Durg

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Durg district.

Durg
—  town  —
Durg Location of Durg in Chhattisgarh and India
Coordinates	21°11′N 81°17′E / 21.19°N 81.28°E / 21.19; 81.28Coordinates: 21°11′N 81°17′E / 21.19°N 81.28°E / 21.19; 81.28
Country	India
State	Chhattisgarh
Mayor	Dr. Shiv Kumar Tamer
Population • Density	2,810,436 (2009[update]) • 145 /km2 (376 /sq mi)
Sex ratio	982 ♂/♀
Official languages	Hindi, Urdu
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	137 square kilometres (53 sq mi) • 290 metres (950 ft)
Codes • Telephone • +0788

Durg is a city located in Chhattisgarh state, Central India. It is located just east of the Seonath River (Shivnath River) and is part of the Durg-Bhilai urban agglomeration. The city is an agricultural market and is heavily engaged in milling rice and pigeon peas. Durg gained importance as an industrial centre after the establishment of a large steel plant at Bhilai. Industries include brass working and bell-metal working, oil pressing, mining, and weaving. It is the headquarters of Durg District, the third largest district of Chattisgarh.

Geography

Forest Cover is 9.01% i.e. 730 square kilometers.

Durg District is a populous District of Chhattisgarh. It occupies the southwestern part of the Chhattisgarh plain and possesses belts of hilly country in the south, southwest and northwest, bestowed with mineral resources and forests. The National Highway No. 6 (Mumbai - Nagpur - Calcutta) is the major highway of the district and the train route is the main line of the South Eastern Railway midway between Mumbai-Calcutta. Nearest airport from the District Headquarter Durg is at Raipur about 60 km.

Geographical Informations are as followed:-

Latitude & Longitude: Between- 20°23' and 22°02' N & 80°46' and 81°58 E

• Height above mean sea level: 317.00 M
• Geographical Area: 8537 km²
• Forest Area: 764.46 km² (8.95% of Geographical Area)

Population Details are as followed:

Population: 2,810,436

• Male Population:1417893 (As per Census 2001)
• Female Population:1392543 (As per Census 2001)
• Scheduled Caste Population:359511 (12.79%)
• Scheduled Tribe Population:348801 (12.41%)

Sex Ratio(females per 1000 males): 982

• Growth (1991–2001):16.88
• Literacy Rate:75.62
• Literacy Rate (Male):86.43
• Literacy Rate (Female):64.64
• Bhilai Nagar (Municipal Cooperation) Population: 5,56,366
• Durg (Municipal Cooperation) Population: 2,32,517

Physiography

The District occupies the southwestern part of the Upper Sheonath-Mahanadi valley and the bordering hills in the south and southwest. Physiographically, the District can be divided into two divisions, viz. the C.G. plain and the Southern plateau. The Chhattisgarh plain occupies the largest area in the District.

Rivers

The general slope of the district comes under Mahanadi river slope and is towards the north and north east and locally in some places towards east. The main rivers of Mahanadi are Sheonath, Kharun, Tandula, Kharkhara and Aamner. Sheonath is the main river of the district which originates from Panabaras Hill (625 M) and flows towards north-east. This river is the main tributary of Mahanadi River. The total length of the Sheonath river is 345 km. The length of Sheonath river in Durg district is 120 km. The main tributary of Sheonath river is Tandula river. This river originates from hills situated in the north of Bhanupratappur (District- Kanker). After covering a distance of 34 km this river joins Sukhanala. This river joins Sheonath river in the south-west of Durg at a distance of approximately 13 km. The total length of this river is 96.6 km. A dam is constructed during the period 1905 to 1921 at the joining point of Sukhanala and Tandula river.

Kharun river originates from Petechua in the south-east of the district and after flowing 80 km joins Sheonath river near Somnath in the north. Sheonath river flows nearer to the western border of the district whereas river Kharun forms the eastern border of the district. The length of Kharun river is 120 km. The area around Kharun river is very fertile.

Kharkhara river originates from hills situated in Dalli Rajahara in the south-west of the District. This river joins Sheonath river after covering a distance of 90 km towards north-east. To fulfill the water requirement of Bhilai Steel Plant and Industry, in 1965-66, Kharkhara Dam was constructed. This is situated at Village Petechua at Balod Tehsil.

Climate

Durg generally has a dry tropical weather which is moderate but on a warmer side in summer season. The peak temperatures are usually reached in May/June and can be as high as 45C. The onset of monsoon is usually from July and the season extends up to September, with monsoon peaking during July and August. Maximum, Average & Minimum Rain fall Of District Durg are 1477.2 mm, 1071.16 mm and 781.5 mm per year respectively.

