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 until recent times, and some streaks of the original sal and eucalyptus forests can still be seen.
1.5km 1mile
Durgapur Cement/ Birla Cement
W
SAIL DSP Administrative Building
W
Damodar River
Mohan Kumaramangalam Park
P
Anand Amusement Park
P
Ram Mandir
R
ISKCON Mandir
R
Bhiringi Maa Kali Mandir
R
Durgapur Barrage
W
DVC DTPS
W
APL (Alstom Projects)
W
MAMC
W
Phillips Carbon Black Ltd.
W
Durgapur Projects Limited
W
SAIL Alloy Steels Plant
W
SAIL Durgapur Steel Plant
W
Bengal College of Engg & Tech
C
Dr. B.C.Roy Engg College
C
NIT-Durgapur
CV
CMERI
C
Sidhu Kanhu Indoor Stadium
F
Nehru Stadium
F
Durgapur City Court
F
Durgapur railway station
F
Sukanta Pally
N
Old Court HSCL Colony
N
DVC DTPS Colony
N
Angadpur
N
APL Township
N
DPL Township
N
Sagarbhanga
N
Bidhannagar
N
Fuljhore
N
MAMC Township
N
City Centre
N
CMERI Colony
N
Benachity
N
Durgapur Steel Township C Zone
N
Durgapur Steel Township B Zone
N
Durgapur Steel Township A Zone
N
Durgapur R: temple, mosque, P: park, F: facility, N: neighbourhood, W: works, factory Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly Places marked on this map, which have a separate page, are linked in the larger full screen map
Law 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. It has following divisions.[9][10]
PS/IC
Address
Aurobindo PS
Aurobindo Avenue, A-Zone
B-Zone Investigation Centre
Marconi Avenue, B-Zone
City Centre Investigation Centre
Bengal Ambuja, City Centre
Faridpur Investigation Centre
Near Gandhi More
Waria Investigation Centre
Near DSP Main Gate, Waria
DTPS Investigation Centre
Old Colony, DVC-DTPS
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.
Durgapur Women PS has jurisdiction over Durgapur Subdivision
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. It has a police Outpost located in Bidhannagar under its jurisdiction[9][10]
Demographics
In the 2011 census, Durgapur Urban Agglomeration 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 of the population was 87.70.[4] Durgapur Municipal Corporation included and 3 census towns: Bamunara, Arra and partly Andal.[11]
In the 2011 census, Durgapur Municipal Corporation 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 of the population was 87.84.[3]
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 (Municipal Corporation); 5,19,122 are Hindus (91.63%), 35,923 are Muslims (6.34%), 1889 are Christians (0.36%), 2346 are Sikhs (0.44%), 513 are Buddhists, 382 are Jains, 906 are other religions and 5436 (1.04%) did not state their religion.[12]
At the time of the 2011 census, 82.99% of the population spoke Bengali, 11.15% Hindi, 1.84% Santali and 1.03% Urdu as their first language.[13]
Economy
Durgapur Steel Plant view from Gopalmath
Durgapur is the biggest industrial hub of West Bengal (also one of the biggest industrial hubs in India) and was planned as an integrated industrial city. It lies on the banks of Damodar River and near to the coalfields of Raniganj. Durgapur was a dream of former prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru and chief minister of West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra Roy.[14] 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.
Inside Durgapur Steel Plant
Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC) was established in 1964 with the help and support from USSR (now closed but reviving with J.V of Bharat Earth Movers, Coal India & DVC).[15] Hindustan Fertilisers Corporation (HFC) was a major PSU which produced fertilizer but got closed down (now RCF showed interest to reopen it).[16]. Bharat Opthlamic Glass Limited (BOGL) was established in 1972 used to manufacture electronic valves and other electronic components. Its closure was approved in 2006.
Evening view of Durgapur Projects Limited
Durgapur Projects Limited (DPL) was the first thermal power station in the city. It was commissioned by the Government of West Bengal in 1960. It has eight production units of which only two are currently operational. The whole city of Durgapur and the surrounding areas get electricity supply from DPL. It is currently owned by WBPDCL.
Durgapur is also an emerging IT and real estate hub. The Government of West Bengal's Webel IT Park houses some of well-known as well as startup software companies generating employment opportunities for the youth of the region. It is set to develop many proposed residential areas like DLF's Durgapur Township.[17] Companies like Pinacle Infotech and Tata Consultancy Services (a major Indian multinational IT company) etc. have their branch office and back office respectively in the city.
Durgapur has bus terminuses at Durgapur Railway Station, Prantika (Prantika-I and II), and City Center. Within the city, private mini-buses operate from Durgapur Rly. Station to Prantika, via City Centre and various other routes within the city.
