Balachaur

Balachaur
ਬਲਾਚੌਰ
city
Balachaur

Location in Punjab, India

Coordinates: 31°04′00″N 76°19′00″E / 31.0667°N 76.3167°ECoordinates: 31°04′00″N 76°19′00″E / 31.0667°N 76.3167°E
Country  India
State Punjab
District Nawanshahr
Population (2001)
 • Total 18,106
Languages
 • Official Punjabi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration PB 20

Balachaur is a tehsil town and a nagar panchayat in Nawanshahr district in the state of Punjab, India

History

A Rajput raja Raj Dev along with his family came here. He was related with the family of the King of Jaipur. He started meditating here and named this place after the name of his son Balraj as Balachaur. Raj dev died in 1596. People made his tomb here and worshiped him as Baba Balraj. A committee named as "Balraj Mandir Committee" was created in 1949 and its President was Zaildar Balwant Singh. Present President is Rana Purshotam Singh. In 1539 Sher-Shah-Suri before attacking Himayun took the blessing of Raj Dev.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[1] Balachaur had a population of 18,106. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Balachaur has an average literacy rate of 68%, 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.

Balachaur being a tehsil, is very important place for all the nearby villages. It has Punjab Government offices; which serve the local villagers. Earlier, there wasn't any college in Balacahur for higher education. But now with the blessings of Baba Balraj, a new college named- Baba Balraj Government College has been opened for higher education.

Pin Code: 144521 STD Code: 01885 Vehicle Registration: PB-20

Commerce

There is factory here S.V. Cold Drink which manufactures Cold Drink named as Lava Cold Drinks in Village Sudha Mazra(Balachaur). It was set up in the year 2003. It has become a source of income for people from near by villages. The main source of income for villagers is Agriculture. Wheat and Maize being the two main crops. A lot of people work in government or private sectors in neighboring towns and cities, primarily Nawanshahr, Ropar, Ludhaina and Chandigarh. There is a big market which serves the people of Balachaur & nearby villages. Balachaur also has a big grain market (anaaj mandi) where the field produce is sold at market rates. Balachaur is a beautiful place surrounded by foothills of Shivalik on one side, river SATLUJ on other. There was a single screen movie theater - KC cinema, near the grain market which used to screen the latest Hindi and Punjabi movies. It is now closed. At present there are no cinemas or parks in Balachaur.

In the recent times, Balachaur has seen marvelous growth in terms of no. of shops, opening up of many English medium schools, Internet cafes, wine shops etc. But as such nothing substantial has changed for Balachaur and its people. There is still no Bus Depot, no big name industry being set up and most importantly lack of good higher education institutes in the area. However, many private educational institutes opened up mostly being Modern Schools and Engineering colleges in the vicinity of Balachaur.

In 2011, a College named Baba Balraj Govt. College was opened. It is still under construction but classes have started. It is near Bains Charitable Hospital.

Transport

Balachaur is well connected by road to all the major cities in Punjab. It is on the main highway to Jallandhar and other highway which goes to Pathankot/Jammu. Nearest Railway station is Garhshankar and nearest Airport is Chandigarh. From Balachaur there are buses (both private and public) available for passengers to go to major cities of Punjab as well as of Himachal, Haryana and Delhi. Various other modes of transport are also available for local travel. Balachaur as a Tehsil; situated almost equidistant from Nawanshahr (20 km), Roopnagar (25 km), Garshankar (25 km), Nurpur Bedi (24 km) and other big cities near Balachaur are: Ludhiana (70 km), Chandigarh (68 km), Hoshiarpur (70 km), Anandpur Sahib (68 km), Jalandhar (75 km). National Capital Delhi is 320 km from Balachaur.

Villages

"Sudha Majra Alais Fatehgarh " situated on Chandigarh Jalandhar highways .There is a historical Gurudwara Tahli Shaib built in the memory of Guru Hargobind Singh Ji.It had a population of 1200. Gahoon (Punjabi-ਗਹੁੰਣ ) named for the people who lived on the bank of the sea called ("ਗਾਹਣਿਅੇ"). As of 2001 India census, Gahoon had a population of 1100, 53% male. Gahoon has an average literacy rate of 72.6% with 56% males and 44% females. 15% of population is under 6 years of age.

"GARHI KANUGOAN" ਗੜੀ ਕਾਨੂੰਗੋਅਾਂ Garhi Kanugoan is located on Nawanshahr road. There is a historical Shiv Mandir, Gurdwara of Baba Jawahar Singh Ji (Falahi Sahib) Main Gurdwara Sahib, Gurdwara Sahidan Sahib, Patka Sahib, Majar Baba Roshan Shah Wali and this village located in centre of 4 main cities i.e. 72 km from Chandigarh, 73 km from Jalandhar, 65 km from Hoshiarpur and 65 km from Ludhiana.

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.