Aurangabad Cantonment

Aurangabad Cantonment Aurangabad Cantonment औरंगाबाद छावणी ·   اورنگ آباد چھاؤنیا
city
Population  (2001)
• Total	19,274
Website	http://www.cbaurangabad.org/
http://www.citypopulation.de/world/Agglomerations.html

Aurangabad Cantonment (Chawni) (Template:Lang-ur) (Template:Lang-mr), is a cantonment town in Aurangabad district in the state of Maharashtra, India.

History

The Aurangabad City was founded in 1610 by Malik Ambar, the Prime Minister of Murtaza Nizam Shah II, on the site of a village called Khadki.

In 1653, Prince Aurangzeb son of Shahjahan, the Emperor of Delhi was appointed Viceroy of Deccan. Aurangzeb became emperor in 1658. From 1681 till his death in 1707, he was in Deccan. Most of his time in South was spent in Aurangabad.

Along with Aurangzeb many Rajput Princes came from North as his allies. Those were called as ‘Rajas’. These Rajas settled around Aurangabad in small camps which were called ‘Puras’. One of these was Rao Karansingh, the king of Bikaner (Rajasthan). He supported Aurangzeb in the Battle of Samugarh (1658) and to annex the throne. Impressed by this act of his, Aurangzeb granted him three villages. He named them as Karanpura, Padampura & Kesrsingpura.

After the decline of Mughal Empire in early eighteenth century, Aurangabad was ruled by Subedars of Mughals. One of them Kamruddin Chin-Kulich Khan, famously known as Nizam Ul Mulk formed his own kingdom. He shifted his capital from Aurangabad to Hyderabad. Since the Aurangabad was near the Maratha’s kingdom the Nizam always had conflict with Peshwas.

For a century Aurangabad was only an Army base. But after conclusion of Anglo-Maratha War in 1819 the Nizam formed the Cantonment with many European officers and they came here to train the Nizam Army. This was not a Cantonment but an administrative area under the supervision of British. Here artillery or cavalry was established by Nizam for protection of his kingdom. The expenditure incurred on this account was borne by Nizam and the ownership of this Cantonment was of Nizam.

Up to 1836, the Nizam’s Cantonment was at somewhere in Osmanpura side. Then the camp shifted in the area between Harsul and Bibi Ka Maqbara.

Aurangabad Cantonment Board, was established in 1890 is the municipal organization under the Ministry of Defense for the Cantonment area.

In 1903, a treaty was signed between British and the Nizam and it was decided to establish a proper Cantonment. All villages belonging to Bikaner Riyasat (namely Karanpura, Padampura, Kesarsinghpura and Konkanwadi) were transferred to British. The area approximately was 919 acres (3.72 km²). In view of military convenience, an area of 396 acres (1.60 km²) out of above land was exchanged with an area of 1044 Acres of Banewadi village and other Khalsa area of Nizam dominion in the year 1913. In this manner the military authorities got at their disposel total area of 1,367 acres (5.53 km²) in Aurangabad.

Out of above land some land was used for purely military purpose while remaining for agricultural and residential purposes.

In the future course the civil area was developed and the Cantonment was defined under the Cantonment Act, 1924. Today the Cantonment is spread across 2,584 acres (10.46 km²) with civil population of 19,274 as per 2001 census.

Aurangabad Cantonment Board

Aurangabad Cantonment Board, was established in 1890 is the municipal organization under the Ministry of Defense for the Cantonment area.
Cantonment Boards are a special form of local self Government bodies created to administer the Cantonments in India. These institutions have a historical past associated with the military administration in the country.

Organisation

Cantonment Boards are the municipal bodies in a special form for civic administration in the Cantonments in India. There are 62 Cantonments in India defined under the Cantonments Act, 1924 . These Cantonment Boards are the autonomous bodies, which are set up and controlled by the Central Government under the provisions of the Cantonments Act, 1924. While the responsibility of direct field administration of the Cantonments is discharged through the Cantonment Boards, supervisory and control functions over the working of these bodies are exercised through the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Command with the advice of the Principal Director Defence Estates at the intermediate level and by the Central Government at the apex level.

The Cantonments have been set up for quartering of the troops and, therefore, have to serve the basic civic amenities of the Armed Forces as are required in relation to the residential area for officers and men, open spaces for training, sports and recreation facilities and other establishments. In addition to providing the civic services to these areas the Cantonment Boards are required to provide municipal and civic services to the civil population of the Cantonments as well. Because of the nature of Cantonments, a high degree of efficiency and municipal performance level is expected from the Cantonment Boards.

The Cantonment Boards are Statutorily constituted corporate bodies. The Boards generally comprise the democratically elected representatives of the civilian population and nominated members from the Armed Forces and District administration.

Functions of the Cantonment Board

• 1. Water supply to the Civil Area,
• 2. Sanitation and Health services to both civil and armed forces,
• 3. Maintenance and development of roads,
• 4. Management of Defence land (Old Grant/Leased/Freehold/Private)
  • • Mutation and transfer,
  • • Conversion of old grant properties into freehold,
  • • Sanction of building plans for repairs and reconstruction,
  • • Dealing with any litigation regarding the Defence Land.
  • • Prevention and removal of encroachment on the Govt land.,
• 5. Education: Run the Schools and provide civic amenities to the schools in the Cantonment Area. The Aurangabad Cantonment Board does not run any school.
• 6. Public improvement works :
  • • Development and maintenance of gardens
  • • Tree plantation
  • • Development & maintenance of culverts, drainage lines
  • • Establishing & maintaining civil defence services
• 7. Conduct elections of the Cantonment Board as per CER, 1945.
• 8. Registration of births & deaths,
• 9. Town planning,
• 10. Monitor trade and markets,
• 11. Group housing and shops,
• 12. Provision of street lighting,
• 13. Provide conservancy services to the Armed forces,
• 14. Maintenance of Defence land and land records under the management of the Cantonment Board,

Aurangabad cantonment Aurangabad.

Achievement

Cantonment is the greenest area of the Aurangabad city.
The Cantonment Board Aurangabad is traditionally known for maintaining a high standard of civic administration. In the field of public health and sanitation the Cantonment Board Aurangabad has a specially demanding task of accomplish particularly in the context of welfare of the citizens of Cantonment Area. Not a single out-break of epidemics has taken place in the history of Cantonment Board Aurangabad.

Army Golf Course

Aurangabad cantonment houses Sarvatra Ecological Park an Training Area (SEPTA). Besides several other training facilities, the park also has a nine hole golf course. It is the only course in Marathwada region. It is a sought after facility with corporate and civil officers also seeking membership. This golf course was laid by Britishers and finds mention in the old revenue maps of Aurangabad Cantonment. The golf course was realigned and relaid in 1985. Since then this course has been improved further.

External links

• Aurangabad Cantonment Board website
• Aurangabad District website