Jagdalpur is a city located in the southern part of Chhattisgarh state in India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Bastar district and Bastar division. Before the independence of India, it also served as the capital of the erstwhile princely state of Bastar. It is the fourth largest city of Chhattisgarh. A city known For its Distinct art and culture, the Tourism capital of Chhattisgarh and one of the Fastest Growing City of State.It is also known as ' Mumbai Of Chhattisgarh ' for its diverse demographics and second biggest financial hub in the state after Raipur.
Bastar district has multiple scenic waterfalls that is popular for tourists throughout India. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has identified Jagdalpur-Teerathgarh-Chitrakoot-Barsur-Dantewada Circuit as one of the 45 Mega Tourist Destinations/Circuits in India on the basis of footfalls and their future tourism potential.[3]
Climate
Jagdalpur has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classificationAw) with three main seasons: summer, monsoon, and winter. Summers last from March to May and are hot, with the average maximum for May reaching 38.1 °C (100.6 °F). The weather cools off somewhat for the monsoon season from June to September, which features very heavy rainfall. Winters are warm and dry.[citation needed]
Climate data for Jagdalpur (1991–2020, extremes 1909–2020)
Source 2: Tokyo Climate Center (mean temperatures 1991–2020)[6]
Demographics
Indravati River Jagdalpur Chhattisgarh India
As of the[update] year 2021, town has a population of 325,463.[2] The Municipal Corporation have a sex ratio of 985 females per 1,000 males and 19.0% of the population were under six years old.[2] Effective literacy was 90.44%; male literacy was 92.51% and female literacy was 88.37%.[2]
At the time of the 2011 census, 81.80% of the population were Hindus, 9.44% Christians, 5.32% Muslims, 1.81% Jains, 1.27% Sikhs.[7]
Hindi is the largest language, spoken by 54% of the population. Chhattisgarhi, Halbi, Bhatri and Gondi languages/dialects are also widely spoken. Odia is also spoken by the parts close to Odissa with heavy influence of Halbi.
Industry and economy
NMDC Steel Plant
Jagdalpur has a primarily agrarian economy, it is the second biggest market after Raipur in state, although it also has many small scale and a few large scale industries as well. Furniture Industries and rice mills are the most common industries in this region. Nagarnar Steel Plant, being set up at its outskirts, is at an advanced construction and is slated for commissioning in October 2018.[8][9]
National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), as part of its diversification, value addition and forward integration programme is setting up a 3 MTPA capacity greenfield Integrated Steel Plant based on HiSmelt technology in Nagarnar, located 16 km from Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh state with an estimated outlay of Rs 20000 crore.[10]
Construction work for the project is in progress and around 90.59% of civil work, 79.01% structural erection, 60.36% equipment erection have been completed as on 31 December 2017.[11]
Baijendra Kumar, Chairman cum managing director, NMDC has set October 2018 as the deadline to commission the plant.[9]
Places of Interest
The contribution of Tourism in the Economy of Jagdalpur Tourism is one of the main sources of income for the city. The city is rightly said to be the paradise of tourists looking for fun and frolic in Jagdalpur. The city is an abode of many wildlife, temples, waterfalls, caves, lakes, museums, historic monuments and what not. Some of the must-visit places in Jagdalpur are Chitrakote Falls, Teerathgarh Falls, Kotumsar Cave, Tamda Ghumar waterfalls, Mendri Ghumar waterfalls, Kanger Ghati National Park, Indravati National Park, Danteshwari Temple, the historic Temples in Barsoor, Jagannath temple, Mavli temple, Laxmi-Narayan temple, The Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Temple and more.[12]
Jagdalpur is connected by rail line with the eastern part of India. There are trains connecting Jagdalpur railway station to Howrah, Bhubaneshwar and Visakhapatnam. The rail connectivity of Jagdalpur to Durg via Rayagada and Raipur is about 658 km long and takes 14.5 hours of travel time as compared to that by road which takes about 6–7 hours (distance 300 km).[13]
Jagdalpur-Rowghat Rail Line Status
NMDC, IRCON, SAIL and CMDC have signed an agreement on 20 January 2016 and pursuant to the same, a company named Bastar Railway Private Limited (BRPL) has already been formed on 5 May 2016 [14] for undertaking implementation of the railway line from Jagdalpur to Rowghat.
NDMC has the biggest shareholding in BRPL at 43 percent while SAIL, IRCON & Govt. of Chhattisgarh have shareholding of 21 percent, 26 percent and 10 percent respectively.[15]
BRPL and IRCON have signed a project execution agreement in July 2017, under which IRCON will construct the railway line between Jagdalpur and Rawghat in Chhattisgarh. The railway line will have 13 new Railway stations and the estimated project cost of this Rail corridor is Rs 2,538 crore approximately.[16]
Presently,[when?] the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for this section of the rail line has already been sanctioned by the Railways Board.[17]
Survey work is currently underway and the target was earlier set to complete survey work of Jagdalpur-Kondagaon-Narayanpur by the month of March 2016 and of Narayanpur-Rowghat section by the month of May 2016, but there have been delays reported. In a government review carried out in February 2018,[18] it was reported that the survey work for Jagdalpur to Kondagaon railway track laying comprising length of 91.76 km had been completed for Jagdalpur-Rowghat Railway project. It was also reported that the survey work for Kondagaon to Rowghat for the 91.6 km to 140 km distance in under progress. The project team was directed by government to complete all the survey work for the project by 15 March 2018.
