Dhanbad
—  city  —
Dhanbad Location of Dhanbad in Jharkhand and India
Coordinates	23°48′N 86°27′E / 23.8°N 86.45°E / 23.8; 86.45Coordinates: 23°48′N 86°27′E / 23.8°N 86.45°E / 23.8; 86.45
Country	India
State	Jharkhand
District(s)	Dhanbad
Population • Density	2,682,662 (2011[update]) • 1,284 /km2 (3,326 /sq mi)
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	2,052 square kilometres (792 sq mi) • 222 metres (728 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 82 xxxx • Telephone • +91326-XXXX XXXX • Vehicle • JH-10
Website	www.dhanbad.nic.in

Dhanbad (Hindi: धनबाद,Bengali: ধনবাদ ), is a city in the state of Jharkhand, and is also known as the 'Coal Capital of India'. Dhanbad is the 79th fastest growing city in world. According to the 2011 census, Dhanbad is among the 35 cities of India with a population of more than one million. Among the Rail Divisions of Indian Railway, Dhanbad Rail Division is the second largest in terms of revenue generation after Mumbai division.

Dhanbad is famous for coal mining. Tata Steel, BCCL, ECL and IISCO are some of the companies having coal mines in the district. Coal-mining, coal washing, and coke making are the main coal related industries in the city. IISCO (Indian Iron And Steel Company) is now owned by SAIL, while BCCL and Eastern Coalfields Limited are subsidiaries of Coal India Limited (CIL); these two companies are the largest operators of coal mines in Dhanbad, and have open cast mines as well as underground mines, whereas Tata Steel has mostly underground mines. These companies have developed townships for their employees.

Geography and climate

Dhanbad has an average elevation of 227 m (745 ft). Its geographical length (extending from North to South) is 15 miles (24 km) and the breadth (stretching across East to West) is 10 miles (16 km). It shares its boundaries with West Bengal in the Eastern and southern part, Dumka & Giridih in the North and Bokaro in the west. Dhanbad comes under the Chota Nagpur Plateau.

Dhanbad features climate that is transitional between a humid subtropical climate and a tropical wet and dry climate. Summer starts from last week of March and ends in mid June. Peak temperature in Summer can reach 47^oC. Dhanbad also receives heavy rainfall. In winter, the minimum temperature remains around 12^oC with a maximum of 22^oC. Damodar River is the main river flowing through the district. Katri, Jamunia, Gobai, Khudia and Irji are the other rivers flowing through the district. The Red soil is found in the area and is not that much fertile for good agricultural produce. Due to presence of two large dams in the district, many people are involved in pisciculture. Forests present in the district are of northern tropical dry deciduous type. In many of these forests, people are engaged in sericulture.

History

Dhanbad has a rich history of growth, urbanisation and migration of people. The early history of the Dhanbad is shrouded in mystery. Details of even later periods are difficult to trace. The present district used to be a part of Manbhum. In the Settlement Report for Manbhum (1928) it was stated that no rock inscriptions, copper plates or old coins were discovered and not a single document of copper plate or palm leaf was found, during the Survey and Settlement operations. The oldest authentic documents produced were all on paper and barely even a hundred years old. Dhanbad was in Manbhum district from 1928 up to 1956. However, on 24 October 1956, Dhanbad was declared a District on the Recommendation of the States Reorganization Commission vide notification 1911. And from 1956 to 14 November 2000 it was under Bihar. At present it is in Jharkhand, after the creation of state on 15 November 2000.

Demography

As of 2001^[update] India census, Dhanbad had a population of 2,682,662. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Dhanbad has an average literacy rate of 75.71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85.78% and female literacy is 60.74%. In Dhanbad, 10.57% of the population is under 5 years of age. Majority of the population are people of Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. Besides people of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal followed by Marwari's and Punjabi have also settled in Dhanbad.

