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Bongaigaon

Coordinates: 26°28′37″N 90°33′30″E / 26.47694°N 90.55833°E / 26.47694; 90.55833
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This article is about the town. For its namesake district, see Bongaigaon district.
Bongaigaon
Town
Bongaigaon Town
Bongaigaon Town view
Bongaigaon Town view
Nickname(s): 
Commercial and Industrial Hub of Assam
Assam Bongaigaon district
Assam Bongaigaon district
Bongaigaon
Location in Assam, India
Coordinates: 26°28′37″N 90°33′30″E / 26.47694°N 90.55833°E / 26.47694; 90.55833
Country India
StateAssam
RegionLower Assam
DistrictBongaigaon & Chirang district
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • BodyBongaigaon Municipal Board
 • Deputy CommissionerShri Nabadeep Pathak, ACS
 • SuperintendentSwapnaneel Deka, (APS)
Area
 • Total14 km2 (5 sq mi)
Elevation
62.6 m (205.4 ft)
Population
 • Total93,894
 • Density6,700/km2 (17,000/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialAssamese, Bodo, English
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Telephone code03664
Vehicle registrationAS-19, AS-26
Sex ratio961 per 1000 male (Census 2011) ♂/♀
Websitebongaigaon.assam.gov.in

Bongaigaon is a town in the Indian state of Assam. Its urban area spans across Bongaigaon and Chirang district. It also acts as the district headquarters of Bongaigaon district and commercial and industrial hub of the west part of the state of Assam.The New Bongaigaon Junction railway station is the 12th largest railway station in Northeast Frontier Railway zone which is one of the major railway zones in India.

Etymology

According to lore, the name 'Bongaigaon' derives from the words 'bon' (wild) and 'gai' (cow). In the distant past, wild cows were often a menace to villagers in this area, due to which the district got its name.[citation needed]

History

Bijni Kingdom

The area was ruled by zamindars hailing from the Koch belonging to Indo-Mongoloid ethnic group of peoples from the 16th century to the end of princely states in 1956.[citation needed]

Administrative changes under British rule

The original Goalpara district was first created in 1822 by David Scott, an employee of the East India Company and the first Commissioner of newly created North east Rangpur district headquarters at Rangpur town (now in Bangladesh). The newly created Goalpara district was connected with North-east Rangpur district for administration. The area, formerly part of the Bijni Kingdom, which included the undivided Garo Hills district constituted the Undivided Goalpara district area in 1822. In 1866, Garo Hills was separated from the Goalpara district area, and in the same year a new district named "Greater Koch Behar" was created and the remaining portion of Goalpara district was withdrawn from Rangpur and tagged with Koch Behar. In 1874 a new province, the Assam Valley Province, was created by the British government, and Goalpara district area was withdrawn from Koch Behar and tagged with Assam Province, which continues until today. The original Goalpara district is now split into five districts: Goalpara, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigoan, and Chirang.

Creation of Bongaigaon and modern era

On 14 March 1989, bombs from separatist tribal militants[who?] exploded in Bongaigaon, killing 17 and wounding at least 48.[1]

The government of Assam decided in 1989 to create a new district of Bongaigaon, carving out some areas of the Goalpara and Kokrajhar Districts with its headquarters located at Bongaigaon. On 29 September 1989, the creation of Bongaigaon District was declared by the Government of Assam with its headquarters at Bongaigaon. In 2005, the Government of Assam declared Bongaigaon to be a city.

In June 2022, heavy floods in Assam affected the residents of Bongaigaon.[2]

Administration

The Bongaigaon Town Committee was first constituted in the year 1961 and was upgraded to a Municipal Board in the year 1977. Presently the Municipal Area consists of 25 wards covering an area of 14.31 sq m.[citation needed]

Bongaigaon is part of Barpeta (Lok Sabha constituency).[3] Phani Bhusan Choudhury is the current M.L.A. of the Bongaigaon constituency.

