Haldwani

Haldwani , Nainital हल्द्वानी ਹਲ੍ਦ੍ਵਾਨੀ ہلدوانی
city
Nickname(s): Green City
Haldwani , Nainital Location in Uttarakhand, India
Coordinates: 29°13′N 79°31′E / 29.22°N 79.52°E / 29.22; 79.52Coordinates: 29°13′N 79°31′E / 29.22°N 79.52°E / 29.22; 79.52
Country	India
State	Uttarakhand
District	Nainital
Named for	Haldu(Kadamb)
Elevation	424 m (1,391 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	452,169
Languages
• Official	Hindi
• Widely Spoken	Kumauni and Punjabi.
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	263139

Haldwani (in Hindi हल्द्वानी, in Punjabi ਹਲ੍ਦ੍ਵਾਨੀ ) is a city, which along with its twin township of Kathgodam forms the Haldwani-Kathgodam municipal Corporation (since May 2011) in Nainital District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

Haldwani is the third most populous city in Uttarakhand, and is known as the "Gateway of Kumaon". In Kumaoni, the local dialect, the place is called "Halduvani", literally "forest (vana) of Haldu", after the tree named "Haldu", often referred to as "Kadamb" (Haldina cordifolia), which was found in abundance prior to deforestation for agriculture and settlement.

In 1816, after the British defeated Gorkhas, Gardner was appointed the Commissioner of Kumaon. Later George William Trail took over as Commissioner and renamed Halduvani as Haldwani in 1834.^[1] Though British records suggest that the place was established in 1834, as a mart for hill people who visited the Bhabhar (Himalayan foothills) region, during the cold season.^[2]

History

Mughal historians mention that in 14th century, a local ruler, Gyan Chand of Chand Dynasty, visited Delhi Sultanate and received the regions of Bhabhar- Terai up to the Ganges as a grant from then Sultan. Later, the Mughals tried to take over the hills, but their attempts received a setback due to the difficult terrain.^[3]

In 1856, Sir Henry Ramsay took over as the Commissioner of Kumaon. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, it was briefly seized by the rebels of Rohilkhand, soon martial law was declared in the region by Sir Henry Ramsay, and by 1858, the region was cleared of the rebels.^[3]

Later, Ramsay connected Nainital with Kathgodam by road in 1882. In 1883–84, the railway track was laid between Bareilly and Kathgodam. The first train arrived at Haldwani from Lucknow on 24 April 1884.^[4] Later, the railway line was extended to Kathgodam.

In 1901, with a population of 6,624, Haldwani was the headquarters of the Bhabhar region of Nainital District, in the United Province, and it also used to become the winter headquarters of the officers of the Kumaun Division and of Nainital District.^[2] The Arya Samaj Bhavan was built in 1901 and Sanatan Dharm Sabha in 1902. The Tehsil office was opened here in 1899, when it became the tehsil headquarters of the Bhabhar, one of four division of Nainital district,^[3] and included 4 towns and 511 villages; and had a combined population of 93,445 (1901), spread over 1,279 sq. miles.^[5] Though before the formation of Nainital district in 1891, it was part of the Kumaon District, which was later called Almora district.^[6]

In 1904, it was consitituted as a 'notified area'^[2] and in 1907 Haldwani got the status of town area.^[7]

Gora Padao, 4 km south of Haldwani was named after a British camp/post at that location in the mid-19th century, Gora being a slang for the British.

Haldwani-Kathgodam Municipal Council was established on 21 September 1942. Currently it is the third largest Municipal Council in the state of Uttarakhand after Dehradun and Haridwar.

Geography

Haldwani is located at 29°13′N 79°31′E / 29.22°N 79.52°E / 29.22; 79.52.^[8] It has an average elevation of 424 metres (1,391 feet). Geologically, Haldwani is settled on a piedmont grade (called Bhabhar) where the mountain rivers go underground to re-emerge in the Indo-Gangetic plain. It has historically been a trading post and then a hub between the hilly regions of Kumaon and the Indo-Gangetic Plain.

