Ballarpur

Ballarpur बल्लारपूर Balharshah
city
Ballarpur Location in Maharashtra, India
Coordinates: 19°50′N 79°21′E / 19.833°N 79.350°ECoordinates: 19°50′N 79°21′E / 19.833°N 79.350°E
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Chandrapur
Population (2007)
• Total	89,745 approximately
Languages
• Official Spoken Languages	Marathi and English are the official languages
• Spoken Languages	Telugu, Hindi and Urdu are also widely spoken
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Telephone code	07172(area code)
Vehicle registration	MH 34

Ballarpur/Balharshah is a city and a municipal council in Chandrapur district in the state of Maharashtra, India. Many people call this city as mini India due to large number of people from all over India. Reason behind these much diversity in people is BILT (Ballarpur Industries Ltd) which is a famous paper industry which created huge employment opportunity for people from all around in its early days. However now they have started to cut down their employee strength. The city is also one of the largest industrial areas of the region making it second largest city in the district & Also called as woodcity of India.

History

The king of Ballarpur was Balhar Sah. The town was named Balharshah after him. King Balharshah shifted his capital from Sirpur to Balharshah in Middle Ages. He built Balharshah fort. Afterwards he shifted his capital to Chandrapur. Even today the ruins of the old Balharshah fort can be seen on the banks of Wardha river.

Demographics

Template:As on India census,^[1] Balharshah had a population of 133,722 including villages under ballarpur tahsil. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Balharshah has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 80% of the males and 66.5% of females literate. 11.6% of the population is under 6 years of age .The population is still growing rapidly due to migrants for education.

Nearby Towns :

• Rajura
• Gadchandur
• Nanda Fata
• Korpana

Transport

The king of Ballarpur was Balharshah. The town was named Balharshah after him. Even today the railway station is listed as Balharshah (BPQ) with the Indian Railways. It is the last station in the Central Railway zone for Indian Railways. Hence all the trains entering South Central Railway zone stop here for Crew Change (TTE, Loco Pilots, Guards, RPF) as well as to upload pantry stuff from the base kitchen in Ballarshah.

Balharshah railway station

Balharshah is also a semi-road transport hub. The state highway that passed through Balharshah considerably cuts the time to travel from Nagpur to Hyderabad. There are many transport companies based in Balharshah. Ballarpur has a good connectivity to Nagpur and Hyderabad due to its proximity.

Education

Balharsha has several good institutions where the primary to secondary education have been provided. Bhalerao Public High School earlier named St. Andrews Public High School is one of the pioneering English medium school of Ballarshah established by Late.Madam Anandi Bhalerao (remained Bachelor) who dedicated her whole life for education and was respectfully called as BIG MADAM by students. Dilasagram convent school is the most famous and awarded school in the town which has created scholars. Thapar High School run by the BILT is the oldest and is also one of the prominent school in Ballarpur which provides education in both English and Hindi Medium and has generated numerous leaders and achievers in the society.

Then first CBSE School, MontFort Higher Secondary School in town.It is most prominent School where students are developed to all rounders. In English medium school IDEAL ENGLISH MEDIUM HIGH SCHOOL is also one of the good school. This school is run by ballarpur paper mill mazdoor trust. In Marathi medium school sarvodaya vidhalaya Ballarpur is a school where the tradition of topper has consistently Improving. Balharshah has five colleges: Guru Nanak College of Science, Mahatma Jyotiba Fule College of Arts and Commerce, Thapar College, Zhaveri Womans College of Arts, Mount Science Junior College and BIT(Ballarpur Institute of Technology). BIT is a new college on the Rajura road. It has a coal mine, timber depot and a defunct power plant. The attraction at the timber depot is an 800-year-old timber log, that has been preserved. The nearest airport is Nagpur. Balharshah is just 165 km. from Nagpur (Zero Mile of India) and well connected through Trains, Private and Government buses. Cabs are also easily available. Balharshah has always been a peaceful town in the resource rich region of Vidharbha.Near Ballarpur to Aallapalli road 4 km Shri Balaji High School & Junior College, Bamni (Dudholi) Marathi Medium school & Art, Science Jr. College.

Economy

Balharshah has 9 coal mines nearby owned by the public sector company WESTERN COALFIELDS LIMITED, A SUBSIDIARY OF COAL INDIA LIMITED, which gives a huge opportunity to fresh graduates for further jobs.

The town came in limelight after the Avantha Group established their flagship paper factory, BILT there.BILT is India's largest manufacturer of writing and printing (W&P) paper. BILT's subsidiaries include BILT Graphic Paper Products Limited (BGPPL); Sabah Forest Industries (SFI), Malaysia's largest pulp and paper company; and BILT Tree Tech Limited (BTTL), which runs BILT's farm forestry programme in several states in India. Mr. R.R. Vederah is the Managing Director and Executive Vice Chairman. The Gadchroli and the southern Chhattisgarh region is rich with bamboo plantations. Hence there are a number of paper factories in the Telangana, Chhattishgarh and Vidharbha region.

References

1. "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.