Geography

Evening Skyline of Bongaigaon City, Paglasthan

Bongaigaon is located at 26°28′37″N 90°33′30″E / 26.47694°N 90.55833°E / 26.47694; 90.55833.[4] It has an average altitude of 62.6 metres. The town is situated 200 km west of the State Capital and has an important place in the communication network of Assam and wider northeast India. The New Bongaigaon railway station is a major hub connecting Assam with the rest of India. This town is also very well connected by road through the National Highways 31 B and 31C. This connectivity and the strategic location of the town in the region has made it an important center in trade and commerce in Western Assam, serving a vast hinterland. It is one of the biggest industrial towns in Lower Assam. The district is part of the Brahmaputra river's basin.[5][page needed]

Climate

Bongaigaon has a borderline monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) marginally too cool to be a tropical savanna climate (Aw). During the "cool" season from November to February, afternoons are warm to very warm and mornings are cool. In the "hot" season of March and April, the weather becomes hot and thunderstorm rainfalls increase in frequency to prelude the oppressive monsoon season from June to September where heavy rainfall occurs every afternoon.

Demography

Languages spoken in Bongaigaon city (2011)[5][page needed]

  Bengali (35.53%)
  Assamese (24.93%)
  Hindi (13.44%)
  Bodo and Others (26.1%)

On the Bongaigaon city municipal board, Hindus comprise the majority by 90.73%.[citation needed] The majority of the city population works in the service industry.[citation needed]

Bongaigaon city area has a population of 139,650 as per the 2011 census. Bengali is spoken by 49,617 people, Assamese by 34,814, Hindi by 18,768, and 36,448 people speak Bodo and other languages.[6][irrelevant citation]


Transport

Air

The nearest domestic and international airport is Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati.

New Bongaigaon Railway Junction (Front View)

Railways

See also: New Bongaigaon railway station

Bongaigaon falls under the Northeast Frontier Railway zone of the Indian Railways network. There are two stations in Bongaigaon: New Bongaigaon railway station (the second largest railway junction in Assam) and Bongaigaon (old) station. Major trains serving Bongaigaon with major cities are the Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express, Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express, Saraighat Express, Brahmaputra Mail, North-East Express, Guwahati Bangalore Express, Guwahati Ernakulam Express, and Kamrup Express. It is the largest station in Western Assam after Guwahati. According to the 2012 budget, New Bongaigaon Jn. is considered to be the Adarsh Station of India.

Biodiversity Special train name Science Express stands on a platform of New Bongaigaon Railway Junction
Dibrugrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on the platform no.3 of New BNGN Jn. Station

Construction of the 265 km (165 mi) long 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge Siliguri-Jogihopa line, between 1963 and 1965, brought broad gauge railways to Assam. This was also the reason for constructing the New Bongaigaon railway station.[7]

A new railway track from New Bongaigaon to Guwahati was commissioned in 1984.[8]

Saraighat Bridge opened in 1962. It initially carried a metre gauge track, which was later replaced by broad gauge.[9]

Roadways

National Highway 31 connects Bongaigaon with the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. National Highway 37 via Naranarayan Setu from Goalpara in Assam to Dimapur in Nagaland traverses the entire length of Assam and connects Bongaigaon with almost all the major cities of Assam, including Jorhat and Dibrugarh. National Highways 31C and 37 both connect Bongaigaon with Guwahati. There are several bus terminals in the city, providing connections with major cities of Assam such as Basugaon, Mangaldai, Gossaigaon, Dhubri, Barpeta, Tezpur, Goalpara, Abhayapuri, Kokrajhar, Bijni, Siliguri, Cooch Behar and Guwahati.

