Muzaffarpur

Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur Skyline near Motijhil Flyover
Muzaffarpur
Coordinates: 26°7′21″N 85°23′26″E / 26.12250°N 85.39056°E / 26.12250; 85.39056
Country  India
State Bihar
Region Tirhut
District Muzaffarpur district
Established 1875
Government
 • Member of Parliament Ajay Nishad
 • Member of Legislative Council Dinesh Prasad Singh
 • Member of Legislative Assembly Suresh Sharma
 • Mayor Suresh Kumar
Area
 • Total 93 km2 (36 sq mi)
Elevation 60 m (200 ft)
Population
 • Total 393,724[1]
 • Rank 4th (Bihar)
127th (India)
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN 842001-05
Telephone code 0621
Vehicle registration BR-06
Sex ratio 890 (females per thousand males)[2]♂/♀
Literacy 85.16%[2]
Lok Sabha constituency Muzaffarpur
Vidhan Sabha constituency Muzaffarpur
Website muzaffarpur.bih.nic.in

Muzaffarpur ( pronunciation ) is a sub-metropolitan city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of Bihar.[2][1] It serves as the headquarters of Tirhut division, Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth most populous city in Bihar.

Muzaffarpur is famous for Shahi lychees and is known as the Lychee Kingdom.[3][4] Shahi litchi is set to become the fourth product from Bihar, after jardalu mango, katarni rice and Magahi paan (betel leaf) to get the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. It is situated on the banks of the perennial Burhi Gandak River, which flows from the Someshwar Hills[5] of Himalayas.

History

The current city was established in 1875 by the British Raj for administrative convenience by diving up Tirhut district and was named after one Muzaffar Khan; an amil (Revenue Officer under British Rule) and thus the city came to be known as Muzaffarpur.[6]

In 1972 both Sitamarhi and Vaishali districts were split off from Muzaffarpur.[7]

The significance of Muzaffarpur in Indian civilisation arises out of its position on the frontier line between prominent spiritual influences, and it is a meeting place of Hindu and Islamic culture and thoughts. Muzaffarpur fostered political leaders and statesmen alike, among whom were Rajendra Prasad, George Fernandes and J. B. Kripalani. The vernacular language of the region is Maithili, Bajjika, as per the linguist George Grierson;[8] some people call it Vajjika, derived from the language of the Vajji confederation.

Geography

Muzaffarpur is located at 26°07′N 85°24′E / 26.12°N 85.4°E / 26.12; 85.4.[9] The city lies in a highly active seismic zone of India. In the disastrous earthquake on 15 January 1934, much of the town suffered severe damage and many lives were lost.[10] It has an average elevation of 47 meters (154 feet). This saucer shaped, low-centered town lies on the great Indo-Gangetic plains of Bihar, over Himalayan silt and sand brought by the glacier-fed and rain-fed meandering rivers of the Himalayas.

Climate

Muzaffarpur has humid subtropical climate (Cfa) under Köppen climate classification. The summer, between April and June, is extremely hot and humid (28/40 °C, 90% max.) and winter is pleasantly cool, around 06/20 °C. Rainfall in Muzaffarpur Town is comparatively less to the other parts of Bihar.

Climate data for Muzaffarpur
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 29
(84)		 39
(102)		 40
(104)		 43
(109)		 48
(118)		 46
(115)		 52
(126)		 40
(104)		 39
(102)		 44
(111)		 39
(102)		 29
(84)		 52
(126)
Average high °C (°F) 22
(72)		 26
(79)		 32
(90)		 37
(99)		 44
(111)		 40
(104)		 36
(97)		 33
(91)		 32
(90)		 32
(90)		 29
(84)		 24
(75)		 32
(90)
Daily mean °C (°F) 18.5
(65.3)		 20.8
(69.4)		 25.0
(77)		 27.7
(81.9)		 27.9
(82.2)		 28.0
(82.4)		 28.4
(83.1)		 28.4
(83.1)		 28.4
(83.1)		 27.0
(80.6)		 23.4
(74.1)		 19.8
(67.6)		 25.3
(77.5)
Average low °C (°F) 06
(43)		 12
(54)		 17
(63)		 22
(72)		 25
(77)		 27
(81)		 26
(79)		 26
(79)		 26
(79)		 22
(72)		 15
(59)		 07
(45)		 19
(67)
Record low °C (°F) 1
(34)		 5
(41)		 10
(50)		 15
(59)		 16
(61)		 16
(61)		 22
(72)		 18
(64)		 21
(70)		 9
(48)		 8
(46)		 4
(39)		 1
(34)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 12
(0.47)		 17
(0.67)		 7
(0.28)		 16
(0.63)		 42
(1.65)		 185
(7.28)		 339
(13.35)		 259
(10.2)		 242
(9.53)		 39
(1.54)		 17
(0.67)		 7
(0.28)		 1,182
(46.55)
Source: Muzaffarpur Weather

