Gandhidham

Gandhidham
City
Gandhidham Junction station board
Nickname(s): Sardar Ganj
Gandhidham Location in Gujarat, India
Coordinates: 23°05′N 70°08′E / 23.08°N 70.13°E / 23.08; 70.13Coordinates: 23°05′N 70°08′E / 23.08°N 70.13°E / 23.08; 70.13
Country	India
State	Gujarat
District	Kutch
Municipality	Gandhidham Municipality
Founded by	Bhai Pratap
Government
• Type	Municipality
Elevation	27 m (89 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	248,705
• Rank	181
Languages
• Official	Sindhi, Kutchi, Gujarati, Hindi
Time zone	UTC+5:30
PIN	370201
Telephone code	02836
Vehicle registration	GJ-12
Sex ratio	0.879 ♂/♀
Distance from Bhuj	60 kilometres (37 mi)
Distance from Gandhinagar	365 kilometres (227 mi)
Website	www.gandhidhamnagarpalika.org

Gandhidham is a city and a municipality in the Kutch District

Kutch District of Gujarat state of India. The town was created in the early 1950s for the resettlement of the refugees from Sindh (now in Pakistan) in the aftermath of the partition of India. It was named after Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Indian nation. Gandhidham is an economic capital of Kutch and it is a fast developing city in Gujarat state. A growing retirement and family city, Gandhidham is the 8th^[1][2] most populous city in the state of Gujarat. The city is a popular destinations for conventions, business, and meetings.

History

Soon after the Partition of India in 1947, a large group of Sindhi Hindus refugees from Sindh of Pakistan migrated to India. The Maharaja of Kutch His Highness Maharao Shri Vijayrajji Khengarji Jadeja, on the advice of Gandhiji gave 15,000 acres (61 km²) of land to Bhai Pratap, who founded the Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Ltd (SRC) to rehabilitate Sindhi Hindus that migrated from Sindh in Pakistan^[3]

The Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Ltd was formed with Acharaya Kriplani as chairman and Bhai Pratap Dialdas as managing director. The main objective of the corporation was to assist in the rehousing of displaced persons by the construction of a new township. The original plan was prepared by a team of planners headed by Dr. O. H. Koenigsberger, director of the division of housing in the Government of India. Later, the plan was revised by Adams Howard and Greeley Company in 1952. The foundation stone of the town was laid with the blessings of Gandhi in 1947. Hence, the town was named Gandhidham. To clean the desert where it was built, Bhai Pratap gave incentive of 25 paise to kill scorpions and 50 paise to kill snakes.^[4] The original plan envisaged 400,000 as the ultimate population of the town, expecting half of it to be reached in the mid-seventies. A revised plan envisaged three stages of town development with the mid stage lasting longer with a population around 150,000.

Geography and climate

Gandhidham is located at latitude 23.08° N longitude 70.13° E. The main city is constructed in accordance with the principles of Vastu-Shastra (Hindu belief of construction), i.e., the main city has its face directed to the East. Summers are hot and dry and frequently the temperature touches 45 °C (113 °F). In winters, it falls to 3 °C (37 °F) accompanied by cold waves. The climate here is "desert." there is virtually no rainfall in a year in Gandhidham. This climate is considered to be BWh according to the Koppen-Geiger classification of climates. The average annual temperature is 26.8c. The average rainfall is 375mm.

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot semi-arid (BSh).

Governance

The city is represented by a constituency in the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha. It forms part of the Kachchh Lok Sabha constituency

2001 earthquake calamity

The Gujarat earthquake of 2001 majorly affected the city of Gandhidham along with many nearby towns like Bhuj, Anjar, Bhachau and more. The shock, which measured 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killed 13,805–20,023, left roughly 166,800 injured, and many were left homeless including Gandhidham. The death toll in the Kutch region was 12,300. Bhuj, which was situated only 50 km away from the Gandhidham, was devastated. Considerable damage also occurred in City Gandhdidham and Bhachau and Anjar with hundreds of villages flattened in Taluka of Anjar, Bhuj and Bhachau.