Infrastructure

See also: Bir Chilarai Flyover, Bongaigaon City
Night view of Bir Chilarai Flyover

In 2010 Bongaigaon city built the Bir Chilarai Flyover, to address the city's busy railway and road traffic, connecting three parts of the city:

  1. New Bongaigaon with the western part of Bongaigaon
  2. The north part of Bongaigaon City with the centre of Bongaigaon
  3. New Bongaigaon with the northern part of Bongaigaon City

Healthcare

There is lot of hospitals in the city, both private and government. Bongaigaon Civil Hospital is the big hospital situated near the city at Majgaon where specialists treated the patients. Also Bongaigaon Medical College and Hospital is another mile stone to be considered for the benefit of the public (now constructed). There are 9 hospitals in Bongaigaon city:

  • S M Hospital
  • Lower Assam Hospital And Research Centre[10][11]
  • Swagat Hospital[12][13][14]
  • Chilarai Nursing Home
  • Arogya Hospital and Research Centre
  • St. Augustine's Hospital[15][16]
  • Bongaigaon Civil Hospital
  • Kajalgaon Civil Hospital
  • New Bongaigaon Railway Hospital[17][18]
  • Bongaigaon Refinery Hospital[19][20]

Education

The number of schools in the city increased more rapidly after the refinery came into operation. They include:

Colleges in the city include:


See also

References

  1. ^ "WORLD : Separatists' Bombs Kill 17 in India". Los Angeles Times. 14 March 1989. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Flood situation 'critical' in India's Assam". ca.news.yahoo.com. 20 June 2022. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  3. ^ "List of Parliamentary & Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Assam. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  4. ^ "Maps, Weather, and Airports for Bongaigaon, India". fallingrain.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b "District Report BONGAIGAON" (PDF). commissioned by Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  6. ^ "DDW-C16-TOWN-STMT-MDDS-1800.XLSX" (XLSX). Archived from the original (XLSX) on 24 July 2018.
  7. ^ Moonis Raza & Yash Aggarwal (1986). Transport Geography of India: Commodity Flow and the Regional Structure of Indian Economy. Concept Publishing Company, A-15/16 Commercial Block, Mohan Garden, New Delhi - 110059. ISBN 81-7022-089-0. Retrieved 12 May 2013. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  8. ^ "IR History: Part V (1970-1990)". www.irfca.org. IRFCA. Archived from the original on 12 December 2004. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  9. ^ Kalita, Kangkan (7 November 2012). "50 years of Saraighat bridge". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Lower Assam Hospital And Research Centre — Bongaigaon". doctoralia.in. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  11. ^ "Lower Assam Hospital". Plus.google.com. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  12. ^ "Swagat Hospital - About - Google+". plus.google.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  13. ^ "Swagat Hospital & Research Centre". swagathospital.com.
  14. ^ "Swagat Hospital BONGAIGAON, Assam". hotfrog.in.
  15. ^ "St. Augustine Hospital — St. John's Rural Mission". stjohnsruralmission.org. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014.
  16. ^ "Bongaigaon branch IMAASB" (PDF). imaasb.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2014.
  17. ^ "New Bongaigaon Railway Hospital". Plus.google.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  18. ^ "New Bongaigaon Railway Hospital". wikimapia.org.
  19. ^ "BRPL Refinery Complex". wikimapia.org.
  20. ^ "The Telegraph - Calcutta : Northeast". telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014.
  21. ^ "BGR HS School, Dhaligaon". in.wowsome.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  22. ^ "DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL DHALIGAON". dpsdhaligaon.com.
  23. ^ "LB ACCADEMY in Bongaigaon, Assam". in.wowsome.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  24. ^ "Borpara LP School". Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  25. ^ "Official portal of Birjhora Mahavidyalaya, Bongaigaon Science College, Bongaigaon,Assam,North East India". birjhoramahavidyalaya.org. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009.
  26. ^ http://www.bongaigaonlawcollege.org[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ "Bongaigaon B.Ed. College". bonbedcollege.org. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  28. ^ "SAI Group of Institutions". Archived from the original on 10 May 2015.
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