Silchar

Silchar
শিলচর
City

Aerial view of the Barak river, Silchar
Nickname(s): The Island of Peace
Silchar
Silchar

Location in Assam, India

Coordinates: 24°49′N 92°48′E / 24.82°N 92.8°E / 24.82; 92.8Coordinates: 24°49′N 92°48′E / 24.82°N 92.8°E / 24.82; 92.8
Country India
State Assam
District Cachar
Government
 • Body Silchar Municipality Board
 • No. of Wards 28
Elevation 22 m (72 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 228,985
 • Rank 2 (in Assam after Guwahati )
Languages
 • Official bangla
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 7880xx
Telephone code +91 (0) 3842
ISO 3166 code IN-AS
Vehicle registration AS-11
Website www.cachar.nic.in

Silchar (/ˈsɪlˌʧə/ or /ˈʃɪlˌʧə/) (Bengali: শিলচর Shilchôr) is the headquarters of Cachar district in the state of Assam in India. It is 343 kilometres (213 mi) south east of Guwahati. It is the second-largest city of the state in terms of population and municipal area.[1]

It also has the 2nd busiest Airport (76 civilian flights/week) in Assam and 4th busiest in North east after Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal.

After around 68 years of Indian independence, only recently, the railroad connectivity has been upgraded to broad gauge. Suresh Prabhu, the present rail minister, has announced direct rail connectivity to metropolitan cities like New Delhi and Kolkata with regular train services having been commenced as planned.

Silchar at night, December 2014


Being politically stable in the otherwise disturbed Northeast earned it the bon mot of "Island of Peace" from India's then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[2]

Approximately 90% residents of Silchar are Bengalis who speak the Sylheti dialect, the rest being Bihari people, Bishnupuriya, Dimasa Kachari, Manipuri (Meitei), Marwaris, Assamese and some tribal groups like Nagas. Silchar is situated by the banks of the Barak River in what is popularly known as Barak Valley. Rice is the staple cereal. Fish is also widely consumed. Shuţki (the local name for dried fish), shidal chutney and chunga-r peetha (sticky rice cakes prepared inside bamboo sticks) are some of the local delicacies.

Etymology

During the British rule, ships were docked at the bank of the river Barak. Gradually, a market developed at the bank and became a major place of economic activity. The bank was covered with stones to help dock ships and vessels, and the market was developed at a place that was fully covered with stones. People started to refer to the place as Shiler Chor, meaning "a bank of stones". With the passage of time, Shiler Chor was simplified to Silchar, and ultimately the British officials started to use the name Silchar in their official documents referring to the surrounding area of the market. Thus Silchar became the official name of the place.[3]

History

Cachar district records

In the 1850s, British tea planters re-discovered the game polo in Manipur on the Burmese border with India. The first polo club in the world was formed at Silchar.

http://www.guardspoloclub.com/the-club/the-sport http://www.avictorian.com/polo_gallery.html

The first competitive modern form of polo was played in Silchar, the plaque for this feat still stands behind the District Library, Silchar.

Railway link

Language Martyr's Memorial at Silchar railway station

The Assam Bengal Railway brought Silchar into the Indian railway map in 1899. The railway line from Lumding to Silchar is hailed as one of the most exciting pristine railway tracks of India. Built by the British during the colonial rule, the meter gauge line stands testimony to the grandiose of what was once a highly popular city in the North-East is now converted to Broad Gauge. But in November 2015 a new railway track broad gauge introduce by replacing meter gauge between silchar to guwahati.


Language martyrs

Silchar railway station is described as Bhasa Shahid Station

Silchar saw one of the uprisings in favour of the Bengali language. When the Assam government, under Chief Minister Bimala Prasad Chaliha, passed a circular to make Assamese mandatory, Bengalis of Barak Valley protested. On 19 May 1961, when Assam police opened fire on unarmed protesters at Silchar railway station, 11 agitators died. After the popular revolt, the Assam government had to withdraw the circular and Bengali was ultimately given official status in the three districts of Barak Valley.[4][5]

Economy

Gol Dighi Mall, a shopping complex

Over the past few years, the town has seen an influx of people from nearby States and places due to the Silchar's increasing prospects and other developments in the field of education , medical facilities etc. making the town quite over-crowded.