Land of Adipur & Gandhidham

Gandhidham (initially known as Sardarganj) was the dream of Pratap Dialdas. Distance between twin-townships of Adipur & Gandhidham is 6 km till not developed fully and 0 km if full land constructed. The airport road dividing wards 5 & 7 divides these townships, whereas Municipality is one, known as Gandhidham Municipality. These towns are divided in two parts wherein land is recognized as Wards & Sectors. Townships have six wards each 1to6 in Adipur and 7to12 in Gandhidham. These wards consist of commercial, industrial and residential plots of land. The land which is owned and managed by SRC (The Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Ltd) is known as 'Wards' and The land which is owned and managed by KPT (Kandla Port Trust) is known as 'Sectors'. There are 13 such sectors in Gandhidham. Apart from this, there is vast land managed by GDA (Gandhidham Development Authority) which is known as "NU". For construction of any permanent structure in these townships, permission of GDA is must.

Kandla airport There is a small airport in the outskirt of Gandhidham near Galpadar town, known as 'Kandla Airport' which is not a regular airport. Daily one jet flight to-n-fro service is available from Kandla to Ahmedabad/Surat. SpiceJet has announced one more flight for Mumbai from 11 July 2017 onward.

Procurement of land Bhai Pratap Dialdas requested great Leaders of India for procurement of land in Kachchh region. They requested Maharao Vijayraj Ji of Kachchh for grant of land for re-settlement of Sindhi community people migrated from Sindh. Maharao, without any delay, granted 15000 acres of land for the purpose. Bhai Pratap said this is too big land and cannot be developed by SRC Ltd, therefore, he desired to keep with him only 2,600 acres and rest of the land was given to KPT and GDA for management. Today Adipur and Gandhidham townships are the townships of pride in the District of Kachchh only with the grace of Rajput Kshatriya ancestors – Provided by Ram Amarnani.

Entertainment

There are many places to visit in Gandhidham. Theaters such as Vinay Theater, Miraj Cinemas, Om Cineplex and Rajhans Cinemas show the latest Bollywood movies. Restaurants like Green Palace, Sarovar Portico, Madhuban, Lazeez, Fun n Food, Nexus Club Radission, Sharma Resort and more are visited by families on weekends. There are coffee and tea shops like The Chocolate Heaven, Cafe Coffee Day,and Tea Post too. Fast food restaurants such as "Qwiches" and "Chintoo Mintoo Snacks Hub" is also present.There are also some international cafe & fast food brands like the chocolate room & subway too,many pizza shops such as Domino's Pizza, NeoPolitan Pizza and Pizza Express.

One can also visit clubs like Nexus Club & Convention Center, Radisson Club, Lions Club for recreational activities. Many marriages also take place in these clubs occasionally.There are a few fairs too.

Swami Lilashah Anniversary: Adipur celebrates this function for 3 days greatly which generally occurs in the month of September every year. Devotees from all over India and abroad come to attend this function and enjoy the programs day and night. Also on third day, there is program of mass marriages for Sindhi Community. Lilaram s/o Topandas was born in Hyderabad (Sindh, now Pakistan) in March 1880. He was religious from his childhood. He lived in village Laad (south Sindh). He did not like hedonism so he came out in search of truth. He learned Hindi language, recited religious & Vedic books, lived amongst saints. He became disciple of Keshavaram, who later kept his name Lilashah. Lilashah traveled number of places in North India and ultimately while he was in Adipur (Kachchh, Gujarat), he fell sick and left for heavenly abode on 4 November 1973. As per his desire, he was buried in Adipur and now that place is known as Swami Lilashah Ashram.