Civic administration

Dhanbad is the Headquarter of the District and also the Headquarter of DMC (Dhanbad Municipal Corporation). DMC was formed as per the State Government Notification dated 1/02/06 with merger of areas Jharia NAC, Sindri, NAC, Chhatandih NAC, Katras NAC. Dhanbad city elects one Member of Parliament. Also some part of the district comes under Giridih seat of Lok Sabha. There are six Legislative Assembly seat; they are Sindri, Baghmara, Dhanbad, Jharia, Nirsa, Tundi.

Dhanbad has District court and Labour Court-Industrial tribunal. Along with Mumbai, Dhanbad is the only city having two Labour Court-Industrial tribunals. Mineral Area Development Authority (MADA) looks after the development of the district.

Economy

Coal Mine

Dhanbad is famous for its coal mines and industrial establishments; it has 112 coal mines with a total produce of 27.5 million tonnes and an annual income of 7000 Million Rupees through coal business, most of which ends up in the bank accounts of ruthless landlords and corrupt politicians. There are also number of coal washeries present here. This city is also known for its power generation plants. Hydel Power is being generated at Maithon and Panchet. Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) are setting up 1050 MW Thermal power plant at Maithon. ONGC is using CBM (Coal beded Methane) for power generation at some of the coal mines. It is also famous for the prestigious Indian School of Mines where students from all over India come to study undergraduate and graduate courses.

Sindri is an industrial township situated in Dhanbad district. Sindri is among the first industrial townships of India. ACC Cement factory and Projects & Development India Ltd. (PDIL) are present in Sindri.In Sindri is the Jharkhand Government's only engineering institute B.I.T. Sindri which was founded in 1949 for graduate courses and at present it has 10 branches of engineering and M.tech courses. Many sponge iron factory, refractory and ceramic factory are present in Dhanbad district. Dhanbad will also come under Indian Railways Freight Corridor.

Language

The most widely spoken languate in Dhanbad is Khortha (Kharostha Bangla), which is often regarded as the rough dialectal variant of Bengali with significant influence of Magahi.Additionally, Bengali and Hindi are widely spoken. English is widespread in business and tourist areas. Additionally, speakers of Maithili, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Punjabi and Santhali are present in significant numbers. Finally, several tribal languages are also spoken in the city, including Santali, Kurukh and Ho.

Famous Places

Bank More, Jharia, SteelGate, Sijua, Bhadri Chack, Katras, Park Market, Birsa Munda park

Education

Delhi Public School, Dhanbad

ISM,The Indian School of Mines,was started by Britishers in 1926. Located in Dhanbad, it draws students from all over India through IIT-JEE, as well as other countries. It is one of the pioneer university of its kind in Asia. Indian School of Learning (ISM Annexe) is developing under ISM.

BIT, Jharkhand Government's only engineering college, located in (Sindri), known as Birsa Institute of Technology (BIT Sindri).

PMCH, Patliputra Medical College and Hospital. Apart from these, there are many other colleges.

Some renowned schools are as follows in Dhanbad.

• TATA D.A.V SCHOOL, SIJUA
• P.K Roy M. College, Dhanbad
• Guru Gobind Singh Public School, Bank More, Dhanbad
• De-Nobili School,CFRI/CMRI/Maithon/Mugma/Bhuli/Sijua/Sindri
• Delhi Public School, Dhanbad
• Mount Carmel, CFRI/CMRI/Jharudih
• Dhanbad Public School
• Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Sindri
• Kendriya Vidyalaya, Station Road/Steel Gate/Maithan Dam
• Indian School of Learning, ISM/Jharia
• St. Xavier's International School, Hirak Ring Road
• Rajkamal Saraswati Vidya Mandir, (RSVM), Ashok Nagar/Bhuli
• D.A.V Public School Baniahir (Lodna)/Barora/Koyla Nagar/Dari Muhalla/CFRI (Digwadih)/Lodna/Moonidih/Purana/Sijua/mahuda
• Doon Public School,Kusum Vihar
• Holy Mother's Academy, Katras
• Kamal Katesaria Montessori, Hirak Road

Some local schools of Dhanbad are as follows:

• Kids Garden,Hirapur,Dhanbad
• Abhoya Sundri Girls School,Harimandir Road, Dhanbad
• HE School,Bhisti Para, Dhanbad

Among the all above mentioned schools, the Abhoya Sundri Girls School is the oldest one.

