Asansol

Overview

Asansol is a cosmopolitan city located on the lower Chota Nagpur Plateau, which occupies most of Jharkhand, between the Damodar and Ajay rivers. Another river, the Barakar, joins the Damodar near Dishergarh. Two small rivulets, Nunia and Garui flow past Asansol.

While Dhanbad district in Jharkhand lies on the western side, Durgapur subdivision lies on the eastern side. To the south, across the Damodar river are the Purulia and Bankura districts. To the north are Dumka and Birbhum districts. Dhanbad district is a major coal mining area and has close links with Asansol; both lie in the Damodar valley.

The city is connected by the Grand Trunk Road and by rail with Durgapur, Burdwan, and Kolkata. It is an important coal-trading and railway centre, with large railway workshops and a railway colony.

Climate

Asansol has sweltering summers and warm to very warm winters. In summer temperatures can soar above 45 °C or 113 °F with dry hot winds known as 'loo' blowing while in winter temperatures go below 10 °C or 50 °F. Monsoon lasts from June to September and sometimes into October. The Köppen sub-type for this climate is Aw (tropical savanna climate).^[17]

Asansol has been ranked 16th best “National Clean Air City” (under Category 1 >10L Population cities) in India according to 'Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 Results' ^[19]

Administration

Asansol is administered by the Asansol Municipal Corporation. In 1850, a union committee was formed to look after the civic needs of Asansol. The Assensole (now Asansol) Municipality was approved in 1885 but started functioning effectively in 1896.^[20] It was upgraded to the status of a corporation in 1994.^[21] Since 2011 it has had its own Police Commissionerate.^[22] In 2015, Kulti, Jamuria and Raniganj Municipalities were dissolved and now these areas are administered by the Asansol Municipal Corporation. Thus the proper city limits of Asansol includes the old Asansol Area, including Burnpur, as well as other prominent locations like Raniganj, Chinakuri, Mithani, Barakar, Kulti, Dishergarh, Neamatpur, Sitarampur and Jamuria. Asansol Municipal Corporation has 106 wards.^[23]

Asansol-Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA) was established in April 1980 by the merger of the Asansol Planning Organisation and the Durgapur Development Authority. Jurisdiction of ADDA covers the areas administered by Asansol Municipal Corporation, the Jamuria Panchayet Samiti, the Community Development Blocks of Andal, Pandabeswar and Durgapur-Faridpur, Durgapur Municipal Corporation and a small part of Kanksa Community Development Block.^[24]

Police stations

Asansol North police station has jurisdiction over Raniganj CD Block and parts of Asansol Municipal Corporation. The area covered is 50 km² and the population covered is 410,000 (2001). It has police investigation centres at Kanyapur and Jahagirmohalla.^[25][26]

Asansol South police station has jurisdiction over parts of Asansol municipal corporation. The area covered is 69 km² and the population covered is 475,439 (2001).^[25][26]

Asansol Women PS covers Asansol subdivision.^[25][26]

Raniganj PS has jurisdiction within the city and has the following centres under its area:

Jamuria PS has jurisdiction over the following centres;

Hirapur and Kulti Police Stations also serve the following parts of Asansol municipal corporation area.^[25][26]

Religion

The major religions in Asansol are Hinduism, followed by 75.18% of the population, and Islam, followed by 21.26% of the population. 1.09% of the populace are adherents of Sikhism, while 0.99% of the population adheres to Christianity.^[28]

Languages

Bengali is spoken by the majority (43.1%), followed by Hindi (31.7%), Urdu (19.4%), Santali (2.9%), and Punjabi (1.2%).^[32]

Steel

The Steel Authority of India IISCO (Indian Iron and Steel Company Ltd) steel-making plant at Kulti was the first such facility in India. It became well known during the 1960s and 1970s, with its company shares being traded on the London Stock Exchange. However, a decade later the company became loss-making until it was revived in 2006 when it merged with the Steel Authority of India. Modernisation at IISCO Steel Plant has helped the city develop at a very rapid pace. The plant's capacity will be raised from 0.4 MT to 2.5 MT of saleable steel, using what will be the biggest blast furnace in the country.^[33] As of 2015, the investment for modernisation was the single largest investment in West Bengal till then.^[34]

Coal

Eastern Coalfields, which has its headquarters in Sanctoria P.O. - Dishergarh, has a significant presence in the area due to the huge deposits of high-quality coal. However, most of the coalfields and surrounding residential colonies are located away from the main city. Nearby areas like Raniganj, Chinakuri, and Jamuria are of particular importance as coal blocks. As of 2012, the total coal reserve in the ECL command area up to 600 metre depth was 49.17 billion tonnes.^[35][36]

