बिलासपुर शहर - एक झलक
Bilaspur City - An Overview
Bilaspur City
Population:
3.30 Lacs
Local Adminstration:
Nagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation)
Mayor:
Smt. Vani Rao - Elected on 23-Dec-2009 (Results on 27-Dec-2009)
Bilaspur City, the district headquarter of
Bilaspur District,
is the largest urban center (town/city) of the region.
Bilaspur is the second largest city of Chhattisgarh state. Situated on the banks
of River Arpa, Bilaspur is 114 kms from state's capital towards the north-east.
Chhattisgarh High Court was is setup in Bilaspur simultaneously on 1st November 2000 when the Chhattisgarh State was constituted, by viritue of which Bilaspur is also referred to as Nayaydhani (न्यायधानी -
"legal" capital) of Chhattisgarh State.
Bilaspur City Bus Ltd. provides the city bus service.
The local administration body of the city is Bilaspur Nagar Nigam - Bilaspur Municipal
Corporation. Bilaspur has 53 wards. Each ward elects a corporator for a
tenure of 5 years.
Click here for a
list of the corporators
of Bilaspur Nagar Nigam.
Brief History of Bilaspur
Bilaspur has a history of about 400 odd years. It has been named after a beautiful fisherwoman Bilasa.
Bilasa - the fisherwoman after whom the city got its name.
According to the legend,
in those days
Ratanpur was the capital of the local kingdom
and the modern day Bilaspur used to be a small settlement on the banks of River
Arpa.
According to one tale, the king had taken fancy for Bilasa a young beautiful
fisherwoman during a trip in this part of his kingdom.
Bilasa refused
to surrender to the wishes of the king and burnt herself alive. From then on the
king would refer to this place as
Bilasa ki nagari (बिलासा की नगरी), the name stuck and later
on became Bilaspur.
Another tale, though far less accepted speaks about a revolt by fishermen of the region under the leadership
of Bilasa. The revolt was crushed by the king and Bilasa was killed.
The foundation for modern Bilaspur city as we know it today, was laid in late 19th century when the Bengal
Nagpur Railway was being constructed.
This place on the banks of River Arpa was selected as a major station
and became
one of the divisional headquarters.
Economy
The economy of the region has traditionally been agriculture based. The region is one of the top producers of paddy. So much so that it is often referred
to as the "
धान का कटोरा Dhaan
Ka Katora" (bowl of rice).
With exploitation of the vast mineral reserves that have been found in the region, mining and its
associated industries have gained prominenence as an important economic activity.
Most of the industrial and commercial activities of the region revolve around the
wide variety of mineral resources that are available in abundance in the vicinity
of Bilaspur.
Bilaspur is the headquarters of
South Eastern Coalfields Ltd.
(
SECL), Coal India's highest revenue earner.
South East Central Railway (
SECR), which
is the largest revenue
earning zone of the country, is located at Bilaspur.
National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (
NTPC) is preparing to commence operations
at its Super Thermal power project which on
maturity will deliver about 2400 MW of electric power to the national power grid.
Many companies big and small have there manufacturing / production units in and around Bilaspur. Companies in thermal power, aluminum, cement, sponge iron sectors
etc. are located here and are doing good.
The anciliary, allied and support industries have also bloomed and flourished in
the quest to meet the requirements of the changing times.
Bilaspur became a popular destination on the medical tourism map when SECL conceived
and constructed an ultra modern 250 bed hospital and handed it for management to
Apollo Hospital.
Apollo Hospital Bilaspur is a multi-speciality
health facility located at Lingyadih.
The health infrastructure of Bilaspur also includes Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical
Sciences and New Horizon Dental College and Research Institute.
Education
The higher education infrastructure of Bilaspur revolves around
Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyala, which offers
a variety of degree and diploma courses through its teaching departments and affiliated
colleges.
Bilaspur has several University Teaching Departmetns and about 125 colleges affiliated to the university including those offering
courses in Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy.
Students come to Bilaspur from the surrounding places to take up education in almost all the fields of study.
Bilaspur has its own standing as a hub for
coaching centers. These institutes
are working to prepare the young aspirants for the competitve examinations that
are conducted at the state and national levels.