Auto-rickshaws ply between City Center, Benachity, William Kery, Chandidas, Mamra, Bidhannagar, Railway Station and other parts of the city in a number of routes. Pre-paid taxis are available in the city from railway stations. Additionally, online cab services like Ola, Uber etc. and bike taxi services like Rapido are available within the city.
Only one bus is available for the Kalyani-Bansberia route and it departs from Prantika-II Bus Terminus at 4:40 am and from Kalyani at 10 am every day.
Various private and government buses ranging from sleepers to premium Volvos are available from City Center Bus Terminus and Station Bus Terminus for Kolkata, Asansol, Barddhaman, Barakar, Bhubaneswar, Digha and other nearby cities. Durgapur is the headquarters of SBSTC which provides government bus services to Kolkata, Haldia, Digha, Bankura etc. from Durgapur and Asansol. Private buses are available for Asansol, Barakar, Bardhaman, Bolpur, Bishnupur, Chittaranjan, Deoghar, Digha, Illambazar, Jhargram, Kalna, Katwa, Kharagpur, Krishnanagar, Medinipur, Nabadwip, Nalhati, Purulia, Rampurhat, Siuri, Tatanagar, Tarakeswar, etc.
Air
Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport
The city is home to a domestic airport, the Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport. It is India's first private-sector Greenfield airport. It is located at a place called Andal which is roughly 15 kilometres from Durgapur's City Center Bus Terminus.[18] The airport has direct flights to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, which are operated by IndiGo and Spicejet. And an old DSP Airport at Bijra near IQ city.
An air force station at Panagarh (Military Airfield), belonging to the Indian Air Force, is used as a base for a C-130J Hercules squadronal.[19]
Rail
Durgapur Railway Station
Durgapur is served by three stations located in the city Durgapur, Waria and Andal. Among these Durgapur railway station is one of the most important station of Eastern Railways where almost all express trains give a stop, except a few trains like Sealdah-Jammu Tawi Humsafar express, 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.
It is also home to the stoppage of Premium trains such as Howarh-Patna Vande Bharat express, Ranchi-Howarh Shatabdi express, Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani express, Howarh-Patna Jan Shatabdi express, -Kamakhya-SMVT Bengaluru AC superfast express, Kolkata-Patna Garib Rath express, Poorva express etc. Many express trains (trains mainly going towards or coming from Andal-Sainthia branch line) also stop at Andal Junction railway station. Also, a few local MEMU and DEMU trains originate from here and run towards Andal-Sainthia branch line and Andal-Sitarampur branch line. Only all stop local MEMU trains and a very few express and superfast trains stop at Waria Railway Station like Mayurakshi express and Black Diamond express.
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 43 °C. They are followed by the monsoon season with heavy precipitation and somewhat lower temperatures. Durgapur receives most of its annual rainfall of around 1,320 mm during this season. The monsoon is followed by a cold, dry winter from November to January. Temperatures are quite moderate, with average daily temperatures dropping near 8 °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. Due to the heavy rainfall it has received in recent years, for almost five months of heavy rainfall every year, locals often refer to the city as “Chhota Cherapunji”. ( named after the main city of Cherapunji )
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 (ADPC) was formed by the State Government.
Education
Colleges
National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, West Bengal, India
Durgapur Government College is a premier government degree college not only in the home district of Paschim Barddhaman 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 National Power Training Institute (Also known as NPTI(ER) and formerly known as PETS, Durgapur) 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.[23]
Netaji Subhas Open University is a state open university for imparting distance education. It is modelled on the Open University, UK and the IGNOU, and offers courses in different disciplines of graduate and post-graduate courses.
Nehru Stadium is the biggest sports stadium in the city. It has a huge football ground, basketball and volleyball courts, athletic tracks, modern fully equipped gymnasium etc. It is managed by Durgapur Steel Plant Authority.
ASP Stadium is another sporting centre with a large ground, with all facilities for cricket, football, gymnastics, etc. It is managed by the Alloy Steel Plant Authority.
Shahid Bhagat Singh Kridangan is a newly developed stadium, which is run by the Durgapur Municipal Corporation. Its football ground is one of the best in West Bengal. Teams like Mohun Bagan A.C. conduct their pre-season training camps here.
Sidhu Kanu Indoor Stadium houses many sporting organisation and sporting association of Burdwan district, including Durgapur Sub-divisional Women's Sports Association, School Sports Association-Durgapur Sub-division, Burdwan District Badminton Association, Burdwan District Table Tennis Association and Burdwan District Physical Culture Association.
Media
Durgapur has several electronic media houses. Express News, DSTV (owned by DSP), 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,[24] and serve both Asansol and Durgapur.
^The Chota Nagpur Plateau in India is more commonly regarded as the Ruhr of India; however, some sources also cite Durgapur as the same. Alternatively, Durgapur may be considered the Ruhr of Bengal instead (as it is occasionally referred to).
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India
West Bengal
