Dhubri

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Dhubri district.
Dhubri
ধুবুৰী
Town

Historic Netai Dhubuni Ghat
Dhubri

Location in Assam

Coordinates: 26°01′N 90°00′E / 26.02°N 90°E / 26.02; 90Coordinates: 26°01′N 90°00′E / 26.02°N 90°E / 26.02; 90
Country Assam , India
Government
 • Body Dhubri Municipality
 • No.of wards 19
Area
 • Total 18 km2 (7 sq mi)
 • Water 1.4 km2 (0.5 sq mi)
Area rank 7th Assam
 • Rank 8th Assam
Languages
 • Official [[Assamese language|Assamese]
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 783301
ISO 3166 code IN-AS
Website dhubri.nic.in

Dhubri (Pron: ˈdʊbri) is the headquarter of Dhubri district (Assam) India. It is an old town on the bank of the Brahmaputra and Gadadhar rivers, with historical significances. In 1883, the town was first constituted as a Municipal Board under British regime. It is situated about 277.4 kilometres (172 mi) west from Dispur, the state capital of Assam.

Dhubri was an important commercial centre and had a busy river port particularly for jute. Dhubri is called the "Land of Rivers" as it is covered three sides by rivers.[1]

History

Chilarai Statue at Dhubri
Gurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib at Dhubri

The word Dhuburi comes from a legendary lady named Netai-Dhubuni. The story is connected with Behula-Lakhindar. The word Dhubuni is considered a corruption of 'Dhuburi'. According to Bodo-Kacharis, the word is of Bodo origin and derived from Dubra, a kind of grass. The story of lady Netai-Dhubuni is widely accepted for the naming history of Dhubri and that is where the Gurdwara Sri Tegh Bahadur Sahib stands.

This place is famous for the Sikh Gurdwara Gurdwara Damdama Sahib or Thara Sahib which was constructed in memory of visit of First Sikh Guru Nanak Dev and later it was followed by visit of Ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur and the Gurdwara is named as Gurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib. Hence, it has great importance for Sikh community.

Until 1874, Dhubri was mostly a part of Bengal kings. In 1874, the British Government created a new province named Assam Valley Province and incorporated Goalpara district area comprising three civil subdivisions Dhubri, Goalpara and Kokrajhar with the new Assam Province. In 1879, the district headquarters was shifted from Goalpara to Dhubri town. The district of Dhubri is again subdivided in three districts namely Dhubri, Goalpara and Kokrajhar. The town of Dhubri falls under the jurisdiction of the district of Dhubri whose headquarters is at town Dhubri.

The present Dhubri District is one of the three Civil Sub-divisions of erst-while Goalpara district, established in 1876 during British regime. In 1879 the District headquarters was shifted from Goalpara to Dhubri.

In the year 1983 Goalpara district was divided into four separate districts and Dhubri is one of those. Covering an area of 2,838 km2. including forests, riverines, hills etc. the district has become the most densely populated district in India with a density of 584 persons per km2.(As per 2001 census).

Dhubri Dist has been visited by many historical personalities like - Guru Nanaka, Srimanta Sankardeva, Guru Teg Bahadur, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Gopinath Bordoloi and others.

Dhubri town also was very famous for the Match Factory (WIMCO), though it has shut down due to circumstances but still people who had witnessed the same still remembering the beauty of the factory its staff quarters and their modern art of living.

Dhubri is also famous for its Durga Puja and Dashera.

The Dhubri Town was first constituted as a Municipality in 1883. The Dhubri Town is 290 km far from the State Capital at Dispur.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census,[2] Dhubri had a population 109,234. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Dhubri has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79% and, female literacy is 68%. In Dhubri, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. With close to 75% of its population Muslims, it is one of the minority concentrated districts of India.

Most of these people are Desi (Goalpariya Assamese people which includes the Hindu and Muslim Goalpariya people) people. In Dhubri town, Bengali constitute about 50% of the population. This was the region of Koch kingdom.

Geography and climate

Climate data for Dhubri (1971–2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 29.9
(85.8)		 33.2
(91.8)		 38.3
(100.9)		 41.1
(106)		 41.4
(106.5)		 39.1
(102.4)		 37.8
(100)		 37.0
(98.6)		 38.8
(101.8)		 34.3
(93.7)		 32.1
(89.8)		 27.8
(82)		 41.4
(106.5)
Average high °C (°F) 23.7
(74.7)		 26.2
(79.2)		 31.1
(88)		 31.6
(88.9)		 30.7
(87.3)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31.0
(87.8)		 32.0
(89.6)		 30.9
(87.6)		 30.1
(86.2)		 27.7
(81.9)		 24.5
(76.1)		 29.3
(84.7)
Average low °C (°F) 8.6
(47.5)		 10.5
(50.9)		 15.2
(59.4)		 20.2
(68.4)		 22.2
(72)		 24.4
(75.9)		 25.1
(77.2)		 25.2
(77.4)		 24.2
(75.6)		 21.1
(70)		 15.5
(59.9)		 10.6
(51.1)		 18.5
(65.3)
Record low °C (°F) 2.4
(36.3)		 2.8
(37)		 7.4
(45.3)		 6.4
(43.5)		 15.9
(60.6)		 13.9
(57)		 20.8
(69.4)		 21.7
(71.1)		 19.4
(66.9)		 17.2
(63)		 9.4
(48.9)		 7.8
(46)		 2.4
(36.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 6.9
(0.272)		 18.1
(0.713)		 42.6
(1.677)		 177.7
(6.996)		 410.9
(16.177)		 607.4
(23.913)		 652.8
(25.701)		 467.0
(18.386)		 443.0
(17.441)		 167.8
(6.606)		 14.3
(0.563)		 8.0
(0.315)		 3,016.6
(118.764)
Average rainy days 0.6 1.5 2.8 9.3 15.7 16.6 19.1 13.1 13.5 5.6 1.0 0.6 99.3
Source: India Meteorological Department (record high and low up to 2010)[3][4]

The town is located between 89.5 degree east longitude and 26.1 degree north latitude. The town is about 34 m above the sea level. Dhubri is covered by rivers by three sides, predominated by river Mighty Brahmaputra, which is a sorrow as well as joy for the dwellers.