Demographics

As per provisional data of 2011 census Haldwani-cum-Kathgodam urban agglomeration had a population of 232,060, out of which males were 121,363 and females were 110,697. The literacy rate was 85.17 per cent.^[9]

Medical college

Government Medical College, Haldwani was established in 1997. The college is affiliated with Kumaun University and residential & co-educational medical colleges.

Overview

Eight kilometres north of Haldwani at Ranibagh is Chitrashila Ghat, the venerable Hindu cremation ground. A fair called Uttarayani (also called Ghughutiya in Kumaoni) is held here on Makar Sankranti (on 14–15 January) every year. To the south of Haldwani lies Pantnagar famous for its Pantnagar University. The Gaula river runs to the east, and to the west is the fertile agricultural region of Lamachaur and Kaladhungi merging into the world-renowned Corbett National Park.

Long in the shadow of its famous hill cousins, the Haldwani area has a lot to offer by the way of quaint villages, rolling deciduous forests and open spaces outside the urban sprawl.

Famous Personalities like G.B. Pant, Narayan Dutt Tewari, Satyajit Das etc. have been associated with Haldwani.

Haldwani (Nainital) today houses people of nearly all religions who have migrated and settled down in town in addition to the Kumaonis and Garhwalis. This confluence of cultures is as evident in the architecture of the town as in the culture, occasions for celebration, attire and cuisine. Hindi is the primary languages spoken in Haldwani. Urdu is prevalent amongst the Muslim community while Punjabi is spoken by the large Sikh community settled in the town and Kumaoni people who have migrated here from hilly areas of Kumaon speakes Kumaoni. http://www.geohive.com/cntry/in-05.aspx The people of various religions and faith lives in peace and harmony.Almost all the festivals are celebrated with equal zeal and enthusiasm.The city is well decorated at the time of big festivals like Diwali Holi and Eid, also this is the time when the market is full of lucrative offers and people don't mind getting little over budget. The Temples,The Mosques,The Gurudwaras and The Churches are beautifully decorated at the time of respective major festivals.The administration is always on alert and also play an important role in maintaining the decorum and keeping aside anti-social elements that tries to disturb the harmony of the place. The city has 108 emergency service and various private Hi-Tech Medical Research Centers and Hospitals that provide the world class trauma and emergency facilities including 24*7 air ambulance.

Culture & lifestyle

The region is dominated by both Kumaoni people and people from western Uttar Pradesh or who are native of terai-bhabhar region of Uttarakhand but still it is home to a significant percentage of people belonging to other religions and regions. One can find variety in all aspects from dishes to clothings and from dialect to architecture. Rock and popular English music is finding a good market in the rapidly expanding music market along with traditional Pahari music of the Kumaon Hills and local Desi Folk songs. Punjabi Music is also very popular and this region of Uttarakhand also have a large number of Punjabis living here. Drinking is not considered a taboo anymore, given that the person doesn't drink in noon time, and is busy with his own job. A small town nearly 2 decades ago, is now rising as a regional hub trading in modern amenities and better infrastructure (roads, shopping centres and hospitals) due to rapid urbanization. Haldwani is said to be a "Great city shadowed by Nainital". Haldwani at all geo-political bases is always above Nainital town which is the District centre. The Govt. policy of "Polishing" Nainital and doing nothing for the ever big Haldwani city, has left the citizens of Haldwani demanding Haldwani as a new District headquarters in place of Nainital, or creating a new District called Haldwani consisting the Bhabhar area of Kumaon excluding the hilly Nainital. Many uprisings were led by the local public since independence with the demand for the creation of new District.

Since the creation of Udham Singh Nagar district in 1995 with headquarter at Rudrapur,only 28 km. away from Haldwani there seems no demand of Haldwani district.Now Tarai area is excluded from Nainital district leaving only bhabhar and hills.