Education

Schools in the area include* Shree swaminarayan vidyalaya

• Adarsh Maha Vidyalaya
• Mount Litera Zee School
• Shri Krishana Public School.
• Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel High School
• Shri Sahyog Saraswati Vidhya Mandir
• D.A.V. Public School
• Excelsior Model School, Adipur
• Bachpan Pre-School
• P.N. Amersey High School
• Twinkle Star School in 2B, plot No.48 (English Medium)
• Small Wonder School
• Delhi Public School
• Ananda Marga Primary school in Sector-7
• Ananda Marga High School in DC-2, Rambaug road (English Medium)
• Gurunanak Public School, Adipur
• Gurunanak School for Excellence
• Mount Carmel High School
• Modern School
• Delhi Public High School(D.P.S)
• Welspun Vidya Mandir(W. V. M)
• Mount Litera Zee School
• Kakubhai Parikh School(K.P.S)
• Saint Xaviers at Adipur
• Kendriya Vidyalaya at IFFCO colony
• Kendriya Vidyalaya at Railway colony
• Aum Vidiya Mandir at IFFCO colony
• Sadhu Vaswani International School
• Amarchand Singhvi School
• Ambe bhavnath High School
• Kairali English School

Hindi Medium Schools are

• Dr. C. G. High School and
• Maitri/Adarsh Maha Vidhyalaya are the first and oldest schools situated in the heart of the city.

For professional courses like Chartered Accountancy and Cost & Management Accountancy the national professional accounting body of India like Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Cost Accountants of India have opened an examination centre at Adipur.

College and graduation

Colleges for graduation and higher studies are Tolani college of Science & Arts, Tolani Commerce College, Pharmacy college and Diploma in Engineering, Management Institute situated nearby in Adipur. DNV International Educational College is situated in Bharatnagar; the courses provided are BCA and BBA

Transport

Gandhidham Junction main entrance

Kutch Express at Gandhidham Railway Station

(Visakhapatnam – Gandhidham) Express Route map

Gandhidham is connected by road and rail to the rest of India. Transport Nagar, on the outskirts of Gandhidham is the hub of all major transport activity. There are trains to, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra, Lucknow, Faizabad, Patna, Jodhpur, Ajmer, Alwar, Abu Road, Jaipur, Mumbai, Vadodara, Surat, Yesvantpur, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kollam, Kota, Delhi, Durg, Guwahati, Puri, Chengannur, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Raipur, Vizag, Nagercoil, Vijayawada, Warangal, Rajahmundry and several other cities. Many private companies operate bus services to major cities in Gujarat like Ahmedabad and Rajkot. India's largest port, Kandla is around 11 km from the city. It also has connectivity to Kandla Airport near village Galpadar. Jet Airways used to operate the sole daily flight to Mumbai from Kandla airport^[7] before it ceased operations in 2012. Now from August 2016 Airconnect has started its daily services for Ahmedabad and Surat (Kandla-Ahmedabad-Surat at 17:40 & Surat-Ahmedabad-Kandla at 07:45). Spicejet has announced one flight from Mumbai to Kandla Airport (Gandhidham) Departing at 13:05 and arriving at 14:30; and return to Mumbai with departure at 15:10, arriving at 16:50 from 11 July 2017 onward.

See also

• Kandla
• Adipur
• Galpadar

References

Further reading

• Kripalani, J. B. 1951. Gandhidham. Bombay: [Mangharam N. Thadani for the Sindhu Resettlement Corp.]
• Adams, Howard & Greely. 1952. Report on a revised plan for the town and region of Gandhidham, Anjar Taluka, Kutch India, prepared for the Government of India Ministry of Transport, and the United States Department of State. [Boston: Adams, Howard & Greely].

External links

• Kandla Special Economic Zone
• Kandla Port Trust
• Arya Samaj, Gandhidham
• Tolani Foundation
• KutchForever.com – The First Internet Gateway of Kutch
• Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Limited (SRC Limited), Adipur
• Lions Club of Gandhidham Official website of Lions club of Gandhidham, India
• www.sindhology.org