Transport

Anything from Cycle rickshaws,Auto Rickshaws to all modern means of transportation are available within the city.Private and State Buses are available for inter-city traveling. National Highway 2 and National Highway 32 are the major highways passing through Dhanbad. NH 2 has now been converted into Golden Quadrilateral (GQ). Golden Quadrilateral starts from Kolkata and ends at Delhi. From Dhanbad to Kolkata, Golden Quadrilateral will be converted into six lane expressway; NH 32 connects Govindpur to Bokaro-Jamshedpur.

Dhanbad has a very good rail connectivity with the other major parts of the country such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Nagpur, Pune, Guwahati etc. Dhanbad Rail Division comes under East Central Railway zone. Grand Chord rail-line passes through Dhanbad junction, it connects Howrah and New Delhi. CIC rail line starts from Dhanbad and ends at Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh. There is one more rail line passing through the district, it starts at Kharagpur and ends at Gomoh, this rail line comes under South Eastern Railway. Dhanbad is connected with almost all states through rail network. One thing about Dhanbad's transportation system is that anyone one can find any vehicle during day time but at night time it is quite difficult to search even a auto so people has to wait till the morning time to reach their destination.

Currently there is no air-link though there is an airstrip near Barwadda. A commercial Airport was planned to be set up at Barwadda, but no significant progress has been made yet.

Politics

Mannan Mallick of Congress won in the 40 Dhanbad assembly constituency defeating Raj Kumar Sinha of BJP in 2009. Pashupati Nath Singh of BJP defeated Mannan Mallik of Congress in 2005, Prasadi Sao of RJD in 2000, and Ramadhar Yadav of JD in 1995. Surendra Prasad Roy of Congress defeated S.K.Shriva of JD in 1990 and Ram Chander Singh of Janata Party in 1985. Yogeshwar Prasad Yogesh of Congress defeated Gopi Kant Bakshi of CPI(M) in 1980 and Kalawati Devi of Janata Party.

Dhanbad assembly constituency is part of Dhanbad(Lok Sabha constituency).

Media and sports

Hindi newspaper are mainly published from the city, among them Hindustan Dainik is the most popular, followed by Prabhat Khabar, Dainik Jagran and Dainik Bhaskar,HindustanTimes Supplementary, "Dhanbad Bokaro Live" is published from Dhanbad.

Doordarshan relay station is present in Dhanbad. There are some local news channels in the city such as Udaan, Khaas Baat Plus, Antarkatha.

FM Radio is available as Vividh Bharti Service of All India Radio at 101.8 MHz.

In most of the places in Dhanbad, Cable TV is popular, operated by the local operators. DTH (Direct To Home) of all major companies are available. In terms of cinema, shooting of Bengali movies are done at Topchanchi. A documentary movie on Jharia "Hot as Hell" has been made recently.

Cricket is the most popular sport in Dhanbad, followed by Football. Dhanbad is one of the centres where 34th National Games [5] was organised. Cricket Stadiums at present are at Tata Steel Stadium Digwadih and Nehru Stadium Jealgora, where Ranji Trophy matches are organised. Football matches of national level are played at Railway Stadium and Sijua Stadium.

Tourist attractions

• Maithon - The Lake at Maithon is spread across an area of 65 km². Boating is available here. A Bird Sanctuary and Deer park is also present near this place. From Dhanbad Railway Station, the distance is 45 km.This is the most popular picnic spot. During the 15th December to 20 January lacs of people comes for picnic.

• Kalyaneshwari temple - This temple of Maa Kalyaneshwari is very close to Maithon.

• Topchanchi Lake - This lake is a very famous Picnic spot. Situated at Golden quadrilateral, 37 km from Dhanbad railway station. This lake is surrounded by green hills of Parasnath and forest.

