| Bokaro | |
| State - District(s) | Jharkhand - Bokaro |
| Coordinates | |
| Area - Elevation | 11,000 acres approx., 45 km² - 210 m |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Population (2001) - Density | 394,173 - 8,760/km² |
| Codes - Postal - Telephone - Vehicle | - 827 0xx - +91-06542 - JH-09-? |
Bokaro Steel City pronunciation , is the home of one of largest steel mills in India, and several other medium and small industries. It is the district headquarters of the Bokaro district.
Situated in the Chhotanagpur Plateau, the vast rolling topography of the city is typical, strewn by graded valleys and winding streams. In this setting, within a short period of two decades, a new city with a strong multi-dimensional economic base, has blossomed into a regional urban centre of around 800,000 people drawn from different parts of the country, giving the city the character of Mini India.
Formerly there was a sleepy village named Maraphari deep in the jungles of ChotaNagpur. The closest village cluster was Chas. Purulia was the closest town and the area was ruled by the Maharaja of Kashipur. Folk lores have it that this area came under Mughal rule by the conquests of Man Singh. The region was named ManBhoom after him (VeerBhoom and SinghBhoom are the neighouring regions also named after him, Veer Man Singh).
This remote place came into prominence when Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru planned to build the first swadeshi steel plant with the help of the Soviets. The proximity to coal, iron ore, manganese, and other raw materials helped in the selection of this place. The steel plant was originally incorporated as a limited company on 29 January 1964, and was later merged with SAIL and came to be known as Bokaro Steel Limited(BSL). The late 1960s and early 1970s saw heavy construction of the steel plant as well as the township. The first blast furnace started on 2 October 1972. The Sector III and Camp I and II were the first to come in the township followed by Sectors II, IX, IV and so on. The first private school came in the form of St. Xavier's School which the Jesuits from Hazaribagh built on invitation from the BSL management. The 1980s saw rapid development of the township with new sectors coming up, new schools, parks, zoos and other public amenities coming up. Township development ceased with the completion of IV/F and IV/G. In all bokaro steel city consists of 12 sectors out of which setcor- 7&10 do not exist. Entire township is so meticulously planned that very few cities in india can match, trees are planted all along the roads giving shelter to passersby during the summers. Every sub section of a sector has one or two huge play ground, all schools in bokaro have two to three big play grounds eg : KV No-2(Now BISSS-8B). The late 1990s saw sprucing up of the city park and creation of islands, new schools and the success of Bokaro's students in all India level competition exams, specially IIT's. During this period Bokaro also emerged as the eastern hub for studies for engineering after high school. Bright and hard working students of Bokaro beloging to different schoolos like DPS, St. Xavier, KV, MGM, Chinmaya etc has put it into the so called 'powerhouse' map of the country.
The economy of the Steel City is heavily depended on the Steel Plant which is the primary source of income for the employees. The financial year 2004-05 saw hardening of steel prices around the world which resulted in windfall profits for BSL. The profits crossed a record Rs 3000 crores (Rs 30,000,000,000). The primary economy is supplemented by BIADA which is an industrial area supplying most of the industrial supplies for the steel plant, and there are some small mills making finished products out of steel as well as cement from the slag.
The primary economy is well supported by the services sector. The city market situated at the center of the city is full of shops selling the basic requirements of groceries and furniture, to the latest tech gizmos. Of late a lot of shops selling computer hardware have come up along with a lot of computer training institutes making Bokaro a hub of computer studies for the region. The old chas bazaar still remains a cheap option of wholesale market, and dundi baad is one of the biggest vegetable market for the region. Besides these, each sector has its own small shopping center catering to the day to day needs of the people. Being an industrial area, agriculture has taken a back seat and is nothing worth mentioning except small amounts of paddy grown in the fringes of the city by the villagers.
Bokaro is located in the eastern part of India at 23°29′ N 86°09′ E. It is located in picturesque surroundings on the southern bank of river Damodar with Garga, one of its tributaries meandering along the southern and eastern outskirts of the city. On the north, the city is flanked by the high ranges of the Parasnath Hills and on the south just beyond the river Garga, it is enveloped by the Satanpur hillocks. Two artificial cooling ponds have been built for use in Steel making. A dam on River Garga has been built to supply water to the township as well as the steel plant, but due to everincreasing demand tenughat dam is supplementing it.
Best Season : September to February.
