Haldia

Haldia
City
Nickname(s): Port City
Country  India
State West Bengal
Districts East Midnapur district
Area
 • Total 102 km2 (39 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Total 207,695

Haldia is an industrial city and municipality in Purba Medinipur district, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a major riverport and industrial belt located approximately 125 kilometres southwest of Calcutta 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 many petrochemical businesses, and is being developed as a major trade port for Kolkata.

Geography

Haldia is located at 22°02′N 88°04′E / 22.03°N 88.06°E / 22.03; 88.06.[1] It has an average elevation of 8 metres (26 ft).

Demographics

As of 2011 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.[2]

As of 2001 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.[3]

Administration

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 with a population of 65,000. Bhabanipur police station is located in Bhabanipur, and covers an area of 115 km2 with a population of 124,906.

Haldia is also a base of Indian Coast Guard. Indian coast guard DHQ 8 (Headquarters for West Bengal) is located at Haldia. There is a hoverport to house four of the eighteen hovercrafts belonging to the Indian Coast Guard. Indian coast guard also have pantoon jetty to berth fleet of ships. Presently two fast petrol vessels, one inshore petrol vessels, and one small craft is based at Haldia.

Climate

Haldia
Climate chart (explanation)
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6
 
 
26
13
 
 
23
 
 
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33
 
 
33
21
 
 
51
 
 
36
25
 
 
128
 
 
35
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330
 
 
34
26
 
 
321
 
 
32
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32
26
 
 
291
 
 
32
26
 
 
159
 
 
31
24
 
 
33
 
 
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19
 
 
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26
14
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Weather 2[4]

Haldia has a typical moderate climate with winter temperatures ranging from a low of around 7 degrees Celsius to a high of 22 degrees Celsius. Summers can be very hot and humid. Usual summer temperatures in May, the hottest month range from a low of 24 degrees to highs around 39 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 144 inches and the rainy months are between May and September.

Transportation

Road-way

Haldia is connected to Kolkata by bus. Recent efforts have seen introduction of new air-conditioned buses which takes less than three hours from the place to Kolkata.

Rail-way

Haldia railway station is the major railway station connecting the city to Kolkata , Chennai and Delhi.

Water-way

Haldia is also connected via the 1620 km long inland waterway, National Waterway 1 that runs from Allahabad across 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.

Industry

Haldia has several major factories, including South Asian Petrochemicals Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Exide, Shaw Wallace, Tata Chemicals, Haldia Petrochemicals, India Power Corporation Ltd., Hindustan Lever, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporations, S.J.Constructions and LTC&Co. in addition to various light industries.

Sports

The Indian Football Association and Tata Football Academy have been operating for years in the city to scout and promote football talent. A new project called Haldia International Sports City is also under construction.

Japanese community

The Japanese community of Haldia are mostly engineers and top executives at the Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation purified terephthalic acid plant in the city.[5] The community have been living in the mini Japanese township called Sataku (Japantown) for many years. Sataku has many Japanese restaurants and a local Japanese news station. Japanese movies are shown in local theaters. Haldia is the only Indian city to have a Japantown.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Haldia
  2. ↑ "Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  3. ↑ "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.
  4. ↑ "Climate History for Haldia". Weather 2. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  6. ↑ ": Expats in new India". Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  • Haldia travel guide from Wikivoyage
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