Birganj
| Birganj वीरगंज |
|
|---|---|
| — Town and municipality — | |
 Birganj
|
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| Coordinates: 27°0′N 84°52′E / 27°N 84.867°ECoordinates: 27°0′N 84°52′E / 27°N 84.867°E | |
| Country |  Nepal |
| Zone | Narayani Zone |
| District | Parsa District |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 112,484 |
| Time zone | Nepal Time (UTC+5:45) |
| Website | http://www.birgunj.gov.np |
Birganj is a sub-metropolitan municipality and border town in Parsa District in the Narayani Zone of southern Nepal. It lies 283 km south of the capital Kathmandu, 3 km north of the border of the Indian state of Bihar. As an entry point to Nepal from Patna and Calcutta it is also known as the gateway to Nepal. The town has significant economic importance for Nepal as a large part of goods enter Nepal through Birganj via Raxaul on the Indian side. Tribhuvan Highway links it to Kathmandu.
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[edit] Demographics
According to the 2001 census of Nepal it has a population of 112,484, there are several languages spoken in the town including Bhojpuri, Nepali, Maithili, Newari, Marwari and Hindi. It is the biggest city in Narayani Zone and is a headquarter of Parsa District.
[edit] Economy
Birganj is a major business centre of Nepal, especially for trade with India. Almost all trade with India occurs through this route. the bordering town Raxaul (India) has become one of the busiest town for heavy transportation due to high trade volume. The 29km distance from Birgunj to Pathlaiya is the busiest highway in Nepal. Important industries are sugar refinery, cigarette manufacture, drugs manufacture,[1] chemical industries, paper manufacturing and fish-breeding.
Sarawagi Group is one of the major thriving business having industries of food ingredients, cooking oil, chemicals, furniture, skimmed milk and various other things. It is based in Birgunj and has connection overseas as per trading.
[edit] Transport
Birganj was the only door to and from Nepal by road at first. It was the only city that connected the country with India. Birganj railway station was connected by a metre gauge railway line to Raxaul station in Bihar across the border with India. The 39 km long metre gauge branch line of Indian Railways extended to Amlekhganj in Nepal. It was built in 1927 by the British but discontinued beyond Birganj in December 1965.[2] The 6km long railway track from Raxaul to Birganj was converted to broad gauge two years after the Indian railways converted the track to Raxaul inside India to broad gauge. Now broad gauge railway line connects Raxaul to Sirsiya (Birganj) Inland Container Depot (ICD) that became fully operational in 2005. Talks have been held to reopen the railway route from Birganj to Amlekhganj in Nepal by converting it to broad gauge because of its socio-economic importance.
Goods are transported to India by trains to and from the Birganj dry port, which is the key terminal of surface cargo delivery to Nepal. This cargo point on the south connects the heart of the country Kathmandu via another key industrial city Hetauda. It is also served by Tribhuvan Highway extending from the Indian border at Raxaul through Birganj and Hetauda to Kathmandu with frequent bus service. Simara Airport - 18 km (11 mi) north near the highway in Pipara Simara, Bara district offers scheduled flights to Kathmandu.
[edit] Border crossing
While India and Nepal have an open border with no restrictions on the movement of people on either side, there are 22 agreed transit and customs posts along the Nepal-India border for the purposes of trade. These are: 1. Pashupatinagar / Sukhiapokhari 2.Kakarbhitta / Naxalbari (Panitanki) 3. Bhadrapur / Galgalia 4. Biratnagar / Jogbani 5. Setobandha / Bhimnagar 6. Rajbiraj / Kunauli 7. Siraha, Janakpur / Jayanagar 8. Jaleswar / Bhitamore, Sursand 9. Malangawa / Sonbarsa 10. Gaur / Bairgania 11. Birganj / Raxaul 12. Bhairahawa / Nautanwa 13.Taulihawa / Khunwa 14. Krishnanagar / Barhni 15. Koilabas / Jarwa 16. Nepalgunj / Rupaidiha (Nepalgunj Road) 17. Rajapur / Katerniyaghat 18. Prithivipur / Sati (Kailali) / Tikonia 19. Dhangadhi / Gauriphanta 20. Mahendranagar / Banbasa 21. Mahakali / Jhulaghat (Pithoragarh) 22. Darchula/Dharchula. [3]
There are six immigration points along the Indo Nepal border for the entry and exit of nationals from third countries. These are: Banbasa, Dhangadhi, Nepalganj, Bhairahawa (Sunauli), Birganj and Kakarbhita.[3]
[edit] Educational institutions
Tribhuvan University, Thakur Ram Multiple Campus is the oldest institution in the Terai. The Golden Jubilee of this campus was celebrated in 2003. It has one institute Science and Technology and three faculties Arts, Commerce and Education in one campus.
The National Medical College, affiliated to the Tribhuvan University is also there. Spread out over a huge campus and also having a 1000 bedded hospital adjacent to the medical college, it is one of the premier medical colleges in the country. It has a large number of intermediate colleges and various other professional institution. M.B. Kedia Dental college was also established in 2005 in the city of birgunj.Mount Edmund Secondary School was established in 1985 A.D. Apart from these there are many private colleges that are in operations with affiliations from the government. some of the major institutions include:
- Hari Khetan Multiple Campus (HKMC)
- Birgunj Public College (BPC)
- Birgunj Commerce College (BCC)
- Om international college (OI)
- Mount Edmund Secondary School(MESS)
[edit] 2006 unrest
On 18 May 2006 the parliament of Nepal declared that the country would now be a secular state. This led to unrest by Hindu fundamentalist groups across Nepal - the town of Birganj was forced to close for two days.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/05/2010525101847265629.html
- ^ http://nepal.saarctourism.org/transportation.html
- ^ a b "Nepal-India Open Border: Prospects, Problems and Challenges". Nepal Democracy. http://www.nepaldemocracy.org/documents/treaties_agreements/nep_india_open_border.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
- ^ Nepal's Hindu majority is denouncing the recent move to end Nepal's longtime status as the world's only Hindu state. - The Christian Science Monitor
[edit] External links
- Birganj at SitaNepal