Languages : Hindi, Bengali(khortha), English, Bhojpuri,Santhali, Murmu
Bokaro Steel Plant is the largest steel plant in the country, with a output capacity of 5 million tonnes of saleable steel(hot roll and cold roll). The plant also has a captive power plant, now being run by Bokaro power Supply Company Ltd., a 50-50 joint venture between SAIL and DVC. The plant is undergoing a huge modernization program, and the increased demand for steel over the last couple of years saw all the blast furnaces in the company becoming operational together for the first time.
The company has about 30000 employees on its rolls as of 2005. This is a after a big reduction in the numbers over the last 15 years, a time which saw the rolls swelling to almost 50000. The plant has now moved from having employees for all its activities to sub-contracting of non-core jobs, thus cutting costs.
Large number of migrants from Bihar are living in Siwandih. This is situated in west part of Bokaro near Bokaro Railway Station. Bokaro has a natural beauty lot of mountains, lakes are there in bokaro.
Garga Dam is situated near Bokaro Steel City (about 12 km from city center). It is a famous picnic spot for the denizens of Bokaro. Lusturous green surroundings and variety of aquatic habitat residing in and around Garga Dam lures the school excursions and boilogical expeditions to this place.This dam is constructed for the use of steel plant as well as for the water supply for its people.
Located near Bokaro Hotel, it has a collection of over 40,000 books(including some valuable manuscript) that meets the reading requirements of the people in the township.It is managed by the management of the steel plant.
The city center is the main shopping district of the city. Recent years have seen it grow more than three-fold in size. The difference of this market and most other major markets in Indian cities happens to be the planning of the market. There is ample parking space, and the approach roads, as well as those inside the market are wide. The place houses almost all major Indian banks, has the best shops in the city for clothing, electronics, and the best food joints. You can find anything from a needle to a car in the market. It used to be home for the only cinema theatres in the city, but only two of them(Jeetendra and Pali Plaza) is operational now. The latest comers to the market are coaching institutes, small clinics, and hospitals. Their rate of growth shows the demand these services have in the city.
Located in the sector 1 is the most famous mandir dedicated to Lord Ram and smaller other mandirs encircling it dedicated to other gods and goddesses. The Ram Mandir market is also famous for its coffee house , batata poori, chat, samosa, phuchka, and famous egg-rolls. It is adviseable to be cautious of Pandas of Ram Mandir.Ram Mandir houses one of the oldest markets of Bokaro. The airport is one kilometre from Ram Mandir.
Located in Sector 4, the newly built Jagannath temple is an another attraction.The temple is a replica of the famous temple in Puri, Orissa.
Located in sector 8, it is one of the oldest temples of the city. As the name suggests, the temple is dedicated to one of the incarnations of Shakti, Goddess Kali. Besides the religious activities it is also a major socialing place for the Bengalis of the city. The temple organizes an annual painting competition attended by hundreds of students from the schools of the city.We have to go to see this place.....
Ajay
Bokaro has a well maintained City Park with an artificial lake. Recently three artificial islands have also been added. These islands were designed in Japneese style. The park used to have some small animals but they were all transferred to the Jawaharlal Botanical Garden in the early 90s. There is a small guest house that is used to host parties for visiting dignitaries. A small restaurant also stands at the eastern edge of the lake. There is a small toy train that is run for some time early every year. The park hosts an annual Basant Mela (Spring Fiesta) in early February. The southern part of the park is used by thousands during the annual Chhatth puja in October/November.
The botanical garden was built in the late 80s and early 90s. It has animals and birds from different parts of the world, with the big cats being the biggest attractions. The zoo came into limelight after multiple breedings of white tigers, royal bengal tigers, and the asiatic lion over a short span of time. The cubs were sent to different zoos in India and abroad, since the available resources were not good enough to cater to the needs of so many big cats.
Once a small grain trading hub of the region, this town first became famous during the Second World War when the British Government used it as a base to supply soldiers fighting on the eastern front against the Japanese. After the decision of Government of India to establish the Bokaro Steel Plant it gained in stature. It was the administrative headquarters of the area when Bokaro was a part of Dhanbad district, and later when Bokaro became a district. Recently the headquarters were moved to the steel township. Chas continues to be a trading hub, but has declined in importance after the rise of the township to the west.
A village in Chas Block famous for 75 foot (23 m) high tower.
The last Kasba in the Bokaro Dhanbad route is Pupunki. The village, along with its fields and captive fishery ponds is squeezed between NH-32, Bokaro-Chandrapura Railway line and the Damodar river. Opposite to this village across the NH-32 is the pious Pupunki Ashram. This Ashram was an age old home for Gurus who used to harbour Gaushalas with 100s of students being imparted scientific and spiritual knowledge in the past. One can still see the reminents of the past with many rituals still intact in this Ashram. This place is also a popular picnic spot these days.
