by SAIL. Later, an alloy plant was established by Hindustan Steel.Ltd in 1965 which was also acquired by SAIL. Mining and Allied Machinery Corp established in 1964. Hindustan Fertilisers Corporation was also operational but got closed down.
Durgapur is also an emerging IT and real estate hub have many proposed residential areas like DLF's Durgapur Township.

Transport

Road

Durgapur is the preferred gateway to the districts of Bankura, Birbhum, and Purulia. NH 19 passes through the city jurisdiction and SH 9 originates from Muchipara in the city. NH 14 passes through the north-western suburb of Pandabeswar and finally passes through Raniganj and heads away towards Odisha. It happens to be one of the very few cities that have an Asian Highway passing directly through the city jurisdiction. The AH1 links Japan with Turkey, through Korea, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
Durgapur has bus terminus at Benachiti-I, Benachiti-II, City Center, and Station More. Within the city, private mini-buses operate from Prantika to Station terminus, via different routes through the city, including the popular 8B route.
Auto-rickshaws ply between City Center, Benachity, Bidhannagar, Railway Station and other parts of the city in a number of routes. Pre-paid taxis are available in the city from Station and City Center Terminus. Additionally, cab and auto-rickshaw services for the city are offered online.
Only one Bus is available for the Kalyani-Bansberia route and it departs from Benachity at 4:40 am and from Kalyani at 10 am every day.
SBSTC and various other private buses ranging from sleepers to premium Volvo's are available from City Centre, Durgapur for Kolkata, Asansol, Barddhaman, Barakar, Bhubaneswar and other nearby cities.

Air

The domestic airport of the city is Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport. The airport is roughly 15 kilometres from Durgapur's City Centre. It is India's first private-sector Greenfield airport. It is located in a place called Andal. The airport has direct flights to New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, which are operated by Air India and Spicejet.
An air force station at Panagarh, belonging to the Indian Air Force, is used as a base for a C-130J Hercules squadronal.

Rail

Durgapur is served by Durgapur railway station. It is one of the most important station of Eastern Railways where almost all express trains give a stop, except a few long-distance trains like the Howrah - New Delhi Rajdhani express and Duronto express. It falls in the Bardhaman-Asansol section of Eastern Railways and Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line of Indian Railways.

Climate

Durgapur experiences a somewhat transitional climate between the tropical wet and dry climate of Kolkata and the more humid subtropical climate further north. Summers are extremely hot and dry, lasting from March to the middle of June, with average daily temperatures near 40 °C. They are followed by the monsoon season with heavy precipitation and somewhat lower temperatures. Durgapur receives most of its annual rainfall of around 52 inches during this season. The monsoon is followed by a mild, dry winter from November to January. Temperatures are quite moderate, with average daily temperatures near 16 °C. There is a short autumn at the end of October and a short spring in February, both of which have relatively moderate temperatures of around 20 °C.

Industrialisation

Durgapur is by far the most industrialised city in eastern India and the second planned city in India. It started with the first prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru. His dream of transforming the backward agricultural country into an industrially advanced nation was picked up in West Bengal by Dr. B.C. Roy. At the earlier stages for the selection of a proper site for a new industrial township, Jnananjan Niyogi, a great business organiser and planner, was involved. The modernist American architect Joseph Allen Stein, invited to head the newly formed Department of Architecture and Planning at the Bengal Engineering College in Calcutta, plunged into a major project as soon as he reached India in 1952 – the designing of Durgapur city with Benjamin Polk, another American architect already living in Calcutta. Thereafter it was the task of local leaders such as Ananda Gopal Mukhopadhyay and bureaucrats such as K.K. Sen to get Durgapur going.
Before independence, only one small refractory plant of the Martin Burn group was located at Durgapur: the abandoned chimney is visible near the station. Damodar Valley Corporation constructed Durgapur Barrage in 1955 and shortly followed with the Durgapur Thermal Power Station.
There was a massive follow up – Durgapur Steel Plant, Alloy Steels Plant, Durgapur Projects Ltd., Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation, ACC-Vickers Babcock, Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation, Philips Carbon Black Ltd., Sankey Wheels, Bharat Ophthalmic Glass Ltd, Durgapur Cement Ltd. , Graphite India Ltd., Durgapur Chemicals Ltd. was incorporated on 31 July 1963, Ispat Forgings and many others, large and small.

Administrative changes

The administrative setup came in stages. In 1837, when Bankura district was formed, Durgapur area was part of it. In 1847, Raniganj subdivision was formed with three police stations – Raniganj, Kanksa, and Neamatpur - and it was made a part of Bardhaman district. In 1906, the subdivisional headquarters was shifted to Burdwan and the subdivision renamed accordingly. In 1910, the police stations in Asansol subdivision were Asansol, Ranigunj, Kanksa, Faridpur, and Barakar. On 14 April 1968, Durgapur subdivision was carved out of Asansol subdivision.
In 2011, the Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate was formed by the State Government.

Education

Colleges

Durgapur is home to National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, an autonomous institution in eastern India of national importance. It is one of the 31 N.I.T.s in the country. N.I.T. Durgapur is one of the 8 old Regional Engineering Colleges established in 1956.
Durgapur Government College is the only government college not only in the home district of Burdwan but also in the neighbouring districts of Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum. It was established on 15 September 1970 and was affiliated to the University of Burdwan which later got affiliated to Kazi Nazrul University.
The Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute is a public engineering research and development institution in Durgapur, West Bengal, India. It is a constituent laboratory of the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. The institute is dedicated to work in the mechanical and allied engineering disciplines.
The National Power Training Institute is an institute under Ministry of Power, Government of India which offers postgraduate education in the field of power plants. This institute is also associated with several industrial bodies for imparting training to plant personnel.
Durgapur Institute of Advanced Technology and Management, Dr. B.C. Roy Engineering College and the Bengal College of Engineering and Technology are affiliated to West Bengal University of Technology offers engineering degrees. Durgapur Women's College and Michael Madhusudan Memorial College are general degree colleges affiliated to Kazi Nazul University.

Schools

Durgapur houses a large number of government aided and public schools in addition to two Kendriya Vidyalaya and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. Notable schools include St. Michael's School, St. Xavier's School, Carmel Convent High School, Pranavananda Vidyamandir and Amrai High School.

Sports facilities

Durgapur has several electronic media houses. Express News, Axes Info Media, DSTV, Hallow India, TV Bangla are some of them., are printed from the city. Anandabazar Patrika is published from Ghutgoria, near Durgapur, in Bankura District, and has a separate Asansol-Durgapur edition. Samay Sanket is another newspaper published from Durgapur. Dainik Jagaran has a Durgapur Edition, too. Durgapur does not have any F.M. stations. However All India Radio 100.3 FM, 92.7 Big FM, 93.5 Red FM and Radio Mirchi 95 FM has stations at Asansol and serve both Asansol and Durgapur.

Notable people