Haldia | |
|---|---|
Metropolis | |
 Sunset on the Banks ofHaldi River  Gouranga Dham Temple  Haldia Refinery underIOCL  4 pillar spot,Haldia Institute of Technology | |
| Nickname: Petrochemical City | |
  Haldia  Haldia | |
| Coordinates:22°04′00″N88°04′11″E / 22.0667°N 88.0698°E /22.0667; 88.0698 | |
| Country | India |
| State |  West Bengal |
| District | Purba Medinipur |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Body |
|
| Area | |
• Metropolis | 110 km2 (40 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,982 km2 (765 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[3] | |
• Metropolis | 200,762 |
| • Metro | 2,749,364 |
Haldia (Bengali:[ɦɔld̪ija]) is anindustrialport city inPurba Medinipur district in the Indianstate ofWest Bengal. It has a majorriver port andindustrial belt located approximately 124 km (77 mi) southwest ofKolkata near the mouth of theHooghly River, one of thedistributaries of theGanges. The Haldia Township is bordered by theHaldi River, an offshoot of theGanges River. Haldia is a centre forpetrochemical businesses, and is a major trade port forKolkata.[4]
Haldia is located at22°02′N88°04′E / 22.03°N 88.06°E /22.03; 88.06.[5] It has an average elevation of 8 metres (26 ft).
As of 2011[update]census, Haldia had a population of 200,762, out of which 104,852 were males and 95,910 were females. The 0–6 years population was 21,122. Effective literacy rate for the 7+ population was 89.06 per cent.[6]
As of 2001[update] Indiacensus, Haldia had a population of 170,695. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. In Haldia, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.[7]
Haldia once had a small, thriving Japanese community. The Japanese community of Haldia were mostly engineers and top executives at theMitsubishi Chemical Corporationpurified terephthalic acid (the corporation's majority stake is now under The Chatterjee Group) plant in the city.[8] The community had lived in the mini Japanese township calledSataku (Japantown) for many years. Sataku had Japanese restaurant and a local Japanese news station. Japanese movies were shown in local theatres in the township. Haldia was the only Indian city to have aJapantown.[9]
The city of Haldia is governed by the Haldia Municipality. Earlier Haldia Municipality had 26 wards. In 2015, the number of wards was increased to 29.[10]
Haldia Municipality falls under the jurisdiction of two police territories, served by Haldia and Bhabanipur police stations. Haldia police station is located in Chinranjibpur, and covers an area of 98 km2 (38 sq mi) with a population of 65,000.[citation needed] Bhabanipur police station is located inBhabanipur, and covers an area of 115 km2 (44 sq mi) with a population of 124,906.[citation needed]
Haldia is also a base of theIndian Coast Guard.[citation needed] Indian coast guard DHQ 8 (Headquarters for West Bengal) is located at Haldia.[citation needed] There is ahoverport to house four of the eighteenhovercraft belonging to the Indian Coast Guard. The Indian coast guard also has a pontoon jetty to berth a fleet of ships.[citation needed] Presently two fast patrol vessels, one inshore patrol vessels, and one small craft are based at Haldia.[citation needed]
Haldia has atropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classificationAw), with winter temperatures ranging from a low of around 7 °C (45 °F) degrees Celsius to a high of 22 °C (72 °F). Summers can be very hot and humid. Usual summer temperatures in May, the hottest month, range from a low of 24 °C (75 °F) degrees to highs around 39 °C (102 °F) degrees. Although summers are hot and humid,Kalbaishakhis provide a relief to the people, albeit killing some in the process. Rainfall is heavy duringmonsoons, with an average rainfall of 3,650 mm (144 in) and the rainy months are between May and October.
