Haldwani

Ironworks in Kaladhungi at the turn of 1862/1863.

In 1816, after the British defeated Gorkhas, and gained control of Kumaon by the Treaty of Sugauli, Gardner was appointed the Commissioner of Kumaon. Later George William Traill took over as Commissioner and renamed Halduvani as Haldwani in 1834.[4] Though British records suggest that the place was established in 1834, as a mart for hill people who visited the Bhabhar (Himalayan foothills) region, during the cold season.[7] The township, formerly located in Mota Haldu, had only thatched houses. Brick-houses began to be built only after 1850. The first English middle school was established in 1831.

During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Haldwani was briefly seized by the rebels of Rohilkhand,[8]^:19 soon martial law was declared in the region by Sir Henry Ramsay (the Commissioner of Kumaon), and by 1858, the region was cleared of the rebels.[5][9] The Rohillas, who were accused of attacking Haldwani, were hanged by the British at Phansi Gadhera in Nainital.[10] Later, Ramsay connected Nainital with Kathgodam by road in 1882. In 1883–84, the railway track was laid between Bareilly and Kathgodam. The first train arrived at Haldwani from Lucknow on 24 April 1884.[11]^:38[12]

Before the formation of Nainital district in 1891, it was part of the Kumaon district, which was later renamed Almora district.[13] The Town Act was implemented here in 1885 and Haldwani was declared a municipality on 1 February 1897. The Tehsil office was opened here in 1899, when it became the tehsil headquarters of the Bhabhar, one of four divisions of the Nainital district,[5] and included 4 towns and 511 villages; and had a combined population of 93,445 (1901), spread over 1,279 sq. miles.[14]

Haldwani as a part of the United Province, 1907–1909

In 1901, with a population of 6,624, Haldwani was the headquarters of the Bhabhar region of Nainital District, in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, and it also used to become the winter headquarters of the officers of the Kumaon Division and the Nainital District.[7] The Arya Samaj Bhavan was built in 1901 and Sanatan Dharm Sabha in 1902.[11]^:38 The Municipality of Haldwani was disestablished in 1904, and Haldwani was constituted as a Notified area.[11]^:38 The first Hospital of the city was opened in 1912.[15]^:183

Haldwani hosted the second session of the Kumaon Parishad in 1918.[8]^:23[15]^:252 Protests against the Rowlatt Act and for Coolie-Begar Abolition were held all over the city in 1920 under the leadership of Pt. Tara Datt Gairola Raibahadur.[8]^:23[16] Many processions were carried out in the city between 1930 and 1934 during the Civil disobedience movement.[16] In 1940, at the Haldwani conference, Badri Datt Pandey voiced for granting special status to the mountainous regions of Kumaon in the United Provinces, thus, giving a way to the future Uttarakhand movement.

Haldwani was a mid-sized town, with a population of about 25,000, in 1947, when India became Independent from the British Rule. Haldwani became a part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city was electrified in 1950.[17] The 2nd battalion of the Naga Regiment, affectionately known as Head Hunters, was raised at Haldwani on 11 February 1985.[18] Haldwani played a major role in the Uttarakhand movement. The town was spearheading the agitation, which often ended up in violence and also in police firing and brutality.[19]

Forty human skeletons and 300 'grave-like structures' were discovered in Haldwani's Golapar area on 9 May 2017 during the construction of the Haldwani ISBT.[20] The skeletons were speculated to be the remains of the Rohilla chieftains from Bareilly who fought against the British in 1857 and were killed by the British army or of those who died of epidemics, malaria or famine.[21] However, forensic tests later revealed the skeletons to be only two years old.[22]

Gaula River flowing through Haldwani.

Haldwani-Kathgodam area as seen from Bhimtal-Haldwani Road.

Haldwani is located at 29.22°N 79.52°E / 29.22; 79.52,[23] in the Nainital district on the right bank of the Gaula River. Geologically, Haldwani is settled on a piedmont grade (called Bhabhar) where the mountain rivers go underground to re-emerge in the Indo-Gangetic plain. The Haldwani Bhabhar stretches horizontally, surrounded by the regions of Ramnagar and Tanakpur and lies between the Shivalik hills to the north and the Terai region of Rudrapur to the south. The average land elevation is 424 m (1,391 ft) above sea level.[24] According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, haldwani falls under seismic zone 4, in a scale of 2 to 5 (in order of increasing vulnerability to earthquakes).[25][26]^:27

The city has an area of 44.11 km² (17.03 sq mi), including both flat and hilly ground, and is in the Indian Standard Time Zone (UTC−5:30).[1] When Haldwani was founded in 1837, most of the early buildings were around Mota Haldu. The city gradually developed northwards towards the present Bazaar and Railway Station. The city had in the past seen haphazard development due to the absence of a development authority.[27] Dozens of colonies were set up in the early 2000s without any regulation with narrow roads, making commuting a nightmare.[27] The city ranked 395 in the Swachh Survekshan 2017, out of 434 cities, with a total score of 557.[28][29]

