Katras

An hour drive from district headquarters Dhanbad, Katras is a place where people from various religions and communities live together. Katras comes under Dhanbad municipal corporation and it is very popular for its Durga puja celebration. It is located on the bank of river Katri and is surrounded by coal mines. Lilori temple is the most important point of interest in Katras. The chief source of income is primarily from the coal mines of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), headquartered in Dhanbad City. However, incomes from BCCL has always been limited and new sources of income have not evolved fairly, residents of Katras have begun to migrate to other cities for reasons such as job, higher studies and so on. The students of Katras mainly migrates as there isnt any educational excellence present in Katras.It is well connected via railways and roads. Nearest functional airport is in Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand. As per the reports says,Katras will soon be getting a functional airport at its nearby city, Bokaro Steel City.Few years back, the city suffered the loss of its railway connectivity, as the senior of Coal India Limited came out with the reports of Coal Under the Rail Tracks. The Railways again came to function after a strike of about 700 days, the longest ever supported by many political leaders of the area.Qamar Takhyan, a well known novelist of Urdu and English also lives here. His novel The Heart of Amber was published in England, USA and in India in October 2014.

Katras is named after river "Katri", which flows by Katras. It is believed that people have been living in Katras for more than 200 years. And later around 1900 AD many migrants from Bihar came and settled here, as Bihar was suffering from a severe famine. Many coal mines were founded in Katras under British Rule. New Railway route from Asansol to Ranchi via Dhanbad and Katras was created in 1894 and Katras Railway station was founded around 1900 (later it was re-established in 1953 and came to be known as Katrasgarh).

In 2011 India census,[8] Katras had a population of 51,182. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Katras has an average literacy rate of 84%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 87%, and female literacy is 76%. In Katras, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

The chief source of income is BCCL, the coal company. It employs a large number of people.

Collieries functioning in the Katras Area of BCCL are: Salanpur, Angarpathar, Keshalpur, Ramkanali, Ramkanali OC, West Mudidih, Gazlitand, Keshalpur OC, Katras Chot and East Katras.[12]

Agriculture is under-developed. The farm size is tiny and ancient tools are used. BCCL is now retrenching and closing its mines because of the depletion of the coal in the mines. The new professions which have emerged in the area are Coal-theft[13] and Dalali (Agent-ship). So in the early morning you would find hundreds of cycle-wallah carrying coal illegally to the Nischitpur Railway Halt, from where it would be carried to Gaya and other areas by Passenger trains(sic). In fact some times passengers would not be allowed to board the train so that more of the coal could be carried. Administration- both local and railway maintains a deathly silence. Railway Police people can be seen to take money from coal-thieves as their cut. Dalali is an important vocation here with increasing number of people taking to it. Mind you this is not honest. What they do is, in connivance with the local administration charge money from the public for all govt. services. You would end coughing-up several times the actual amount for getting any service. So there are Dalals of local Police Station, of Block development office, of SDM's office, of DM's office. If one goes otherwise than through Dalals, the work would be completed in such a long time that one would start feeling that perhaps the whole system is dead and this when one has made many rounds of the office.

The main reason for emergence of such vacations is the lack of employment opportunities. People either migrate outside the state or open some retail shop or start coal-theft or Dalali. Now because of the lack of any other source of money in the area most of the newly opened retail shops fail miserably. Though Lilori Temple economy provides employment to some people, even there some people have captured Public infrastructure illegally and charge money from visitors for using them.

The economy is crumbling and unless some new source of income is provided the day is not far when it would be counted as sub-Saharan area.

Once a bustling market, now shops remain empty most of the time. There are many cloth merchants ranging from Retailers to wholesalers. There are many hard coke plants as well. Apart from these there is a Rajhans Refactories providing employment to over 2500 people. During Durgapuja festival and Lagan (marriage season) retail market gets some impetus but until new source of employment emerges, it will remain a town in slumber. Recently some private insurance companies have opened their offices.

