Jharsuguda


Jharsuguda is a city and district headquarter of Jharsuguda district of Odisha, India. It is an industrial hub, consisting mainly of metallurgical industries. It is well connected to major cities of India through the rail network, and a recently inaugurated Jharsuguda Airport later renamed as Veer Surendra Sai Airport by Prime minister Narendra Modi. It is popularly known as the "Powerhouse of Odisha" due to its plentiful industry mostly nearby thermal power plants.

Major Tribes

This district has the major tribal populations among them important tribes are Sabara, Kisan, Kurukh, Bhuiyan, Munda, Santal. This district has unique diversity in terms of tribal culture, language and other focal culture. Kurukh people speak their mother tongue Kurukh language with Sadri language. Munda people speak their Ho language and Kisan people speak their Kisan dialect and Kharia speak their Kharia. Sadri and local Odia dialect is also quite popular among tribal communities.

Geography and climate

Jharsuguda is located at. It has an average elevation of. It is located in Western Odisha. State highway 10 and National Highway 69 pass through this place. The Ib river flows along the Western side of Jharsuguda town and the river Bheden flows in the south. The area of the town is 70.47 km2, and has a population of 579,499.
The town is situated at 21.82° north longitude and 84.1° latitude and at a height of 700–750 feet above mean sea level. The highest temperature recorded during the summer months is 48.0 °C. It has an average rainfall of 1,527 mm.

Culture

Jharsuguda is a cosmopolitan city housing people from various regions of India. Major festivals celebrated in the town are:
Since the Colonial era, the city has had a relatively developed transportation network. Primary modes of transport are auto rickshaws, 'Savaris', taxi vans and municipal or state operated buses.
The Jharsuguda Airport had been under expansion at Durlaga. It has an airstrip since British times, which is currently upgraded to a full-fledged airport. First flight from Jharsuguda took off in September 2018 after PM Modi dedicates VSS Airport to nation.
On February 28, 2019, low cost airline Spicejet announced regional connectivity from Jhasurguda to various state capitals such as Kolkata, Hyderabad as well as with New Delhi under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme.
Jharsuguda railway station is an important railway junction on the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line and the Jharsuguda-Vizianagaram line. The railway station comes under South Eastern Railway.
Jharsuguda is connected to various towns of the states by State Highway 10 and National Highway 49.

Politics

The current Member of the Legislative Assembly from Jharsuguda Assembly Constituency is Naba Kishore Das, who won the seat in 2009 and again in 2014.
Jharsuguda is currently under Bargarh constituency of the Lok Sabha. This constituency came into existence in 2008 as a part of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies based on the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission of India in 2002. Jharsuguda was previously under the Deogarh constituency of the Lok Sabha. The current Member of Parliament from Bargarh is Suresh Pujari from the Bharatiya Janta Party, taking office in 2019.

Education

The pre-collegiate medium of instruction in schools is predominantly English and Odia. The medium of instruction in educational institutions after matriculation in colleges is English. Other media of instruction also exist in Jharsuguda. Schools and colleges in Jharsuguda are mostly government-run, but schools run by private trusts and individuals also exist. The schools are affiliated with either the Odisha State Board under the Board of Secondary Education or Council of Higher Secondary Education, Indian Certificate of Secondary Education and the Central Board of Secondary Education. After completing 10 years of schooling in secondary education, students enroll in higher secondary school, specialising in one of three streams – arts, commerce or science.
In November 2016, the professional accounting body Institute of Chartered Accountants of India opened a branch at Jharsuguda.