Haldwani is the principal city in the Haldwani Urban Agglomeration Area, situated in the southeastern part of Uttarakhand, in the Kumaon region. Apart from the towns of Haldwani and Kathgodam, the Urban Agglomeration of Haldwani also includes eleven outgrowths (judge farm, Damua Dhunga Bandobasti, Byura, Bamori Talli Bandobasti, Amrawati Colony, Shakti Vihar, Bhatt Colony, Manpur Uttar, Haripur Sukha, Gaujajali Uttar, Kusumkhera, Bithoria No. 1, Korta, Bamori Malli and Bamori Talli Kham) and two census towns (Mukhani and Haldwani Talli).[30]

Haldwani is also a tehsil, one of the eight subdivisions of the Nainital district.[31] The tehsil of Haldwani is situated in the southern part of the Nainital district and shares its borders with the tehsils of Nainital, Kaladhungi, Lalkuan and Dhari tehsils in Nainital district; Gadarpur, Kiccha and Sitarganj in Udham Singh Nagar district and the tehsil of Poornagiri in Champawat district. The tehsil comprises four towns and 202 villages.[32]

Haldwani is a municipal corporation governed by a mayor–council system. The municipal area is divided into 60 territorial constituencies known as wards. The Municipal Corporation is made up of a Wards Committee, where each ward has one seat. Members, known as Councillors, are elected to the Wards Committee on the basis of adult franchise for a term of five years, as provisioned by the 74th Amendment of the Indian Constitution relating to urban local governments.[39] The 'Nagar Nigam Haldwani' is a unicameral legislative body, comprising sixty Councillors, and the Mayor. In addition to the elected Councillors, the committee also includes fifteen councillors nominated by the state government and four additional members; the three MLAs and MP from the city.

The Town Act was implemented in Haldwani in 1885 after which, it was declared a municipality on 1 February 1897. The Municipality of Haldwani was soon disestablished and Haldwani was constituted as a 'notified area' in 1904.[7] In 1907, it got the status of town area.[40] The Haldwani-Kathgodam Municipal Council was established on 21 September 1942, and was upgraded to a Municipal corporation on 21 May 2011.[41] Currently it is the third largest Municipal Corporation in the state of Uttarakhand after Dehradun and Haridwar

The city is represented in the Lok Sabha by a representative elected from the Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar Constituency. Bhagat Singh Koshyari, from BJP, is the current Member of Parliament from Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar.[42] He won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections by 284,000 votes against K.C. Singh Baba from the Congress, . The Current MLA and Leader of Opposition is the very Senior Legislature Dr Indira Hridayesh who is widely acknowledged to have developed the face of modern Haldwani which she has represented 3 times since the formation of Uttrakhand .at.[42] Generally considered a Congress Stronghold, the Congress has registered a victory from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar eight times since 1951.[43] While BJP won this seat two times, other political parties had managed three victories.[43] The city elects three members to the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, from the 'Haldwani Vidhansabha constituency' comprising wards no 1 to 40, 'Kaladhungi Vidhan Sabha Constituency' (partially) comprising wards no 41 to 55 and 'Lalkuan' Vidhan Sabha constituency (Partially) comprising wards no 56 to 60. http://newstodaynetwork.com/nagar-nigam-haldwani/

NH 109 cuts through Haldwani; other major roads are the Bareilly-Bageshwar highway,[45][46] Rampur Road, Haldwani-Kaladhungi–Ramnagar Road and the Kathgodam-Sitarganj Road. Haldwani is well connected to the country's capital Delhi via buses run by Uttarakhand Transport Corporation. All the buses leave from the Haldwani Bus Station for Delhi's Anand Vihar ISBT. The connectivity to state capital Dehradun is also good. There are a number of buses for Dehradun-Haldwani route. Apart from Delhi and Dehradun, regular buses are available for several hill cities like Nainital, Almora, Ranikhet, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh.

A new ISBT is under construction in the Gaulapar region. The ISBT would be spread over 8 Acres,[47] and has been termed the 'Largest ISBT in north India' by The Times of India.[48] The foundation stone was laid in 2016.[49] The construction work started in 2014, but was halted in May 2017, when a large number of human skeletons were discovered at the construction site by workers.[50][51][52][53][54][55][56]

13019 Howrah – Kathgodam Bagh Express at Haldwani.

There are direct rail links to many parts both in and outside the state to all major junctions. All trains start from Kathgodam which is a terminal of North Eastern Railway's Izzatnagar Division and then reach Haldwani and proceed towards Lalkuan Junction. In 1883–84, the railway track was laid between Bareilly and Kathgodam. The first train arrived at Haldwani from Lucknow on 24 April 1884.[12] Later, the railway line was extended to Kathgodam. Indian Railways is planning shorter rail track via Ramnagar–Kotdwar–Haridwar instead of the present track via Rampur–Moradabad.

The air gateway to Haldwani is the Pantnagar Airport located at Pantnagar, which is about 28 km (17 mi) south of Haldwani city, and handles the domestic flights. The Pantnagar Airport provides direct connectivity to New Delhi, the Capital of India.[57] Government has approved Hindon Airport to operate as civil Terminal. From October 2019 people of Uttarakhand can fly to Pithoragarh from Hindon Airport located in Ghaziabad. Hindon Airport is only 4 km away from East Delhi. The new civil terminal is proposed to operate flights to eight routes, including Nasik, Pithoragarh, Kannur, Hubli, Faizabad, Shimla, Jamnagar and Kalaburgi.