Railways

Railways also is a big contributor to the economy of Asansol. Railways were the first employer in the city and they are credited with developing the city in the late 19th century. Asansol is one of four divisions of Eastern Railway Zone and among the major revenue generating divisions in Indian Railways. World's largest vertically integrated organisation Chittaranjan Locomotive Works under Indian Railways is also situated here. It is India's first locomotive works and Asia's largest Locomotive manufacturer.^[37]

Other business ventures

Other industries include Dishergarh Power Supply, Damodar Valley Corporation, Burn Standard Co. which is now a subsidiary of Eastern Railways, Hindustan Cables Limited and cement factories like Burnpur Cement.^[38]

Road

The Grand Trunk Road (NH 19 - old numbering NH 2) runs across the subdivision and NH 14 (old numbering NH 60) connects Asansol with Odisha. NH 19 has been broadened as part of the Golden Quadrilateral project and now allows three-lane traffic in both directions. A highway bypass avoids the areas of Ushagram, Murgasol, Asansol Bazar, Chelidanga, BNR, Gopalpur, Neamatpur, Kulti, and Barakar. Some of the other important roads of the city are namely Vivekananda Avenue, Burnpur Road, and S.B Gorai Road.

The South Bengal State Transport Corporation operates daily bus services to Kolkata and numerous other destinations, such as Malda, Siliguri, Midnapur, Bankura, Siuri, Purulia, Burdwan, Kalna, Howrah, Barrackpore, Digha, Bolpur, Kirnahar and Berhampore. The North Bengal State Transport Corporation also runs services to and from the city and towns in North Bengal like Malda, Raiganj and Balurghat. There are also many private buses, Taxis and Radio Taxis, which ply locally and on intercity and interstate routes.

Railway

Asansol Junction railway station is the Division of Eastern Railway zone This is one of the oldest divisions on the Indian Railways and has always been in the forefront of operations, both freight and passenger. As far as Eastern Railway is concerned, Asansol Division is referred to as the heart of operations, being at the crossroads of the Grand Chord route via Gaya and the main line route via Patna. With a total of 629.38 route kilometres, the division has the unique distinction of having quadruple lines (two up and two down line) from Khana to Sitarampur.

The railway track from Kolkata to Delhi passes through the subdivision and bifurcates into the main line and the grand chord line at Sitarampur railway junction, a little to the west of Asansol railway junction. Another railway track links Asansol with Adra and then to Jamshedpur via Purulia and Kharagpur via Bankura. A branch line connects Andal with Sainthia on the Sahibganj Loop.

Almost all the trains linking Kolkata with north India also connect with Asansol including Howrah-Patna Vande Bharat Express, Sealdah Rajdhani, Howrah Rajdhani, Howrah Duronto, Sealdah Humsafar Express, Yuva Express and Shalimar Duronto. As a result, Asansol enjoys good connectivity with cities like New Delhi, Jammu, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Dehradun, Jaipur, Kota, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Gwalior, Bhopal, Indore, Patna, Ranchi, Durgapur and Dhanbad on the one hand and commands a fairly good traffic movement towards the western cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Surat and southern cities like Bhubaneshwar, Visakhapatnam, Vijaywada, Chennai, Bangalore and Trivandrum. It is also connected with Guwahati in the north-east region.^[39]

Air

The domestic airport that serves the city is Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport. The airport is located in Andal. It is roughly 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the Asansol City Bus Terminus.

There is also a private airport located at Burnpur Riverside Area. At present this Airport is operated by IISCO. Recently Airport Authority of India gave nod to start commercial flights for six routes in West Bengal; Burnpur Airport is one of them.^[40]

Schools

• Asansol Ramakrishna Mission High School
• Assembly of God Church School
• DAV Public School, Asansol^[41]
• Loreto Convent, Asansol
• Kendriya Vidyalaya, Asansol^[42]
• St. Patrick's Higher Secondary School
• St. Vincent's High and Technical School
• Subhaspally Bidyaniketan

Colleges/Universities

• Asansol Engineering College
• Asansol Girls' College
• Asansol Polytechnic
• Banwarilal Bhalotia College, Asansol
• Bengal Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital
• Bidhan Chandra College, Asansol
• Deshbandhu Mahavidyalaya
• Kanyapur Polytechnic
• Kazi Nazrul Islam Mahavidyalaya
• Kazi Nazrul University
• Khandra College
• Kulti College
• Raniganj Girls' College
• St. Xavier's College, Asansol
• Triveni Devi Bhalotia College

• 
  Asansol Engineering College
• 
  Gupta College of Technological Sciences
• 
  Banwarilal Bhalotia College
• 
  Domohani Kelejora High School

Libraries

There are several public libraries, including the District Library.^[43]