Barwani

June 19th, 2009 |

Author: admin

Barwani , also known as Badwani or Siddh Nagar, is a city and a municipality in Barwani District in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The town is situated near the left bank of the Narmada River, and is the administrative seat of Barwani District and formerly served as the capital of the former princely state of Barwani. It can be reached by road only. Nearest airport and railway station is located at Indore, which is 150 KM from Barwani. Bawangaja, the Jain pilgrimage place, is 8 km from Barwani.

History

Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Barwani was formerly the capital of the eponymous princely state. The rulers, whose title was Rana, were Rajputs of the Sesodia clan, descended from the ruling dynasty of Udaipur. Although the state lost most of its territory during the Maratha invasion in the 17th century, it never became tributary to any Maratha chief. Under the British Raj, Barwani was a state of the Bhopawar agency, a division of the Central India Agency. The state lay in the Satpura Range south of the Narmada River. It had an area of 3051 km² (1178 square miles) and a population, in 1901, of 76,136. The inhabitants were predominantly Bhil tribals. The forests were under a British official. After India’s independence in 1947, the Rana of Barwani acceded to India, and Barwani became part of the Nimar District of Madhya Bharat state. Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 1956. ^[1]

Geography

Rajghat, Barwani

Barwani is located at 22°02′N 74°54′E / 22.03°N 74.9°E / 22.03; 74.9^[2]. It has an average elevation of 178 metres (583 feet). The great Narmada River flows through Barwani (just 5 km from city). The temperature of Barwani in April and May goes as high as 48′C, making it the hottest place in India.

Barwani is surrounded by the great hills of Satpura and in the raining days it becomes one of the most beautiful places in central India. The city is also called the Paris of Nimar. The Nimar region is split into East and West Nimar. Nimar, in local terms, means “area beyond the Neem Trees”. Barwani lies in West Nimar.

The annual rainfall of Barwani is around 15 inches, though since 2006, it has increased a lot. Barwani is famous for its Papitas and Bawangaja (a Jain holy place 8 KM from Barwani).

Transportation infrastructure

The city is not well connected via rail, and air transport services. however, has good connectivity via roads.

Barwani at night

Airport

The nearest airport is Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport Indore, which is 150 KM from Barwani, provides connectivity to Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Raipur and Nagpur in India with major airlines operating on these routes.

Railways

Barwani has Western Railway Reservation Counter (Ratlam Mandal) at Ambedker Park on Rajghat Road. The nearest railway station is situated at Indore, which is one of the major commercial railway station of western railway. Another nearer railway station is Khandwa on the Central Railway, which is 180 km from Barwani via State highway No 26. On the Western Railway, Ratlam, Dahod and Meghnagar are closer though not well connected by road.

Roads

Barwani is fairly well connected to other parts of Madhya Pradesh and India with national and state highways. although no national highway passes through. The city is connected to the Agra-Bombay national highway no.3 by Khandwa-Baroda interstate highway no.26 at the distance of 45 KM at Julwaniya. There are bus services to and from all of the major and minor cities near Barwani, including Indore, Khandwa, Ujjain, Dewas, Dhar, Ratlam, Khargone, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Baroda.

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census^[3], Barwani had a population of 73,222. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Barwani has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 57% of the males and 43% of females literate. 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

Banks

Most of the nationalized banks have their branches in Barwani. Prominent ones are State Bank of India, State Bank of Indore, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Central Bank of India and Dena Bank.

ATMs

Currently Barwani has 6 ATMs. Which includes 3 SBI ATMs at MG Road, Club Road and Anjad Naka, 2 ICICI ATMs at MG Road and Rajghat Road, 1 CBI ATM at Club Road.

Health Care

Barwani is prominent in Nimar and Malwa regions for its health care facilities with a District hospital and many other hospitals. Which includes District Hospital, Mahamartunjaya Hospital, Asha Gram Trust, Saraswati Eye Hospital and the Samraddhi child care hospital with its well equipped Neonatal intensive care unit. Barwani District Hospital is one of the oldest hospitals in central India.