Educational institutes

College

Bhola Nath College at Dhubri
CATS Dhubri (Lab)

School

Computer Education Center

Culture & festivals

More than 50,000 Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and all faiths devotees from all over the country and abroad assemble in this historic shrine every year in the month of December to mark the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur, which starts on 3 December with great solemnity and ceremony. Sikhs call the week long reverence of Sahidee-Guru-Parav which is marked with a massive procession. Guru Tegh Bahadur thus earned the affectionate title of "Hind-di-Chadar" or the Shield of Hind dates back to Hindustan.

Transportation

Airport

Dhubri has an airport at Rupshi which is about 23 km from the town. It was constructed during World War II by the British mainly for military purpose to accommodate 52 jet aeroplanes. Till 1983, the Indian Airlines and some private commercial flights operated regularly between Calcutta, Guwahati and Dhubri. Now it is totally closed. However, recently the ministry of DONER, GOI, has taken some initiative to renovate and functionalise the airport. An airport authority team from Guwahati conducted a survey the historic airport, whether the place could be rebuilt as an airport.

Water

The town had a very busy river port on the bank of the Brahmaputra which was used as an international trade centre with the neighbouring countries, specially in British era. At present, this port is lying idle.

Railway

The importance of the railway station and the MG line was also decreased since 1947, when the direct line to Calcutta was snapped as it ran through erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The train service has newly started on 2010 again, and it is functioning smoothly. However the train services running from the Dhubri railway station are taking a new route from Dhubri to Kamakhya and Guwahati Junction. Trains originating from Dhubri station are, Dhubri - Silghat (Rajya Rani Express), Dhubri - Siliguri (Inter City Express) and Dhubri Fakiragram passenger.

Tourism

Dhubri District is bestowed with attractive scenic beauties. Both the banks of river Brahmaputra with its lush green fields, blue hills and hillock is a feast to the eyes of the onlookers. The Gurdwara Tegh Bahadur Shaibji, the Rangamati Mosque, Mahamaya Dham, Chakrasila wildlife sanctuary and the royal palaces attract the people for their unique structures, religious sanctity and mythological importance.

Places of interest

Flora and fauna

On 14 July 1994, a virgin forest patch of Dhubri District of Assam was declared as a wildlife sanctuary by the gazette notification of the Assam Government. This sanctuary has been named as "Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary". This is the youngest sanctuary of the North East India having an area of 11,260.00 acres (45.5676 km2). Chakrasila is unique because of the presence of golden langur (Presbytis geei) which is found nowhere else except along the Assam and Bhutan border. Besides, the virgin forest of Chakrasila Wildlife Sanctuary is endowed with rare specimens of trees, shrubs, medicinal plants, mammals, reptiles and exquisite birds and insects.

Geographical location of the Chakrasila Wildlife Sanctuary is in the latitude 26° 15' to 26° 26' N and longitude 90° 15' to 90 ° 20' E. It is in the District of Dhubri, the western most region of Assam. It is 68 km from the District headquarters Dhubri and 219 km from the Borjhar Airport of Guwahati City.

There are several small springs for quenching the thirst of the wild animals of this hilly forest. But the two major perennial springs in the sanctuary are howhowi Jhora and Bamuni Jhora, which flow over the rocks, sparkling and spattering throughout the year, adding to the scenic beauty of the sanctuary.

Climatic conditions of Chakrasila Wildlife Sanctuary is like that of temperate zone with dry winter and hot summer followed by heavy rains. Annual rainfall is between 200 to 400 cm. Soil is azonal, forestlike and hilly. temperature throughout the year generally varies between 8 °C to 30 °C.

The diverse eco-systems of Chakrasila present a model habitat diversity and support various mammalian species like tiger, leopard, golden langur, leopard cat, gaur, mongoose, porcupine, pangoline, flying squirrel, civet cat, etc. Along with all these prolific gifts of the nature Chakrasila has a wide variety of avifauna.

It is to be noted that the two internationally recognized wetlands namely Dhir and Deeplai has not been yet taken inside the declared boundary of the sanctuary. But they are very a part of the Chakrasila eco-system. It is expected that in due course they will be included within the sanctuary. Courtesy : Nature's Beckon ( An Environmental Activist of North-East )

[5]

Politics

Dhubri is part of Dhubri (Lok Sabha constituency).[6]

Media

Dhubri has an All India Radio Relay station known as Akashvani Dhubri. It broadcasts on FM frequencies.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ Priceless heritage gets funds to survive, The Telegraph, Calcutta, Oct. 13, 2007
  2. ↑ "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.
  3. ↑ "Dhubri Climatological Table Period: 1971–2000". India Meteorological Department. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Ever recorded Maximum and minimum temperatures up to 2010". India Meteorological Department. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Pin Code of Dhubri". citypincode.in. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  6. ↑ "List of Parliamentary & Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Assam. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
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