Education

Haldwani is home to the schools which provide an exceptionally high standard of pre-college education, without the elitism and expenses associated with the residential hill schools of Uttarakhand. The best schools of Haldwani are Beersheba Senior Secondary School,Nirmala Convent Sr. Sec School, St.Theresa Sr. Sec School,Queen's Senior Secondary School, Aryaman vikram Birla institute Of Learning .. Few other local schools are Cynthia senior secondary school, A.B.M Senior Secondary School, S.K.M school, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Senior Sec. School, Naini Valley School, Kendriya Vidhyalaya,White Hall School, Unchapul. Maharishi Vidya Mandir, St. Paul's Sr. Sec. School,Inspiration public school, Little flower school, Amrapali Institute - Lamachaur. D.A.V. Centenary Public School, Scholars' Academic Home which provides education of the highest standards up to middle school level. The Heritage School which is one of the finest school in the town,Hargovind Suyal Sharashwati Vidya Mandir Inter college, Govt. Inter College Banbhoolpura, Govt. Girls Inter College Haldwani, Mahatma Gandhi Inter College, H.N. Inter College, M.B. Inter College. Having One Degree College Moti Ram Babu Ram Govt. (Post Graduate) College. It has a premier university of agriculture and technology nearby namely Pantnagar University. It also has Sikkim Manipal University,^[10] Learning Center providing Management & IT Programs under the distance education mode address IT Campus, Tikonia Haldwani,ARENA ANIMATION(NAWABI ROAD), NIIT Education centre which has been providing careers in the global IT industry to the local students.

Uttarakhand Open University

The University was established by an Act Of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly on 31 October 2005^[11] with a view to democratise education, so that it covers large segments of population, vocations and professions. Uttarakhand Open University is the only Open University in Uttarakhand... The total number of students in 2009 was hardly 700, but today the total enrolment has crossed 20,000 students. The construction work at its new campus is in full swing and the staff will shift there in June. At present there are more than 140 courses. The prominent among them are Journalism and Mass Communication, Hotel Management, Tourism Management, Business Management, Education, Jyotish, karmakand and other traditional courses.

Prof. Subhash Dhuliya is the present Vice Chancellor of Uttarakhand Open University.

Govt. Shusila Tiwari Medical College

• A medical college (Sushila Tiwari Memorial(Uttarakhand Forest Hospital Trust ) Medical College), established by former CM N.D. Tiwari Ji.

Swami Rama Cancer Hospital and Research Institute is an affiliated institute which was envisioned to provide state-of-the-art treatment to cancer patients of Uttarakhand. Dr. Abhishek Singh, radiation and clinical oncologist at the institute feels need of efforts for cancer awareness in school children and general public of Kumaun region as well as Uttarakhand. the Medical college is now undertaken by government in 2009. So its now Government Medical College, Haldwani with the hospital now named Sushila Tiwari Government Hospital.

List of schools which provide Higher Secondary education:-

1 . DAV Centenary Public School
2 . St. Theresa Sr. Sec. School
3 . Nirmala Convent Sr. Sec. School
4 . Queen's Senior Secondary School
5 . Guru Tek Bahadur Public school
6 . Maharishi Vidya Mandir Public School
7 . St.Pauls Sr. Sec. School
8 . Beersheba Sr. Sec. School
9 . Bhartiya Bal Vidya Mandir
10 . GGIC and Khalsa college for girls
11 . ABM Public sr.sec School
12 . Sacred Hearts Public School
13 . Mahatma Gandhi School
14 . M.B. inter college for boys
15 . Inspiration Public School
16 . H.N. Inter College
17 . S.K.M School
18 . Aryaman Vikram Birla Institute of Learning
19 . Kendriya Vidyalaya Haldwani, Cantt
20 . Scholars' Academic Home
21 . Holy Angel's convent public school
22 . K.V.M Public School
23 . Gurukul International School
24 . Cynthia Senior Secondary School
25 . Naini Valley School
26 . Benson Public School

Some noted schools for small children are Parvatiya Shishu Niketan, Pratibha Vikas School and Tikku Modern.

