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PLACES
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GONDIA
Gondia, situated in latitude 21° 28' north and longitude 80° 13' east, on the Bombay-Nagpur-Howrah trunk line, is the headquarters of the tahsil of the same name. The tahsil, with its headquarters at Tirora, was previously known as Tirora tahsil but came to be known as Gondia tahsil with the shifting of the headquarters to Gondia in 1914. Gondia is the railway junction for the line running towards its north to Jabbalpur across the Satpuda plateau, and to Brahmapuri and Chanda southwards. By rail it is 81 miles from Nagpur and 601 from Bombay. It is the fifth railway station from Bhandara Road lying 42 miles east of it, and is also connected with the Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta national highway by a branch road which forks off at Sadak Arjuni. A new road has recently been constructed linking Tumsar and Tirora with Gondia. The district is included in the Chanda postal division. The head post office is situated at Gondia there being two telegraph offices at Gondia and Gondia Bazar, respectively. There is a telephone exchange too. Gondia, which was no more than a village in 1901 with a population of 4,457, has rapidly grown into a prosperous and populous municipal town. Its population stood at 77,992 in 1971. There is hardly any town in the district to rival Gondia in commercial activity. The railway has been primarily responsible for the speedy growth and prosperity of the place. It is one of the two leading goods stations in Bhandara receiving the produce of the surrounding area of Bhandara and of the lowlands of the adjoining Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. The town has a considerable trade in grain and forest produce. It is a wholesale centre for the collection and distribution of agricultural produce, there being a regulated market provided with all the essential amenities and facilities. Many a Cutchi, Marvadi and Gujarathi trader and Kirar and Sindhi petty dealers reside here. A large weekly market is held on Tuesdays at which all kinds of articles such as food grains, pulses, chillis, spices, gur, oils, fruits and vegetables are brought for sale. Pedlars and hawkers set-up temporary booths. The local traders and shop-keepers also set up temporary stalls. Buyers within a radius of eight to ten miles frequent this weekly market. Since tendu leaves grow in abundance in the forests of the region there are some large scale factories engaged in the manufacture as well as sorting and packing of bidis for export. Manufacture of shallac, seedlac, kirilac etc., from crude lac is localised at Gondia. This is an important industry as the forests in the vicinity yield lac in abundance. A fine Litho Works undertakes lithographic printing affording employment to over 200 workers. Tumblers chimneys and other glass-ware are also manufactured. The town has also a bone mill, besides saw mills, and rice and flour mills. Gondia being an important commercial centre leads in banking activities and has more than half of the 13 banking institutions in the district, both scheduled and non-scheduled. It has two branches of the Central Co-operative Bank. There is also a branch of the State Bank which works for the treasury too.
"The town stands close to the railway station and is well laid out with two main roads. The greater part of it is situated on Government land and the rents of this are credited to a fund for sanitary purposes which are supplemented by a house-tax. The receipts of the fund are about Rs. 2,000 annually. Considerable progress had been made with a drainage scheme. Gondia is a notified area under the Municipal Act. The total area of Gondia village is 1,430 acres of which 150 are nazul or Government land [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Bhandara District, 1908 edition, p. 204.]." The town has since considerably expanded and is laid out with some fine roads.
Municipality.—Gondia was constituted a municipality in 1919 [District Census Handbook, Bhandara, 1961, p. 4; The Gondia Municipality has
however, given the year as 1921.]. Its jurisdiction, extends over an area of seven square miles. Thirtyfour members compose the municipal committee.
Income and Expenditure : Municipal receipts derived from various sources such as municipal rates and taxes, property and powers apart from taxation, realisations under special acts and grants for special and general purposes were Rs. 25,31,591 in 1968-69. Expenditure incurred on general administration and collection of taxes, public health, public safety, convenience and public instruction etc., stood at Rs. 25,07,042 during the same year. Income and expenditure on account of extra-ordinary and debt heads amounted to Rs. 14,432 and Rs. 16,364, respectively.
Medical Aid, Water Supply and Drainage: The town has mostly Government conducted Medical Institutions affording adequate medical treatment. Gondia is one of the tahsils having a large number of lepers. A survey, education and treatment leprosy unit has therefore been maintained here. For T. B. patients a T. B. hospital with 50 beds, an X-ray plant and other modern equipment, was opened in 1957-58. Besides, there are B. G. Women's hospital and the K. T. S. hospital including a family planning centre and an ayurvedic dispensary. In 1968-69 the municipality spent Rs. 7,220 on account of the veterinary dispensary of the town. Measures for malaria eradication and the control of epidemic diseases like cholera and small-pox are taken from time to time. Gondia still depends on wells for water supply. A water-works estimated to cost Rs. 57,00,000 would, however, soon provide this prosperous town with tap-water. Although the drainage system consists of open stone-lined surface gutters, care is taken to keep the town sanitarily clean.
Education : There are primary schools imparting education in Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Hindi and three balak mandirs. In addition to middle schools the town has one municipal higher secondary school and others conducted privately. The Natvarlal Maniklal College has the faculties of Arts and Commerce. An Industrial Training Institute trains students in the courses of electrician, fitter, turner, welder and carpenter. Training is also
provided in certain technical courses by the Government Technical High School. A non-government institute imparts training in minor trades like tailoring and cutting. The town has also library facilities made available both by government and private institutions.
A fairly well-equipped fire brigade is maintained by the municipality. It has also provided markets for vegetables, fish, mutton and beef. Of the two gardens, the one known as Subhash Garden is maintained by the municipality. Gondia has a temple in honour of Ram and had a station of the Methodist Episcopal Mission.
Gondia is the headquarters of a sub-division, and has the tahsil, office, panchayat samiti, civil and criminal courts, police station, a sub-registration office and various other government establishments. There is also a S. T. bus stand and a rest house. |
