Ballarpur

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?Ballarpur Maharashtra • India
Coordinates: (find coordinates)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
District(s)	Chandrapur
Population	301,000 approximately (2007)
Codes • Telephone	• +07172(area code)

Ballarpur is a city and a municipal council in Chandrapur district in the state of Maharashtra, India.

[edit] Demographics

As of 2007 India census,^[1] Ballarpur had a population of 301,000. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Ballarpur has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 56% of the males and 44% of females literate. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit] Highlights

The king of Ballarpur was of name Balharshah. The town was named Balharshah after him. Even today the Railway station is listed as Ballarshah 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 upload pantry stuff from base kitchen in Ballarshah. King Balharshah developed a skin ailment. He was told to regularly bathe in a well close to Chandrapur. The king recovered, built a new fort called the Chanda fort and moved his capital there. Even today the ruins of the old Balharshah fort can be seen on the banks of Wardha river.

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. The town came in limelight after the Thapar Group established their kingship paper factory, BILT (Ballarpur Industries Limited) there. The Gadchroli and the southern Chhattisgarh region is rich with bamboo plantations. Hence we see quite a number of paper factories in the Telangana, Chhattishgarh and Vidharbha region.

Balharshah has four colleges, Guru Nanak College of Science, Mahatma Jyotiba Fule College of Arts and Commers, Thapar College, Zhaveri Womans College of Arts . It has a coal mine and a timber depot. The attraction at the timber depot is a 800 year old timber log, that has been preserved. Nearest airport is Nagpur. Ballarpur is just 180 km. from Nagpur and well connected through Trains, Private and government buses. Cabs are easily available. Ballarpur has always been a peaceful town in the resource rich region of vidharbha.

Coordinates: 19°50′N, 79°21′E