| Climate data for Haldia (1991–2020, extremes 1981–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 32.3 (90.1) | 37.7 (99.9) | 39.5 (103.1) | 40.5 (104.9) | 40.9 (105.6) | 39.9 (103.8) | 38.2 (100.8) | 39.0 (102.2) | 36.3 (97.3) | 36.9 (98.4) | 35.5 (95.9) | 32.0 (89.6) | 40.9 (105.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 25.7 (78.3) | 29.0 (84.2) | 32.3 (90.1) | 33.5 (92.3) | 34.0 (93.2) | 33.4 (92.1) | 32.0 (89.6) | 32.2 (90.0) | 32.4 (90.3) | 32.1 (89.8) | 30.0 (86.0) | 27.0 (80.6) | 31.1 (88.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.5 (58.1) | 18.7 (65.7) | 23.1 (73.6) | 25.9 (78.6) | 27.1 (80.8) | 27.5 (81.5) | 26.9 (80.4) | 26.8 (80.2) | 26.6 (79.9) | 24.9 (76.8) | 20.4 (68.7) | 15.7 (60.3) | 23.2 (73.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 8.4 (47.1) | 10.4 (50.7) | 15.7 (60.3) | 18.3 (64.9) | 19.1 (66.4) | 21.0 (69.8) | 22.3 (72.1) | 22.0 (71.6) | 22.0 (71.6) | 19.3 (66.7) | 12.5 (54.5) | 10.0 (50.0) | 8.4 (47.1) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 18.6 (0.73) | 21.0 (0.83) | 30.1 (1.19) | 51.8 (2.04) | 116.2 (4.57) | 279.7 (11.01) | 404.9 (15.94) | 397.2 (15.64) | 333.2 (13.12) | 169.2 (6.66) | 38.8 (1.53) | 7.8 (0.31) | 1,868.5 (73.56) |
| Average rainy days | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 6.5 | 11.8 | 18.5 | 18.1 | 13.6 | 6.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 84.2 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%)(at 17:30IST) | 64 | 64 | 67 | 77 | 79 | 83 | 85 | 85 | 84 | 79 | 71 | 67 | 75 |
| Source:India Meteorological Department[11][12][13] | |||||||||||||
Haldia has been ranked 5th best "National Clean Air City" under (Category 3 population under 3 lakhs cities) in India.[14]
Haldia is connected toKolkata by bus ofSouth Bengal State Transport Corporation . Recent efforts have seen introduction of new air-conditioned buses which take less than three hours from station to station.[citation needed]. Haldia is also connected toBankura,Kharagpur,Tarakeswar,Burdwan,Asansol by bus.
Haldia railway station is the major railway station connecting the city toKolkata,Chennai andDelhi. For long-distance trains, except one or two weekly for Delhi and Chennai, you have to go to eitherMecheda,Howrah(near Kolkata) orKharagpur.
Haldia is also connected via the 1,620 km (1,010 mi) long inland waterway, National Waterway 1, that runs from Prayagraj across the Ganges, Bhagirathi and Hooghly river system to Haldia (Sagar). Acatamaran service used to operate fromKolkata to Haldia, but was withdrawn due to its high price and unpopularity among tourists.[citation needed] A governmental ferry service operates between Haldia andNandigram.
Haldia has several major factories, including South Asian Petrochemicals Ltd,Haldia Refinery underIOCL,Haldia Energy Limited,Exide,Shaw Wallace,Tata Chemicals,Haldia Petrochemicals, India Power Corporation Ltd.,Hindustan Lever, MCPI Private Limited (formerly Mitsubishi Chemical Corporations India), S.J.Constructions, Jay Road Carriers and LTC&Co.
TheIndian Football Association andTata Football Academy have been operating for years in the city to scout and promotefootball talents. A new project calledHaldia International Sports City is also under construction.[15]
Cricket is a popular sport in Haldia with multiple coaching clubs and local facilities available for the youth and teenagers to train, and compete at local and regional level cricket tournaments. Haldia also has multiple football coaching clubs. The city has a few public and private wooden floor badminton courts and swimming pools- people come from various places to have their coaching in these arenas.
Haldia travel guide from WikivoyageCities, towns, locations and neighbourhoods inPurba Medinipur District,Medinipur division | ||||||||||
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