Haldwani has many schools, and actually there are different educational houses which are providing education to the local children.

Economy

Well connected with the Indo-Gangetic plain by road (to New Delhi, Dehradun and Lucknow) and rail (New Delhi, DehraDun, Lucknow and Kolkata), Haldwani is an important commercial hub. It is home to one of the largest vegetable, fruit and foodgrain markets in Kumaon. Being the gateway to most of Kumaon and parts of Garhwal, it is an important revenue center of Uttarakhand based on its advantageous location as a base depot for goods in transit to the hills. The Gaula river is exploited for a large quantity of boulders, sand and gravels every year, and forms an important revenue source for both the government and local business.

Cuisine

Some local delicacies are:

• Jholi Bhaat
• Maduwe ki roti
• lissu
• Rumali Roti
• Chane-Halwa
• Angoordana
• Kaju ki Barfi
• Gajar Ka Halwa
• Haleem
• Nahari
• Paye
• Kabab
• Biryani
• Faluda Kulfi
• Gajak
• Ghewar
• Aalu Chat
• Samosay
• Bal Mithai
• Aalu ka Paratha
• Methi ke pakauray
• Malta (fruit)
• Kaphal(fruit)
• Mango (fruit)
• Aadoo/Peach (fruit)
• Khumani/Apricot(fruit)
• Pulam/Plum(fruit)
• Leechi (fruit)

Local people here have a great taste for food, the place is famous for a wide variety of sweets and various multinational cuisines specially Chinese. Also there are many restaurants that serve range of various Indian cuisines. One can easily find the famous Indian snacks on road side stalls and restaurants anywhere round the corner of the city, which are also the main points for youth and families to gathers for food and fun.

Connectivity

Haldwani is well connected to the country's capital Delhi via road and rail. Regular buses are available from Delhi which takes around 8–9 Hrs to reach Haldwani. Some luxury buses including Volvo are also available but they have fix timing. All the buses leave from the Haldwani Bus Station for Delhi's Anand Vihar ISBT. Railway is another mode of transportation available for travelling between Haldwani and Delhi. Haldwani & Kathgodam are two railway stations. Ranikhet Express (10:45 pm from Old Delhi-Daily), Sampark Kranti (4:00 pm from Old Delhi-Daily) & Anand-Vihar-Kathgodam Shatabdi Express (6:00 am from Anand Vihar Terminal-All days except Thursday) are some other trains available. There are other seasonal trains too. The nearest airport is Pantnagar airport but one rarely gets any passenger flights.The national highways to Rampur and Haridwar have since widened and strengthened, so the road-route is now comfortable. A new I.S.B.T is to come up in Golapar area.

The connectivity to state capital Dehradun is also good. There are a number of buses for Dehradun-Haldwani route. Railway is planning shorter rail-track via Ramnagar-Kotdwar-Haridwar instead of via Rampur-Moradabad.

Trains from Haldwani

All trains start from Kathgodam Railway Station which is a terminal of North Eastern Railway's Izzatnagar Division and then reach Haldwani Railway Station and proceed towards Lalkuan Junction Railway Station the trains currently running from here are^[12]

Ranikhet Express

It runs from Kathgodam to Bhagat ki Kothi in Jodhpur,Rajasthan via Delhi,Jaipur and Ajmer

Kathgodam Dehradun Link Express

It Connects Haldwani with state capital Dehradun via Lalkuan, Rampur, Moradabad, Najibabad and Haridwar

Bagh Express

From Kathgodam to Kolkata Howrah Junction via Bareilly, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Hajipur and Asansol