Railways in Jharia Coalfield
km km Barkakana–Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh line to Barkakana 0 Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh–Hatia line to Bokaro 0 Asansol–Gaya section to Gaya 50 0 N.S.C Bose Gomoh Chandrapura 34 17 5 Kochargara Chandrapura TPS 9 Telo Patrakulhi Colliery Dugda Halt 30 44 Khario Halt Dugda Coal Washery KKC main siding Dhanbad-Chandrapura line 39 Khanudih Jamunia River KKC link siding Jamuniatanr Halt 27 37 Benidih Jamuni Halt 24 22 Phulwartanr Adra-Gomoh line 21 Budora Halt Tundu Colliery Jamuniatand 38 18 Tundu Halt Kharkhari 35 24 Ramakunda Halt Mucheraidih 32 Malkera–Kharkhari defunct loop line Mahuda Junction 30 20 Matari Murulidih Colliery 17 Sonardih Halt Asansol–Tatanagar– Kharagpur line to Talgaria 0 15 Nichitpur Moonidih Colliery 14 Tentulia Malkera 24 Dhanbad–Chandrapura line Malkera-Katrasgarh defunct colliery line Katrasgarh 13 Salanpur Colliery Angarpathra Halt 11 Sijua 10 Dhanbad–Gomoh line Bansjora 08 Baseria Halt 06 9 Tetulmari Kendua Colliery Kusunda 04 4 Bhuli Block Hut Dhanbad–Jharia line former diamond crossing Kusunda–Jharia branch line (dismantled) 0 Dhanbad Adra–Gomoh line 5 Dokra Halt Madhupur–Giridih–Koderma line to New Giridih (under construction)   9 Pradhankhunta Junction TSBD Colliery Asansol–Gaya section to Asansol Tata Sijua 20 Kankanee Colliery Pradhankhunta–Pathardih line Layabad 18 14 Rakshitpur Layabad Coking plant Dhanbad–Jharia–Pathardih line (dismantled) K.S.T. siding 2 Dhansar Halt Karkend 16 4 Bastakulha Halt Pootkee Colliery 6 Nayakanali Halt Bhaga Goods Shed 7 Jharia Bhaga 10 8 Kujama Halt Ballihari Colliery 9 Lodna Jitpur Colliery 10 Bagdigi Halt 11 Barari Bazar Halt Jamadoba Halt 07 Barari Colliery C.K. Siding JBO Washery Patherdih–Rakshitpur loop under construction Mohalboni 06 22 Sindri Block Hut 14 Patherdih Bazar Bhowrah 04 16 3 Patherdih Junction Pathardih Washery Sudamdih Washery Chasnalla Colliery 25 Sindri Marshalling Yard Sudamdih 00 27 Sindri Town Asansol–Tatanagar– Kharagpur line to Bhojudih 0 Sindri FCI siding km km
Sources: [14] [15]

Buses are main mode of travel, along with automobiles, trackers and tongas.

There were three railway stations: Katrasgarh, Nichitpur and Tetulmari. Katrasgarh uptill 15 June 2017 and Tetulmari have express line stops, while Nichitpur is just a halt station. Katrasgarh was also on a loop line and extincted because of fragile underground. Due to closure of Dhanbad - Chandrapura Rail line a huge population has lost connectivity from the entire world, moreover the road connecting Katras to Dhanbad is facing danger of being closed and will be closed soon.

Park Lilori Park- wall without base

Katras College was established at Katras Bazar in 1964. Affiliated with the Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University, it offers courses in arts, science and commerce.[16][17]

• Holy Mother's Academy. Affiliated with CBSE Board. Play-XII
• De Nobili School, Sijua. Affiliated with ICSE Board. Class I-XII
• Saraswati Shishu Mandir. Affiliated with CBSE Board. K-XII
• Delhi Public School.
• Katras Public School.
• School of Daffodils. Class-Nursery to V
• Competition Public School.
• DAV High School. Jharkhand State Education Board.
• DAV Middle School. Jharkhand State Education Board.
• DAV Mahila Maha Vidyalaya. Jharkhand State Education Board.
• G. N. M. High School Jharkhand State Education Board. This is the oldest secondary school in katrasgarh and produced lot of talented students who later joined IITs,ISM,NITs,Medical etc and holding high positions.The football team of this school once reached Subrato Cup state final in undivided Bihar.
• Kako Hill School ICSE Board. Lkg-X. (one of the oldest school situated on Rajganj-Katras road near Maheshpur and Kanko)
• Sarvoday public school Dhangi katras.

Katras is known for its Durga Puja along with Holi, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr. There are many much fun-fare organized for each festival. The Katras Hatia is a local village market that runs every Sunday.[18]

Lilori Temple

Road to Lilori Temple

Lilori Temple Park

Located 5 km from the city center, Lillori Sthan Mandir (Lilori Temple) is an old temple of Goddess Lilori, family deity of local landlord (Raja), who is nowadays considered an incarnation of Goddess Kali.[19] Goddess Lilori, typical to Bengal and neighboring area, is non-vegetarian and daily hundreds of animals are sacrificed on her altar.

The temple is one of the few natural picnic spots in the area, even though tree felling and government neglect has ruined much of the greenery. It also attracts thousands of people daily in the summer for weddings. It neighbours local Smashan, where dead bodies are burnt, and sometimes give it a mystic colour.

Despite having a fairly large population, Katras is lacking any quality medical facilities. There are several hospitals though none have any facilities for dealing with emergencies on a 24-hour basis. Katras has no facility for intensive care and the local diagnostic centers are considered unreliable. There is rampant medical corruption with doctors recommending unnecessary tests and costly medicines. Underlined tests (in the prescription) are not supposed to be carried out. They are only for cheating patients. Tilatand Hospital of BCCL used to be a centre for better treatment, now-a-days it remains empty most of the times. This when there is no better alternative. Most people either go to Dhanbad (for minor treatments) or Bokaro (for major treatment) and finally to CMC, Vellore for better treatment. The lone train from Dhanbad to Allepey (that too taken away) was full of patients. There is an urgent need of a good hospital either in private sector or in public sector.

• http://romanbooks.co.in/quintus/9789380905945.php