The earliest mines worked in India by Sumner, Heatly and Redferne included Damulia, in the Raniganj area, near the Damodar River. There were reports that the coal they mined in India was inferior to coal imported from Britain and their ventures failed. In 1814, Warren Hastings sent Rupert Jones to survey the area. Having found trace of coal at a place called Jurwah (Jirwaghar), he sank a shaft there and got coal at a depth of 9 feet only. He found the coal fared well in comparison with British coal. He opened a coal mine at Egara and got the coal extracted from a pit (not a quarry). He was probably the first person to introduce Indian coal in the general market, but he failed in mining coal profitably. An agency house, Alexander and Company, became owners of the colliery around 1820. It was the "first regularly constituted mining company with European capital in Bengal."[1]
Geography
5km 3miles
Ajay River
Damodar River
Jamuria
N
Raniganj
N
Asansol
MC
ECL Kenda Area Office
ECL Kunustoria Area Office
ECL Satgram Area Office
ECL Sripur Area Office
Bahadurpur
R
Churulia
R
Ballavpur
CT
Raghunathchak
CT
Sahebganj
CT
Egara
CT
Baktarnagar
CT
Amkula
CT
Murgathaul
CT
Chelad
CT
Belebathan
CT
Banshra
CT
Jemari (Jaykaynagar)
CT
Chapui
CT
Ratibati
CT
Parasia
CT
Kenda
CT
Chinchuria
CT
Nimsa
CT
Topsi
CT
Kunustara
CT
Cities and towns in the eastern portion of Asansol Sadar subdivision in Paschim Bardhaman district MC: Municipal Corporation, CT: census town, N: neighbourhood, R: rural centre Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly
According to the 2011 census, 83.33% of the population of the Asansol Sadar subdivision was urban and 16.67% was rural.[3] In 2015, the municipal areas of Kulti, Raniganj and Jamuria were included within the jurisdiction of the Asansol Municipal Corporation.[4] Asansol Sadar subdivision has 26 (+1 partly) Census Towns.(partly presented in the map alongside; all places marked on the map are linked in the full-screen map).
Demographics
According to the 2011 Census of India, Egara had a total population of 7,623 of which 3,918 (51%) were males and 3,705 (49%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 813. The total number of literate persons in Egara was 5,262 (77.27% of the population over 6 years).[5]
According to the District Census Handbook 2011, Bardhaman, Egara covered an area of 3.66 km2. Among the civic amenities, it had 7.5 km roads, the protected water-supply involved tapwater from treated source, uncovered wells. It had 700 domestic electric connections. Among the medical facilities it had was 1 medicine shop. Among the educational facilities it had were 4 primary schools, 1 middle school, 1 secondary school, the nearest senior secondary school at Raniganj 5 km away. Among the commodities it produced were paddy, seeds, vegetables.[7]
Economy
As per the ECL website telephone numbers, operational collieries in the Satgram Area in 2018 are: Chapui Khas Colliery, JK Nagar Project, Jemehari Colliery, Kalidaspur Project, Kuardi Colliery, Nimcha Colliery, Pure Searsole Colliery, Ratibati Colliery, Satgram Project and Satgram Incline.[8]
As per ECL website telephone numbers, operational collieries in the Kunustoria Area in 2018 are: Amritnagar Colliery, Amrasota Colliery, Bansra Colliery, Belbaid Colliery, Kunustoria Colliery, Mahabir OCP, North Searsole Colliery, Parasea Colliery, Parasea 6 & 7 Incline and Parasea OCP.[9]
Education
Old Egara High School is a Bengali-medium coeducational institution established in 2001. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII. The school has a library with 1,050 books.[10]
^ ab"The Kolkata Gazette"(PDF). Notification No. 335/MA/O/C-4/1M-36/2014 dated 3 June 2015. Department of Municipal Affairs, Government of West Bengal. Archived from the original(PDF) on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
^"District Census Handbook Barddhaman, Census of India 2011, Series 20, Part XII A"(PDF). Section II Town Directory, Pages 1179-1210; Statement I: Status and Growth History, Page 1179; Statement II: Physical Aspects and Location of Towns, Page 1188; Statement III: Civic and other Amenities, Page 1191; Statement IV: Medical Facilities, Page 1196; Statement V: Educational, Recreational and Cultural Facilities, Page 1200; Statement VI:Industry and Banking, Page 1209. Directorate of census Operations V, West Bengal. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