Industries

According to official sources at the IOC, the new depot can store up to 30,000 kilo litres of petroleum. "Once the depot comes up, there will be no dearth of petroleum products not only for Barak Valley, but this will be a buffer stock for export even to the ASEAN nations," the source claimed.Cachar district administration say the land acquisition process is also wrapped up and the IOC is waiting for the mandatory environmental clearance.[7]

Shopping complexes

Silchar has a number of malls and shopping complexes such as:

Showrooms at G.D. mall
Eylex multiplex, Pizzahut and Reliance trendz at Silchar, Goldighi Mall
City life, silchar
Metro-Bazar, silchar
Subway NIT Silchar
Subway outlet at Silchar NIT Campus
  • Ismail Market, Central Road
  • Goldighi Mall
  • Big Bazaar
  • Pantaloons
  • Reliance Mart
  • Metro Bazar
  • Vishal
  • Entertainment plaza
  • Imperial Mall
  • Ellora Super Market
  • Nahata-Mart
  • Gold Digital Cinema
  • Eylex
  • City-Life
  • KFC
  • Dominos
  • Pizza Hut
  • SUBWAY
  • NAHAZ


Geography

Silchar is located in the southern part of Assam.[8][9] Situated on the banks of the Barak River, it is a trade and processing centre for tea, rice and other agricultural products. There is limited industry, principally papermaking and tea-box manufacturing. The city has an airport and is connecting to Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal, and Aizawl. Silchar is regarded as an important road junction of the North Eastern India and serves as a major point of connection for Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram.

The area of Silchar town is 15.75 km2. It has an average elevation of 25 meters (82 feet).[10]

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Silchar had a population of 178,865.[11] Total number of males were 89,961 and females 88,904. The sex ratio of Silchar was 988 females per 1000 males, which is above the national ratio of 940 females per 1000 males. Silchar metropolitan region has an average literacy rate of 90.26%, much higher than the national average of 59.5%, with male literacy of 92.90% and female literacy at 87.59%.[12] Hinduism is majority religion in Silchar city with 86.31% followers. Islam is second most popular religion in city of Silchar with approximately 12.17% following it. Jainism is followed by 0.79%, Christianity by 0.59%, Sikhism by 0.04% and Buddhism by 0.04% of the population in the Silchar city. Around 0.00% stated 'Other Religion', approximately 0.08% stated 'No Particular Religion'.[12]

Climate

At Silchar, the climate is tropical by nature. The wind generally blows from the northeast in the morning and from the southeast in the afternoon. Summer is hot, humid and interspersed with heavy rainfall and thunderstorms. Winter generally starts towards the end of November and lasts till late February. Towards the start of the Bengali month of Baishakh (mid-April) rain clouds start covering the skyline. Silchar is inundated frequently due to excessive rainfall and floods by the River Barak. Over the last three decades, Silchar and the Barak Valley have been ravaged by four major floods - one in 1986, followed by the ones in 1991, 2004 and 2007.

Climate data for Silchar (1971–2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 31.0
(87.8)		 35.0
(95)		 37.8
(100)		 39.4
(102.9)		 39.1
(102.4)		 37.9
(100.2)		 39.4
(102.9)		 39.0
(102.2)		 38.3
(100.9)		 36.7
(98.1)		 35.0
(95)		 31.7
(89.1)		 39.4
(102.9)
Average high °C (°F) 24.5
(76.1)		 26.4
(79.5)		 29.6
(85.3)		 30.5
(86.9)		 31.0
(87.8)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31.4
(88.5)		 31.9
(89.4)		 31.5
(88.7)		 30.9
(87.6)		 29.1
(84.4)		 26.1
(79)		 29.6
(85.3)
Average low °C (°F) 12.1
(53.8)		 14.1
(57.4)		 17.7
(63.9)		 21.0
(69.8)		 23.0
(73.4)		 24.6
(76.3)		 25.1
(77.2)		 25.2
(77.4)		 24.6
(76.3)		 22.9
(73.2)		 18.6
(65.5)		 13.9
(57)		 20.4
(68.7)
Record low °C (°F) 3.3
(37.9)		 2.8
(37)		 8.3
(46.9)		 13.2
(55.8)		 15.6
(60.1)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.0
(66.2)		 19.4
(66.9)		 16.8
(62.2)		 14.4
(57.9)		 10.6
(51.1)		 4.4
(39.9)		 5.0
(41)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 12.1
(0.476)		 44.2
(1.74)		 229.3
(9.028)		 258.1
(10.161)		 460.7
(18.138)		 612.0
(24.094)		 503.2
(19.811)		 427.7
(16.839)		 366.5
(14.429)		 168.7
(6.642)		 33.3
(1.311)		 12.8
(0.504)		 3,128.6
(123.173)
Average rainy days 1.0 3.9 8.5 12.6 16.2 21.5 22.5 19.3 15.5 7.7 2.4 0.6 131.6
Source: India Meteorological Department (record high and low up to 2010)[13][14]

