Haldia is an industrial port city in Purba Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It has a major river port and industrial belt located approximately 124 km (77 mi) southwest of Kolkata near the mouth of the Hooghly River, one of the distributaries of the Ganges. The Haldia Township is bordered by the Haldi River, an offshoot of the Ganges River. Haldia is a centre for petrochemical businesses, and is a major trade port for Kolkata.[4]
Haldia | |
|---|---|
Metropolis | |
Sunset on the Banks of Haldi River Gouranga Dham Temple Haldia Refinery under IOCL 4 pillar spot, Haldia Institute of Technology | |
| Nickname: Petrochemical City | |
  Haldia  Haldia | |
| Coordinates: 22°04′00″N 88°04′11″E / 22.0667°N 88.0698°E | |
| Country | India |
| State |  West Bengal |
| District | Purba Medinipur |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Body |
|
| Area | |
• Metropolis | 110 km2 (40 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,982 km2 (765 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[3] | |
• Metropolis | 200,762 |
| • Metro | 2,749,364 |
Geography
edit
5miles
Kamalpur
M: municipal city/ town, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, S: port
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly
Location
editHaldia is located at 22°02′N 88°04′E / 22.03°N 88.06°E.[5] It has an average elevation of 8 metres (26 ft).
Demographics
editAs of 2011[update] census, Haldia had a population of 200,762, out of which 104,852 were males and 95,910 were females. The 0–6 years population was 21,122. Effective literacy rate for the 7+ population was 89.06 per cent.[6]
As of 2001[update] India census, Haldia had a population of 170,695. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. In Haldia, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.[7]
Japanese community
editHaldia once had a small, thriving Japanese community. The Japanese community of Haldia were mostly engineers and top executives at the Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation purified terephthalic acid (the corporation's majority stake is now under The Chatterjee Group) plant in the city.[8] The community had lived in the mini Japanese township called Sataku (Japantown) for many years. Sataku had Japanese restaurant and a local Japanese news station. Japanese movies were shown in local theatres in the township. Haldia was the only Indian city to have a Japantown.[9]
Administration
editThe city of Haldia is governed by the Haldia Municipality. Earlier Haldia Municipality had 26 wards. In 2015, the number of wards was increased to 29.[10]
Haldia Municipality falls under the jurisdiction of two police territories, served by Haldia and Bhabanipur police stations. Haldia police station is located in Chinranjibpur, and covers an area of 98 km2 (38 sq mi) with a population of 65,000.[citation needed] Bhabanipur police station is located in Bhabanipur, and covers an area of 115 km2 (44 sq mi) with a population of 124,906.[citation needed]
Haldia is also a base of the Indian Coast Guard.[citation needed] Indian coast guard DHQ 8 (Headquarters for West Bengal) is located at Haldia.[citation needed] There is a hoverport to house four of the eighteen hovercraft belonging to the Indian Coast Guard. The Indian coast guard also has a pontoon jetty to berth a fleet of ships.[citation needed] Presently two fast patrol vessels, one inshore patrol vessels, and one small craft are based at Haldia.[citation needed]
Climate
editHaldia has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw), with winter temperatures ranging from a low of around 7 °C (45 °F) degrees Celsius to a high of 22 °C (72 °F). Summers can be very hot and humid. Usual summer temperatures in May, the hottest month, range from a low of 24 °C (75 °F) degrees to highs around 39 °C (102 °F) degrees. Although summers are hot and humid, Kalbaishakhis provide a relief to the people, albeit killing some in the process. Rainfall is heavy during monsoons, with an average rainfall of 3,650 mm (144 in) and the rainy months are between May and October.
