The Gazetteers Department

Murtizapur, the headquarters of the tahsil bearing the same name is situated at a distance of 24 miles by rail and 28 miles by road from Akola, the district headquarters. Another railway station known as Murtizapur town is situated on the Achalpur-Yeotmal branch line. The population of the town of Murtizapur according to the Census of 1971 was 23141 souls. The town is said to have derived its name from Murtiza Ali, a naib of some centuries ago.

At the time of the publication of the old Akola District Gazetteer in 1910, a village nearly a mile south-east of the railway station was also known as Murtizapur for revenue and census purposes. The settlement known as Mubarakpur had been formed immediately south of the line, lying across the Murtizapur road, but the land on which it was built belonged to the village of Sirso, two miles to the north on the Daryapur road of which Mubarakpur was treated as a part. Now the station area is also included in the town of Murtizapur and Mubarakpur now forms the part of the town.

The wide open spaces east of Murtizapur are. now partially occupied by residential buildings: These areas are known as Palhanpura, Dhorpura and Khadakpura.

The old Akola District Gazetteer mentions that in the town were the remains of a killa, fort, belonging to Government, where at one time were stationed 200 Arabs. However, at present, no trace of the old fort remains and the ground covered by the fort is now occupied by the municipal office building, a primary school and a mosque known as the killa masjid.

Being the headquarters of the tahsil, it has the offices of the Tahsildar, Block Development Officer, besides the court of the Civil Judge, Junior Division and a police station. The cotton and agriculture produce market committee was established at Murtizapur in 1899, the commodities regulated being cotton, groundnut and all other food grains. A Government rest-house is also located at Murtizapur. It has a sub-post office and a telegraph office, and telephone facilities too. There are at Murtizapur the offices of file Akola Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., and the New Citizen Bank of India, subsequently merged into the Bank of Sangli.

The medical facilities to the town populace are provided by Smt. Laxmibai Deshmukh Hospital and two dispensaries, one conducted by the railways and the other conducted by the municipality. Eight primary schools, two conducted by the Zilla Parishad and 6 conducted by the municipality and the Murtizapur High School, Shri Gadge Maharaj Vidyalaya, the Government Indian English Middle School, the Municipal Adarsh Hindi Vidyalaya and the Municipal Girl's Indian-English Middle school cater to the educational needs of the town populace. The Gadge Maharaj College of Arts and Commerce caters to the need of higher education.

The municipal council was established at Murtizapur in 1915 and it covers an area of three square kilometres. It is now governed under the Maharashtra Municipalities Act, 1965. The municipal council is composed of 20 members. 19 elected and one co-opted. Of the elected seats, two are reserved for women while no seat is reserved either for the scheduled castes or for the scheduled tribes. The Chief Officer is the administrative head of the municipality.

During the year 1968-09 [In 1973-74. the income and expenditure was Rs. 10,67,000 and Rs 10,46,000, respectively.] the total income of the municipality excluding the extraordinary and debt heads amounted to Rs. 5,93,008 while the total expenditure came to Rs. 5,83,944. Under the extraordinary and debt heads the municipal income, was placed at Rs., 40,200 while the expenditure under the same was Rs. 39.005.

Two weekly markets are held in the town, one on every Tuesday and the oilier on every Friday. Besides household goods and sundry provisions, cattle are also bought and also sold on every Friday. Of the two libraries in the town, one is maintained by the municipality, while the other is maintained by the railway authorities. the municipality maintains one civil dispensary in the town. The veterinary dispensary is also maintained by the municipality,. Attached to the veterinary dispensary is an artificial insemination centre. The underground drainage system has not yet been introduced in the town which has only a surface drainage. Wells form the main source of water supply and at limes acute scarcity of water is felt. Primary education has been made compulsory in the town and it is managed by the Zilla Parishad as also the municipality. The municipality on an average spends about Rs. 20,000 towards the same. The total length of roads in the municipal limit measures 22 kilometres of which a length of 3 km. is asphalted, 2 km. metalled and 17 km. unmetalled. Two parks are maintained by the municipality, The municipality maintains one cremation ground am, two burial places each for Muhammedans and Christians.

Objects of Interest: There are no objects of interest of any consequence in the town. However, the temple of Trimbakesnvara Mahadeva is of some interest. It was built by one Bansilai Gafurchand. In the temple is also a shrine dedicated to Rama where the Ram navami is celebrated by the local people. The old Akola District Gazetteer mentions that a mosque was rebuilt at that tune and it was well-roofed with tiles from Bombay.

TOP