Dera Bassi

Location

Derabassi is located near the foothills of the Sivalik range of the Himalayas in northwest India. It has an average elevation of 321 metres (1053 ft).

The city, lying in the northern plains, has vast fertile and flat land. The surrounding cities are the union territory of Chandigarh, Mohali, Patiala, Zirakpur and Roopnagar in Punjab, Panchkula, and Ambala in Haryana.

Chandigarh is situated 119 km southwest of Shimla, 30 km (19 miles) northeast of Ambala, 236 km (148 miles) southeast of Amritsar and 230 km (144 miles) north of Delhi.

Climate

Derabassi has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa) characterised by a seasonal rhythm: very hot summers, mild winters, unreliable rainfall and great variation in temperature (−1 °C to 46 °C OR 30.2 °F to 114 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1110.7 mm. The city also receives occasional winter rains from the Western Disturbance originating over the Mediterranean Sea.

The western disturbances usually brings rain predominantly from mid-December till end of April which can be heavier sometimes with strong winds and hails if the weather turns colder (during March–April months) which usually proves disastrous to the crops. Cold winds usually tend to come from the north near Shimla, capital of Himachal Pradesh and from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, both of which receive their share of snowfall during wintertime.

The city experiences the following seasons and the respective average temperatures:

• Spring: The climate remains the most enjoyable part of the year during the spring season (from February-end to early-April). Temperatures vary between (max) 13 °C to 20 °C and (min) 5 °C to 12 °C.
• Autumn: In autumn (from September-end to mid November.), the temperature may rise to a maximum of 30 °C. Temperatures usually remain between 10° to 22° in autumn. The minimum temperature is around 6 °C.
• Summer: The temperature in summer (from Mid-April to June-end) may rise to 44 °C. The temperatures might sometime rise to 44 °C in mid-June. Temperatures generally vary between 40 and 42 °C.
• Monsoon: During monsoon (from early-July to mid-September), Derabassi receives moderate to heavy rainfall and sometimes heavy to very heavy rainfall (generally during the month of August or September). Usually, the rain bearing monsoon winds blow from south-west/south-east. Mostly, the city receives heavy rain from south (which is mainly a persistent rain) but it generally receives most of its rain during monsoon either from North-west or North-east. Maximum amount of rain received by the city of Chandigarh during monsoon season is 195.5 mm in a single day.
• Winter: Winters (November-end to February-end) are mild but it can sometimes get quite chilly in Derabassi. Average temperatures in the winter remain at (max) 5 °C to 14 °C and (min) -1 °C to 5 °C. Rain usually comes from the west during winters and it is usually a persistent rain for 2–3 days with sometimes hailstorms. The city witnessed bone-numbing chill as the maximum temperature on Monday, 7 January 2013 plunged to a 30-year low to settle at 6.1 degrees Celsius.

Sukhna Lake

Sailing at Sukhna Lake

Sukhna Lake is located in Sector 1, adjoining the Rock Garden near the foothills of Shivalik Hills.^[4] Sukhna is an artificial lake. This 3 km rain-fed lake was created in 1958 by damming the Sukhna Choe, a seasonal stream coming down from the Shivalik Hills.^[5] It has The Garden of Silence within it.^[6]

The atmosphere here is serene. Sukhna Lake is the venue for many festive celebrations. The most popular is the Mango Festival held during the monsoons. It is believed that a Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret's ashes were immersed in this lake according to his will as he developed a deep bond with the lake.^[7][8][9]

The garden is most famous for its sculptures made from recycled ceramic, Rock Garden

Rock Garden

The Rock Garden is situated in the middle of the Capitol Complex and the Sukhna Lake in Sector 1.^[10] It is also known as Nek Chand Rock Garden after its founder.^[11][12] It has numerous sculptures made by using a variety of different discarded waste materials like frames, mudguards, forks, handle bars, metal wires, play marbles, porcelain, auto parts, broken bangles etc.^[13]

Nek Chand himself went up the Shivalik hills and got different stones and materials with which he started building the garden.^[14]

Rose Garden

Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, or simply Rose Garden, is named after the former President of India, Zakir Hussain. It is situated in Sector 16.^[15] The garden is known to be the greatest of its types in Asia.^[16]

The garden is said to be spread about thirty to forty acres containing nearly 825 varieties of roses in it and more than 32,500 varieties of other medicinal plants and trees.^[17]

Parrot Bird Sanctuary Chandigarh

Parrot Bird Sanctuary Chandigarh is a bird sanctuary which is located in sector 21 Chandigarh India.It is notified under Section 18 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is habitat of thousands of parrots. It is the second wildlife sanctuary in the city after Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary.

Leisure Valley

A continuum of various theme gardens, Leisure Valley is a linear park over 8 km long which starts from Sector 1 in the north and leaves Chandigarh at its southern most edge. It consists of many theme parks, botanical gardens and green belts, including Rajendra Park in Sector 1, the Bougainvillea Garden in Sector 3 and the Physical Fitness Trails in Sector 10, among others.^[18]

Other destinations

Other tourist destinations include The New Lake in Sector 42, Capitol Complex in Sector 1, City Centre in Sector 17, Open hand monument in Sector 1, Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19, Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10, International Doll Museum in Sector 23, Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math in Sector 20.

There are many tourist gardens like the Garden of Fragrance in Sector 36, Garden of Palms in Sector 42, Butterfly Park in Sector 26, Valley of Animals in Sector 49, the Japanese Garden in Sector 31 and the Terraced Garden in Sector 33.^[19] Several other famous tourist destinations like Pinjore Gardens, Morni Hills, Nada Sahib, Kasauli, Chhatbir Zoo lie in its vicinity.

Road

CTU AC bus plying till Derabassi

(CTU) operates public transport buses from its Inter State Bus Terminals (ISBT) in Sectors 17 and 43 of the city.^[20] CTU also operates frequent bus services to the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and to Delhi. All buses from Haryana and Delhi going towards Chandigarh cross Derabassi. Commute to derabassi is pretty easy and bus services are available from Delhi Kashmiri Gate ISBT.

Derabassi is well connected by road to the following nearby cities, by the following highway routes:

• NH 5 to Shimla in the northeast, and to Ludhiana in the west.
• NH 7 to Patiala in the southwest.
• NH 152 to Ambala in the south (NH 44 catches up from Ambala to Panipat-Delhi)
• NH 152 to Chandigarh in the north]).

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Air

View of Chandigarh Airport new terminal

Chandigarh International Airport has scheduled commercial flights to major cities of India including Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Leh and Srinagar. The airport has international flights to Sharjah , Dubai and Bangkok

Rail

Chandigarh Junction railway station lies in the Northern Railway zone of the Indian Railway network and provide connectivity to all the regions of India and some major Indian cities. It provides connectivity to eastern states with link to cities like Kolkata,^[21] Dibrugarh;^[22] southern states with trains to Visakhapatnam,^[23] Thiruvananthapuram,^[24] Bangalore^[25] and Kollam; western states with trains to Jaipur,^[26] Ahmedabad^[27] and Mumbai;^[28] central states with trains to Bhopal^[29] and Indore;^[30] other northern states with trains to Lucknow,^[31] Amritsar,^[32] Ambala,^[33] Panipat,^[34] Kalka,^[35] Shimla.^[36] and Pune.