A town famous for Chandrapura Thermal Power Station, a unit of Damodar Valley Corporation. It was a big source of pollution for the adjoining areas owing to the coal based generators, but things changed after electrostatic precipitators were installed in the chimneys, and large scale afforestation was carried out. The town lies on the northern edge of perhaps the most polluted river in the world, the Damodar.
Headquarters of Bermo SubDivision, famous for Tenughat Dam and Tenughat Thermal Power Station.
A good pinic spot.It is at a distance of 15 kms. from the city.The picnic spot is likeable because of the flow of a stream due to leaving of water fromm the dam.
Besides the steel plant, Bokaro is also known for what the students from the city have achieved over the years. Today students from all over the state and elsewhere come to the city to make a difference to their professional lives. City has provided hundreds of civil servants (IAS, IPS, IFS officers) to the country.
The city has a plethora of excellent schools affiliated to the central and state education boards. The more famous of these are Delhi Public School, The Holy Cross School, Pentecostal Assembly School, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, St. Xaviers School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, DAV Public School, Guru Govind Singh Public School, and MGM Senior Secondary School. Then there are schools run by the steel plant management, and some run by the state government. The city hardly offers anything after you have graduated from school, and this is probably a blessing in disguise, since it forces the students to look for avenues outside, and they excel in most such entrance exams.
The wave of success was started by Prasoon Kumar who topped IIT JEE in 1993.Private instititutes Kumar Ajith like Pardise Institute has helped hundreds of students to get through IIT-Jee Subsequent years saw students from the city exceling in all major entrance examinations of the country. The city also boasts of very large expatriate population in US,Europe, Australia and New Zealnd. Most of these people graduated from schools in the city in the eighties and nineties, before moving to some other city, and finally out of the country. But even today the city holds a special position in their hearts: home sweet home!
BSL has created sports facilities like the football stadium (Mohan Kumar Mangalam Stadium), a cricket stadium, Bokaro Club (for indoor sports like table tennis, badminton, chess, billiards and outdor sports like swimming, tennis, etc.) for its people. The township is well planned and has lots of playgrounds and parks for the children to play.
Bokaro has a vibrant atmosphere for sporting activities, which have given a number of distinguished sports persons to the nation. The SAIL Football Academy students' team has three Subroto Cups to its credit. Manik Biswas and L Lalchhuan Maviah from the latest crop of Academy talents have been selected in the under-17 national football team. Peter Thangraj, the ex-Olympian goalkeeper, is a constant source of inspiration to the budding footballers of the city.
Pratima, Anita and Bela Rani have won laurels in national and international events of weightlifting. Pratima has won a Bronze medal for the country in the Commonwealth Games, while Anita fetched an Asian Games Bronze. Bela has been a Gold medal winner in the National Games.
There are facilities for learning several games from professionally qualified coaches, such as volleyball, basketball, table tennis, kabaddi and khokho.
Bokaro Sangeet Kala Academy offers learning opportunities in many a fine art, especially classical music. The students also get opportunities to showcase their talent and training amidst august gatherings. The clubs and community centres, along with the many social organisations, are fulcrums of socio-cultural activities in the township.
The township has a modern 910-bed Bokaro General Hospital with specialised units like Critical Care Unit, Intensive Coronary Care Unit, Haemodialysis Unit, Nuclear Medicine Laboratory, etc. The Child Care Unit of BGH has been recognised as a Baby Friendly Hospital by UNICEF. The Blood Bank of BGH has been given the status of Regional Training Centre by Government of India. It is the only blood bank in the state of Jharkhand, which has been recognised to impart training to blood bank officers and technicians in Jharkhand.
To take care of the employees working in the plant, an Occupational Health Services Centre with modern facilities has been provided within the plant premises. Bokaro General Hospital is recognised by the Indian Medical Council for imparting training to Housemen and Interns and also by the Nursing Council of India for training of Student Nurses. Bokaro General Hospital has the distinction of being the only one in Jharkhand being recognised by the National Board of Examinations, New Delhi as a centre for imparting post-graduate training to candidates appearing for the Diplomat of National Board examinations. The medical team boasts of around 200 skilled doctors and over 1000 paramedic staff.
The 10 neighbourhood health centres provide primary health services to people for minor ailments and are a valuable network during free immunisation drives.
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