Satellite Townships

The rapidly expanding population of silchar has made it necessary to expand in all directions and small townships. Already two townships are coming up rapidly

  1. Sun-City[15] located at Meherpur
  2. Devas [16] located at Tarapur

Education

Schools

The schools of Silchar are run by the state government and private organisations. Bengali and English are the primary languages of instruction; Assamese and Hindi are also used. The schools are affiliated to either Secondary Board of Education, Assam (SEBA) or the CBSE. Prominent schools of Silchar include:-

  • Maharishi Vidya Mandir Higher Secondary School
  • Silchar Collegiate School
  • Holy Cross Higher Secondary School
  • Ramanuj Vidyamandir
  • B.N.M.P Higher Secondary school
  • Vivekananda Kendriya Vidyalaya
  • Adhar Chand Higher Secondary School
  • Don Bosco Higher Secondary School
  • Pranabananda Holy Child School
  • Sarla Birla Gyan Jyoti School
  • Cachar High School
  • Muktashree High School
  • South Point School
  • Narsing Higher Secondary School
  • Govt. Boys Higher Secondary School
  • Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School
  • DNNK Girls High School
  • Saint Capitano High School
  • Chhotelal Seth High School
  • Public High School
  • Kendriya Vidyalayas- Silchar city
  • K.V Kumbhirgram (AAI and IAF base)
  • K.V Srikona (ONGC Base)
  • K.V Masimpur (INDIAN ARMY Cantonment)
  • K.V NIT-Silchar
  • K.V Assam University, Silchar (Upcoming)
  • Oriental High School
  • Tarun Ram Phukan Assamese High School
  • Shyama Charan Deb Vidyapith, Tarapur
  • Normal School
  • Hiron Prova Deb Sishu Mandir School

University

Silchar is home to the main campus of Assam University, a central university, which imparts education in both the general as well as professional streams. The university, which came into existence in 1994, has 16 schools and 35 post-graduate departments under them. The university has 56 affiliated colleges under it.[17][18] The colleges in Silchar are mostly affiliated with the Assam university.

Technical Institutions

National Institute of Technology Silchar
NIAIMT at Dolchera, Silchar

Dholchera campus is spread over 65 acres of land and the Jaffirbond campus covers 20 acres. NIAIMT is one of the significant imitative by Government of India under NATRiP for entire northeast area to implement modern infrastructure and facilities aiming to develop skills to handle the latest automobiles by providing training to the youths. This center has also created infrastructure to test in-use vehicle by applying latest technologies, thus making the roads safer.

Colleges

Medical College

B.Ed and Law colleges

Silchar also has:

Healthcare

Silchar has a number of good hospitals and nursing homes, some of them are as follows:

Connectivity

Silchar is connected by road, railways and air to the rest of the country.

Kanchanjunga Express at Silchar Station

Railways

Silchar railway station falls under the jurisdiction of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone of the Indian Railways. The railway gauge functioned here is Indian Gauge. The railway station is situated in Tarapur, Silchar.

The Indian Gauge conversion which includes the reconstruction of the railway station has been started from 1 October 2014 onwards as a part of the Lumding - Badarpur - Silchar railway section of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone of the Indian Railways.

Platform 1 2 and 3 of Silchar Station

Roadways

Regular bus services connect Silchar with Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl, Agartala and Imphal through NH 37 and NH 53. However, during the rainy seasons, heavy downpour affects the Silchar-Shillong-Guwahati route causing frequent landslides which affects the road transportation. There is an Inter State Bus and an Inter State Truck Terminus which was constructed in the year 2005. The under construction four lane East - West corridor will connect Silchar in the east with Saurashtra in the west.