Uttarakhand Sampark Kranti

From Kathgodam to Delhi Junction

Kathgodam Anand Vihar Shatabdi Express

From Kathgodam to Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi

Kathgodam Jammu Garib Rath

From Kathgodam to Jammu Tawi in Jammu which runs once in a week. every tuesday

Kathgodam Kanpur Garib Rath

From Kathgodam to Kanpur Central

Kathgodam Moradabad Passenger

Kathgodam to Moradabad via Lalkuan,Kashipur

Kathgodam Moradabad Passenger

Kathgodam to Moradabad via Lalkuan,Rampur

Apart from these there are Passanger services to Bareilly and Kashipur from nearby Lalkuan Junction. And also there are plans to start the following new trains

Kathgodam Mumbai Bandra Terminus Daily Express Kathgodam Bareilly Passanger Service 4 times a day Kathgodam Madurai Weekly Super Fast via Nagpur Hyderabad Chennai Kathgodam Ahmedabad Bi Weekly Express via Mathura Jaipur Marwar or add slip coaches to Aala Hazrat Express in Rampur Kathgodam Lucknow Janshatabdi or Intercity Daily in Morning Time Daily Kathgodam Delhi Intercity around 12 Noon Daily Kathgodam Dehradun Intercity in Morning Daily Kathgodam Varanasi Express via Lucknow Raebareli Jaunpur Daily Kathgodam Allahabad Express via Lucknow Kanpur Weekly Kathgodam Bhopal Weekly Express via Mathura Jhansi Kathgodam Amritsar weekly Express(non A.C. with sleeper and general coaches) via Lalkuan Kashipur Moradabad Ambala Cantt Chandigarh these are genuine demands of local people from many years.

Plans

There are various developmental plans for the city owing to its importance in the state of Uttarakhand. These include building of additional infrastructure like stadium, flyover, bus terminus and industrial complex. All this has come at a cost – the last 20 years have seen an explosion in the demographics leading to a creaking infrastructure. The city is struggling to live up to its sobriquet of "Green City". The shortage of water in the Gaula river has forced the Administration to create some new projects for water harvesting and also increase of number of water treatment plants. Haldwani is said to be a fast growing educational hub of Uttarakhand. Many new institutions are open in lower Haldwani areas. Since, the success of 108 Mobile medical van services across the province, the Govt. is planning to expand this service in a better way for the more populated Haldwani city. Haldwani's forests which bear the best timber (cite?) anywhere in India and South Asia, are for now in a motion of significant demand because of their best quality. So the Govt. is also planning to keep the forestry as green as it always was.

References

External links

• Haldwani city guide

v t e Cities and towns in Nainital district Nainital Bajauniyahaldu Bhimtal Bhowali Haldwani Kathgodam Kaladungi Lalkuan Nainital Nainital Cantonment Ramgarh Ramnagar Mukteshwar Bhimtal Cities and towns in other districts Almora Bageshwar Chamoli Champawat Dehradun Haridwar Pauri Garhwal Pithoragarh Rudraprayag Tehri Garhwal Udham Singh Nagar Uttarkashi

v t e Municipalities of Uttarakhand Municipal Corporations Dehradun Haldwani Haridwar Roorkee Rudrapur Kashipur Municipalities Almora Bageshwar Bajpur Bhowali Chamoli Gopeshwar Dogadda Gadarpur Jaspur Jyotirmath Khatima Kichha Kotdwara Manglaur Mussoorie Nainital Narendra Nagar Pauri Pithoragarh Ramnagar Rishikesh Rudraprayag Sitarganj Srinagar Tanakpur Tehri Uttarkashi Vikasnagar Nagar Panchayats Badrinathpuri Barkot Bhimtal Chamba Champawat Dev Prayag Dharchula Didihat Dineshpur Doiwala Dwarahat Gangotri Gochar Herbertpur Jhabrera Kaladungi Karnaprayag Kedarnath Kela Khera Kirtinagar Laksar Lalkuan Landaura Lohaghat Mahua Dabra Haripura Mahua Kheraganj Muni Ki Reti Nandprayag Shaktigarh Sultanpur