PLACES

BADNERA

Badnera, a town in Amravati tahsil lying in 20° 52' N and 77° 46' E., is situated at a distance of nearly 9-65 km. (six miles) to the south of Amravati, about 333.365 metres (1,093 feet) above  sea level. It is an important junction on the Bombay-Nagpur  rail route of the Central Railway, 663 km. (412 miles) from Bombay and about 173.80 km. (108 miles) from Nagpur. A  shuttle train service runs between Badnera and Amravati, the district headquarters. Besides. Badnera is connected with Amravati by a line tar road.

In 1961. the population was 23,840 and there were 5,011 houses. It is stated that the town was prosperous and in a flourishing condition at the close of the 18th century, and its subsequent decadence in the early years of the 19th century is said to be due to an imposition of Rs. 60,000 upon its patel, who was in the service of the Bhosles, which though he himself evaded by flight, was exacted from the inhabitants. Badnera has been able to regain its former prosperity as it is favourably situated for transport and communications.

History.

It is mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari as the headquarters of a  Pargana in the Sarkar of Gavil. It was also known as Badnera Bibi as it formed with Karanja a part of the dowry of Daulat Sah Begam, daughter of Darya Imad Sah of Berar, who was given in marriage to Husain Nizam Sah of Ahmadnagar. Tradition, however, has identified the eponymous Bibi with the heroic Cand Suitana and a small cunam shrine in the fort is dedicated to that lady. The only piece of information locally obtainable about her is that "after her death, her jugir lapsed to the Moghals". From 1741 A.I), to 1772 A.I). Badnera was in the possession of the Nizam. It passed on to the Pesava as a jagir in 1772. In 1817 it was restored to the Nizam. If was plundered by Rajaram Subah in 1822. who partly demolished the fort and the town walls. These were built by Salabat Khan and Bahlol Khan of Ellicpur and the fort though outwardly a mud gadhi was really something more having sub-terranean chambers in it, vaulted with brick, and a house, now ruined, on the summit, the residence of the former Naib Tahsildars. The revenue was divided between the Nizam and the Bhosles in the proportion of 2 to 1.

Descriptions.

The town has been divided into two sections, viz., Juni Basti and Nayi Basil by the railway line running in between. The settlements in the new town are well ventilated whereas those in the old town are suffering from comparative congestion. Badnera is surrounded by a large garden cultivation. It is said that the credit for this goes to one Mahinaji, a former Patel and Caudhari who in 1640 brought gardeners from Jalna at his own expense, dug wells and encouraged wet cultivation. Pan of a good quality and also plantains are grown in considerable quantities. Before the introduction of prohibition opium was successfully grown. To the south and clustered round the railway station is the new town of which the junction with the small railway colony forms the nucleus. The Roman Catholics have a church with a priest in attendance and the Anglican Chaplain also visits the place. A Christian cemetery was. laid out in 1869 at a cost of Rs. 5,834 and close by is the Parsee cemetery. Recently a temple dedicated to Ram was built. There is also a shrine of Ambika Devi, which attracts a fair at the time of Navaratra mahotsava. The attend- ance ranges from 3 to 4 thousand. The town has two muths, viz., Sitarambava math and Kali Kamblivala math, at the latter of which annually an urus is held attended by over 10,000 people. Musairas are arranged on the occasion.

The educational institutions include twelve primary schools, two middle schools and two high schools. There is also a Gujar-athi school. There is a Government conducted civil hospital called the Modi Hospital with ten beds with an outdoor patient ward attached to it receiving an annual grant of Rs. 5,000 from the municipality, a veterinary dispensary managed by the municipality towards which it spends an average annual sum of Rs. 2,500, a maternity home and a remand home of recent construction. Badnera has a post and telegraph office and a police station. The former court house is now occupied by Government book depot and the magistrates' quarters have been made over to the police.

Revenue assessed annually amounts to Rs. 6,426-29. A weekly market is held on Mondays at which all types of vegetables, betel leaves and other local fruits are sold.

Municipality.

Constitution.

The Municipality at Badnera was constituted in 1936. The area under its jurisdiction is 17.02 km² (6.57 square miles). Administration is carried on by the President, who is elected by the councillors from among themselves, with the necessary staff to assist him.

Finance.

In 1962-63 the income of the municipality, excluding that under extraordinary and debt heads was Rs, 3,63,716.00. In the same year the expenditure incurred on various items was Rs. 3,84,904.00. It excluded expenditure incurred due to extraordinary and debt heads.

The following statement gives the income and expenditure figures for the year 1962-63: -

Municipal Works.

The municipality maintains a grain market, a weekly market  and a daily market. It also maintains a small library housed in  its own building. Municipal property includes 10 primary  school buildings. 2 cattle pounds and the municipal ofiice  building.

Health and Sanitation.

For the most part, the town has stone-lined gutters with over 250 cess-pools to collect waste water. The drains were laid out in 1956-57 at a cost of Rs. 50,000. The new quarter has tap water but the old quarter is still dependent on wells for water supply. Municipality arranges inoculation and vaccination in times of emergencies.

Education.

Primary education is compulsory in the town. It is under the management of the municipal committee. In 1961-62, 2,700 pupils were receiving primary education. During the same year there were 78 teachers on the staff.

Roads.

The roads within the municipal limits are all metalled, the total  length being 8.851 km. (5^l/2 miles).

Cremation and Burial grounds.

Two cremation and burial places are maintained by the municipality for Hindus. The Muslims and Parsees maintain their own grounds.

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