Lychee

Lychee garden in Muzaffarpur

The lychee crop, which is available from May to June, is mainly cultivated in the districts of Muzaffarpur and surrounding districts. Cultivation of litchi covers approximately an area of about 25,800 hectares producing about 300,000 tonnes every year. Litchi are exported to big cities of India like Bombay, Kolkata, and even to other countries. India's share in the world litchi market amounts to less than 1%. The names of the litchi produced in Muzaffarpur are Shahi and China. The fruits are known for excellent aroma and quality.[11]

Bihar's contribution in the production of lychee in about 40 percent of lychee produced in India.[12]

Bihar has emerged as a brewery hub with major domestic and foreign firms setting up production units in the state. Vijay Mallya's group, United Breweries Group, is setting up a production unit to make litchi-flavoured wine, in Muzaffarpur in 2012. The company has leased litchi gardens.[13]

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Muzaffarpur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).[14] It is one of the 36 districts in Bihar currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[14]

Demographics

Religion in Muzaffarpur city (2011)[15]
Religion Percent
Hindus
 
 77.65%
Muslims
 
 21.07%
Others
 
 1.28%

As of the 2011 India census,[16] Muzaffarpur had a population of 393,724.[1] Males constituted 52.96% (208,509) of the population and females 47.04% (185,215).[1] Muzaffarpur had a literacy rate of 85.07%. Male literacy was 88.77%, and female literacy was 80.91%.[17]

Transport

Railways

Aerial view of Muzaffarpur Junction with sunset view

Muzaffarpur Junction railway station is a main railway junction, with two suburban stations, Ram Dayalu Nagar and Narayanpur Anant (Sherpur). It is well connected to major cities of Bihar like Patna, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Chakia , motihari and Darbhanga.

Muzaffarpur is amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railways.[18]

Trains

Passenger train at Muzaffarpur Junction. (From Motihari)

Sonpur is the divisional headquarters; all the trains passing through this route have stoppages here. Several electrified local passenger trains and express trains run from Muzaffarpur to neighbouring destinations. The following is a list of all the trains passing from Muzaffarpur Junction (as of 10 May 2012). Muzaffarpur is the originating station for trains such as the Muzaffarpur - Anand Vihar Garib Rath Express, 12538/Bapudham SF Express, Sapt Kranti Express, Vaishali Express, Maur Dhawaj Express etc. Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express crosses the junction once a week.[19][20]

Roads

Road connecting New Zero Mile with NH-57

National Highway 57 (India) comes via Gorakhpur, Motihari, Chakia and crosses Muzaffarpur and National Highway 57 (India) goes to Darbhanga, Purnia. The East–West Corridor crosses Muzaffarpur thus connecting it to all the major towns and cities in India. National Highway 77 (India) starting from Hajipur passes through Muzaffarpur and connects Muzaffarpur to Sitamarhi. National Highway 28 (India) connects Muzaffarpur to Barauni, all 6 National Highways having junction there.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011. Government of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011. Government of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  3. ↑ "Bihar's famous Shahi litchi to get GI tag soon".
  4. ↑ Destinations :: Vaishali ::Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation Archived 22 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine.. Bstdc.bih.nic.in. Retrieved on 2011-01-09.
  5. ↑ "bihar". Scribd.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Faizi, Dr. Amir Afaque Ahmad (2009). Self-help Groups and Marginalised Communities. Concept Publishing Company. p. 6. ISBN 978-81-8069-621-3.
  7. ↑ Law, Gwillim (25 September 2011). "Districts of India". Statoids. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Abhishek Kumar Kashyap, "The Bajjika language and speech community Archived 19 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine." in International Journal of the Sociology of Language 227:209-224, May 2014. DOI: 10.1515/ijsl-2014-0001. Accessed 18 February 2017
  9. ↑ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc – Muzaffarpur Archived 21 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ Bihar India Earthquake Movie, 15 January 1934 Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine.. Harappa.com (15 January 1934). Retrieved on 2011-01-09.
  11. ↑ "7. LYCHEE PRODUCTION IN INDIA". Fao.org. 31 May 1992. Archived from the original on 17 November 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Bihar is the top litchi producing State, about 300 thousand metric tonnes of litchi is being produced from 32 thousand hectare areas: Shri Radha Mohan Singh". pib.nic.in.
  13. ↑ "Bihar emerging as brewery hub". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  14. 1 2 Ministry of Panchayati Raj (8 September 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme" (PDF). National Institute of Rural Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  15. ↑ "Muzaffarpur City Census 2011 data". Census 2011 India. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  16. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  17. ↑ Muzaffarpur City Census 2011 data Archived 11 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Census2011.co.in
  18. ↑ "Indian Railways Passenger Reservation Enquiry". Availability in trains for Top 100 Booking Stations of Indian Railways. IRFCA. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  19. ↑ "Sonpur Junction Details". indiantrains.org. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  20. ↑ "Trains at Muzaffarpur Junction". India Rail Info. Archived from the original on 4 February 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  • Official website of Muzaffarpur District
  • Official website of Tirhut Division
  • Wikisource "Muzaffarpur". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.