9W 2882 getting ready for departure to Kolkata
Early morning arrival of 9W 2876 from Kolkata

Airways

SG after arrival from Kolkata

Air connectivity Silchar (IXS) is located at Kumbhirgram, about 22 km from Silchar and there are regular flights connecting Silchar with Kolkata, Guwahati & Tezpur. The airport is being modernised and is considered the fourth-busiest in north eastern India after Guwahati, Imphal and Agartala in terms of flight movements.[29] Silchar has been selected as one of the towns for the construction of 51 low cost airports across the country recently.[30]

AI 9737 after arrival from Kolkata
AI753/754 ready to depart to kolkata

In December 1985, Air India operated the first all-woman crew flight in the world from Kolkata to Silchar which was commanded by Captain Saudamini Deshmukh on a Fokker F-27 Friendship aircraft.[31]

Silchar(IXS) airport has the following features:

  1. ILS (Instrumental Landing system) CAT-I system.
  2. 7500 feet runway, capable of handling up to Airbus 321/ Boeing 737-800 type crafts
  3. PAPI lights
  4. Night Landing Facility
  5. Apron can handle three A321/B737-800 crafts or 5 ATR-72 type crafts

Recently Silchar has been connected with Guwahati and Kolkata by SpiceJet Airlines

Politics

Silchar is part of the Silchar (Lok Sabha constituency). The current member of Parliament from Silchar is Sushmita Dev who is the youngest daughter of the veteran politician Santosh Mohan Dev of the Indian National Congress.[32]

Sports facilities

Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium,Silchar

Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium is the only multipurpose stadium located at Silchar. The stadium has hosted an international one day match between the Indian and the England women's teams. It has also hosted Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy matches. Among the major football competitions, Santosh Trophy and I-League 2nd Division matches have been hosted at the ground.

Silchar-DSA-Stadium-By-san

Silchar also has an Indoor Stadium which is also used mainly for indoor sports.

Tennis court at Tennis Club Silchar

The Tennis Club, Silchar is the only facility for hosting tennis matches and has multiple synthetic courts. The club also has an academy for imparting training.

Media

Silchar has an All India Radio station known as Akashvani Silchar. It broadcasts on AM and FM frequencies. Silchar also has a terrestrial television transmission center and studio of India's national broadcaster Doordarshan, known as DD Silchar.

In the print media, a number of Bengali and English daily newspapers are published from the town. The major newspapers published from Silchar include Bengali dailies Dainik Jugasankha, Anandabazar Patrika, Dainik Abichar, Dainik Prantajyoti, Samayik Prasanga, Janakantha and the English dailies The Sentinel and Eastern Chronicle. Besides the local newspapers, national and regional dailies like The Telegraph, The Times of India, The Statesman, The Assam Tribune etc. are also available.

Tourist attractions

Ruins of the Kachari Kingdom, Khaspur.

Notable people

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Indian cities with population of 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Census India. Govt. of India. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "APCC member for nomination of Gaurav Gogoi from Barak Valley". The Sentinel, Assam. 6 June 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Silchar (India) - Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  4. ↑ "No alliance with BJP, says AGP chief". The Telegraph, Calcutta. 27 December 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Silchar rly station to be renamed soon". The Times of India. 9 Jun 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "ONGC :: ONGC Offices". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=jan1015/state052
  8. ↑ "Location of Silchar". Wikimapia Foundation. Wikimapia. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Silchar, India Page". Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Silchar, Cachar, Assam, India Map Lat Long Coordinates". www.latlong.net. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  11. ↑ "Census of India". Govt. of India. Government of India. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Silchar City Population Census 2011 | Assam". www.census2011.co.in. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  13. ↑ "Silchar Climatological Table Period: 1971–2000". India Meteorological Department. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Ever recorded Maximum and minimum temperatures up to 2010". India Meteorological Department. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "AG Suncity". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  16. ↑ http://www.devascreations.in/index.html
  17. ↑ "Assam University, Homepage". Assam University. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  18. ↑ "Statistical Data Fact Sheet of AUS" (PDF). Assam University. Assam University. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  19. ↑ "TSSOT". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  20. ↑ http://silcharpolytechnic.in/
  21. ↑ http://cdac.in/index.aspx?id=pk_itn_spot919
  22. ↑ http://www.guwahati.nielit.gov.in/aboutsec.php
  23. ↑ Super User. "NIAIMT Silchar". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  24. ↑ http://www.dheassam.gov.in/circulars-1/meeting%2057.pdf retrieved on 14 January 2015
  25. ↑ "Silchar Medical College, Home Page". Silchar Medical College. Silchar Medical College. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  26. ↑ "A. K. Chanda Law College". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  27. ↑ "Silchar Medical College". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  28. ↑ "Silchar Civil Hospital, Hospital Road, Silchar, Assam". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  29. ↑ "TRAFFIC STATISTICS - DOMESTIC AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  30. ↑ "51 new low-cost airports to be set up: PMO". Daily News & Analysis. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  31. ↑ "Capt V Roopa: Flying high, and back". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  32. ↑ "List of Parliamentary & Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Assam. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2008-10-05.

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