Ambala Cantonment

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  ?Ambala Cantonment
Haryana • India
Coordinates: (find coordinates)
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
District(s) Ambala
Population 61,625 (2001)

Ambala Cantonment is a cantonment town in Ambala District in the state of Haryana, India. It is next to Ambala city and is on the G.T Road. It is some 200 k.m north of Delhi and 40 k.m south from Chandigarh.

[edit] Details

The Cantonment is from the British times as it lies at an important junction, from here one can take the road North to Chandigarh and onwards to Simla, or turn East towards Uttar Pradesh, or go west to Ludhiana, and onwards to Jalandhar and Amritsar - Lahore. It has a lot of colonial bungalows and wide tree lined roads typical of British Cantonements in the subcontinent. It also gets a mention in the Rudyard Kipling book Kim. The formation sign of a unit located here (a Bull on a Red background) is a theme in the book. The formation sign still exists for an Indian Army formation in Ambala.

Grand Trunk Road, at Ambala Cantonment, during British Raj
Grand Trunk Road, at Ambala Cantonment, during British Raj

It is currently the Headquarters of 2 corps,(raised in 1970, formation sign Kharga) and an important forward Indian Air Force base.

The railway station is a prominent Junction and is located on the Grand Trunk Road. Just across the railway station is the bus stand. The cantonment is more well known than nearby Ambala city as it is on the G.T. road.

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[1] Ambala Cantonment had a population of 61,625. Males constitute 60% of the population and females 40%. Ambala Cantonment has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 64% of the males and 36% of females literate. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit] References