| Climate data for Haldia (1981–2010, extremes 1981–2007) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 32.3 (90.1) |
37.7 (99.9) |
37.8 (100.0) |
40.4 (104.7) |
40.9 (105.6) |
39.9 (103.8) |
38.2 (100.8) |
36.9 (98.4) |
35.8 (96.4) |
36.9 (98.4) |
35.5 (95.9) |
32.0 (89.6) |
40.9 (105.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 25.8 (78.4) |
28.6 (83.5) |
31.9 (89.4) |
33.1 (91.6) |
33.7 (92.7) |
33.1 (91.6) |
31.8 (89.2) |
31.8 (89.2) |
31.9 (89.4) |
31.9 (89.4) |
30.0 (86.0) |
27.2 (81.0) |
30.9 (87.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.7 (58.5) |
18.5 (65.3) |
22.8 (73.0) |
25.8 (78.4) |
26.8 (80.2) |
27.2 (81.0) |
26.8 (80.2) |
26.7 (80.1) |
26.3 (79.3) |
24.6 (76.3) |
20.2 (68.4) |
15.7 (60.3) |
23.0 (73.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 9.1 (48.4) |
10.4 (50.7) |
15.7 (60.3) |
18.3 (64.9) |
10.7 (51.3) |
21.0 (69.8) |
22.3 (72.1) |
22.0 (71.6) |
22.0 (71.6) |
19.3 (66.7) |
12.5 (54.5) |
10.9 (51.6) |
9.1 (48.4) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 15.7 (0.62) |
28.2 (1.11) |
36.3 (1.43) |
63.5 (2.50) |
108.0 (4.25) |
308.8 (12.16) |
380.7 (14.99) |
367.8 (14.48) |
343.5 (13.52) |
160.7 (6.33) |
47.9 (1.89) |
3.1 (0.12) |
1,864.3 (73.40) |
| Average rainy days | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 6.3 | 12.5 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 14.1 | 6.2 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 83.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) | 58 | 60 | 66 | 75 | 78 | 81 | 84 | 84 | 83 | 74 | 67 | 61 | 73 |
| Source: India Meteorological Department[11][12] | |||||||||||||
Haldia has been ranked 5th best “National Clean Air City” under (Category 3 population under 3 lakhs cities) in India.[13]
Transportation
editRoad-way
edit
Haldia is connected to Kolkata by bus of South Bengal State Transport Corporation . Recent efforts have seen introduction of new air-conditioned buses which take less than three hours from station to station.[citation needed]. Haldia is also connected to Bankura, Kharagpur, Tarakeswar, Burdwan, Asansol by bus.
Rail-way
editHaldia railway station is the major railway station connecting the city to Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi. For long-distance trains, except one or two weekly for Delhi and Chennai, you have to go to either Mecheda, Howrah(near Kolkata) or Kharagpur.
Water-way
editHaldia is also connected via the 1,620 km (1,010 mi) long inland waterway, National Waterway 1, that runs from Prayagraj across the Ganges, Bhagirathi and Hooghly river system to Haldia (Sagar). A catamaran service used to operate from Kolkata to Haldia, but was withdrawn due to its high price and unpopularity among tourists.[citation needed] A governmental ferry service operates between Haldia and Nandigram.
Industry
edit
Haldia has several major factories, including South Asian Petrochemicals Ltd, Haldia Refinery under IOCL, Haldia Energy Limited, Exide, Shaw Wallace, Tata Chemicals, Haldia Petrochemicals, India Power Corporation Ltd., Hindustan Lever, MCPI Private Limited (formerly Mitsubishi Chemical Corporations India), S.J.Constructions, Jay Road Carriers and LTC&Co.
Sports
editThe Indian Football Association and Tata Football Academy have been operating for years in the city to scout and promote football talents. A new project called Haldia International Sports City is also under construction.[14]
Cricket is a popular sport in Haldia with multiple coaching clubs and local facilities available for the youth and teenagers to train, and compete at local and regional level cricket tournaments. Haldia also has multiple football coaching clubs. The city has a few public and private wooden floor badminton courts and swimming pools- people come from various places to have their coaching in these arenas.
References
edit- ^ "Haldia City" (PDF). Haldia Municipality.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Haldia Info".
- ^ a b c "About US". HDA. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ "About Haldia, Information on Haldia, Know About Haldia City". www.haldiaonline.in. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "Maps, Weather, and Airports for Haldia, India". www.fallingrain.com.
- ^ "Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
- ^ "Provisional population totals, West Bengal, Table 4, (erstwhile) Medinipur District". Census of India 2001. Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
- ^ "2009 | News Releases | News & Media". Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^ "Expats in new India". Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ "Haldia Municipality Election Result: Complete List of 29 Winners". India.com. 17 August 2017.
- ^ "Station: Haldia Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 309–310. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M235. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ "Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2024" (PDF). Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2024. 7 September 2024.
- ^ Haldia to get India's first sports city The Times of India.
External links
edit
Haldia travel guide from Wikivoyage