History

In ancient times Durg was part of 'Dakshina' or 'Southern Kosala'. In the epic 'Ramayana', King Dasharatha Of Uttara Kosala married Kosalaya, the princess of Dakshnia Kosala. The Chinese traveller Huien Tsang visited Southern Kosala in the 4th Century A.D. He mentions that he found an Asokan tope in the Capital city. It is therefore apparent that the District was included in Ashoka's Empire. Álso in the 5th century AD, we get an authentic reference to this tract, in the famous Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudra Gupta. He claims that two kingdom Kosala and Mahakantara, succumbed to his southern expedition.

However, the first specific reference with regard to the word "Durg" comes around the 8th century A.D. through two stone inscriptions; which were found in Durg and later deposited in the Raipur Museum. The First inscription mentions the name of a king Shiva Deva. The 2nd inscription associates the name of Sivapura (the capital of Shivadeva) with that of Shiva Durga, indicating thereby that during Shivadeva's reign the town and the fort were separate. The present name "Durg" is evidently a contraction of the old shivadurga, which he built. The river on whose banks stands the present town is also called "Shiva River". With the coming of the Kalachuri dynasty of Tripuri in A.D. 1182, Durg came under their kingdom. From then on it remained under the Kalachuries, till 1742 A. D. when the Marathas deposed them.

In 1877, after the Marathas lost the IIIrd Anglo- Maratha War, the tract of Chhattisgarh passed into British hands. Caption Edmonds was the First British Officer posted in Chhattisgarh as Collector and Magistrate to carry on the administration. For the purpose of Administration Durg was attached to Bhandara District (now in Maharashtra) but in 1857 it was separated and made into a tehsil of Raipur district to which it remained attached till 1906.

In 1906 Durg was created as a separate district. The Collectorate building was built in the year 1907. Interestingly, cement was not used in the construction of the collectorate building, instead a mixture of limestone, gum, sand and fruit pulp was used as the binding agent. Today even though 100 years have gone by, the collectorate building stands strong as it might have been built yesterday. Soon after, 350 acres (140 ha) of land from Kasaridih Village, was acquired by the government to build official residences. It is on this land that we find today's Civil Lines, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla Stadium, Chaupati, Company Garden, New Bus Stand, Polytecnic College and the Law College. The First Collector Of Durg was Shri S. M. Chitnabees. It is in his memory that the road from Kucheri to the Railway Station has been named "Chitnabees Road". During the freedom struggle, Durg was a hot bed of nationalist activities. Almost all the prominent leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Pt. Jawahalal Nehru and Dr. Rajendra Prasad visited Durg during the freedom struggle. Freedom fighters like Shri Ram Prasad Deshmukh & his son Shri Laxman Singh Deshmukh from village Khamtarai (Distt. Durg) participated in struggle for freedom & sent to jail many times by Britishers.

Teejan Bai is an exponent of Pandavani

Later on in mid nineties Shri Ramchandra Deshmukh played an important role to bring Chhattisgarh on cultural map of India. He directed plays like Chadaini Gonda, Dewar Dera & Kari.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[1] Durg had a population of 231,182. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Durg has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79% and, female literacy is 65%. In Durg, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Bhilai Institute of Technology - Durg

Culture

The people of Durg also have a great tendency towards adopting new trends and life styles. Durg thus is multicultural for people from all over India have come and settled in this region.

The people of this region are very fond of colors. The dresses they wear are very colorful. Women wear sarees with Kardhani. In rural areas women wear mala made of one rupee coins. Though this has gone out of trend these days. The people of this region are also known for creating humour out of language. Comical plays are very popular and are worth watching.

Durg is rich in its cultural heritage. Durg has its own dance styles, cuisine, music. Pandwani the musical narration of the epic Mahabharata, "Raut Nacha" (performed basically by Yadav caste, this folk dance has bagged many awards at state level) and the Panthi and Soowa dance styles.

Incredible people from Durg

1.Dhriti pati sarkar a theater actor from Nehru culture house to a hindi movie actor of film Sabyasachee & Aakhri ladai. 2.Tijan Bai a world famous pandwani singer specialy sing in Chhattisgarhi . 3.Anurag basu movie director of Murder born and brought up in Bhilai. 4.Krishna sahu famous India champion weight lifter and bodybuilder . 5.Nelson padma awardi "Murtikar" from Durg. 6.Omkar Das Manikpuri actor of Pepple life .

Poets

Sri Surendra Dubey is one of the several poets belonging to Durg. His poetry has been critically acclaimed not only in India but also around the world in countries like United States of America, England, France etc. Currently he resides in Bhilai.

References

Official web site of Durg District - http://durg.gov.in/

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. http://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 

Railway Stations in Chhattisgarh