• Bhatinda Falls - The Waterfall is near Moonidih, 14 km from Dhanbad railway station. Surrounded by greenery, this place draws lot of crowd specially in winter.

• Panra - Panra is near Nirsa. This place has derived its name from Pandavas. According to the locals, pandavas spent some time here during their exile. A temple of Pandeshwar mahadev is also present.

• Shakti Mandir - This is one of the most famous Hindu Temple in Dhanbad. It is situated in the main city. Temple of Goddess Durga draws large crowd through out the year.

• Lillori-sthan Mandir - An ancient temple of Goddess Kali is present here. Situated on the bank of river katri. This Place is 19 km from Dhanbad Railway station.

• Chark- khurd - This place is known for its hot water spring. It is in tundi.

• Gopalpur - Situated in Nirsa. This place contains ancient structures built during the period of emperor Ashoka. A large stone image of emperor Ashok is also present here.

• Panchet Dam - Around 54 km from Dhanbad Railway station is a popular picnic spot.

• Birsa Munda Park - Around 8 km from Dhanbad Railway station is a Park in around 25 Acre land and prime picnic spot for the people. -->
• Jagannath Temple, Dhansar—One of the most famous Hindu temple in the city, about 1 km. from Bank More on the left side of the road connecting Jharia, opposite of reliance fresh.Temple of Lord Jagannath, famous for the car festival.

Rivers

The Damodar is the most important river of the Chotanagpur plateau. It rises in Palamu and flows eastward between the plateaus of Ranchi and Hazaribag. It is joined by the Bokaro, the Konar and the Barakar rivers. The Damodar enters Dhanbad district at its confluence with the Jamuria, a stream which marks the western boundary of Dhanbad with Hazaribagh District. Further east, the Damodar is joined by the Katri River which rises in the foot hills below Parasnath and traverses through the Coal-field Area. The Damodar flows for about 77 km. through the district being joined by the Barakar at its eastern border near Chirkunda. The Panchet dam extending to roughly 6 km is built on river Damodar. The hydel station there generates 40,000 K.W. per hour (sicsic).

The Barakar, which forms the northern boundary of the district, traverses about 77 km. In the district. It flows in south westerly direction up to Durgapur and then south till it joins the Damodar near Chirkuda. The Maithon dam is located on this river about 13 km off its confluence with the Damodar. Attached to it is the Maithan Power Station with a generating capacity of 60,000 K.W.H.

Among other small rivers in the district are Gobai, the Ijri, the Khudia besides the river Katri.

Shopping Centers and Malls

Bank More being the central hub for Shopping, now the city has malls and shopping centers spread across length and breadth of Dhanbad city namely City Centre,City Style-Dutta Tower(Hirpur), Ozone Galleria Big Bazaar, Ozone Plaza (Bank More), Sunny Garments(Hirapur),Sri Ram Plaza, Urmila Tower, The family Store, New Market, Park Market (Hirapur). These are the places where one can shop and many more upcoming, namely Prabhatam Grand, Center-Point Mall(With Bank,Retail Shops, Food Court containing Restaurants,PVR Cinemas Multiplex), Shristi Plaza (First Green Project of Jharkhand) creating shopping paradises and housing major brands for people of Dhanbad.

Presently Fame is the only Multiplex in the Jharkhand state situated in the Ozone Galleria Mall, Saraidhela. Fame is the First Multiplex of Bihar and Jharkhand!, Fame Dhanbad, the multiplex has 4 screens with a seating capacity of 996 people.

Festivals

Dhanbad is home to people from all across India. Vishwakarma Puja, Saraswati Puja, Durga Puja, Chhath, Deepawali, Holi, Eid, Moharram, Guru Purnima and Christmas are among the long list of festivals celebrated in Dhanbad.

Gallery

• 

  Durga Puja Mandap

• 

  Chhat Puja

• 

  Chhatt Puja