Pilibhit

Pilibhit Junction railway station

Pilibhit Junction railway station is on the Izzatnagar-Tanakpur railway section. The station is under the administrative control of the North Eastern Railways.

Trains

• Shaktinagar Terminal–Tanakpur Express
• 15073/Singrauli - Tanakpur Triveni Express
• 14556/Delhi - Tanakpur Express

Pilibhit Depot (UPSRTC)

Pilibhit is well connected with UPSRTC busses. Bareilly , Tanakpur , Delhi , Lucknow , Dehradun , Haridwar , Agra , Mathura and various major cities of india is connected by State Transport UPSRTC buses. Some UPSRTC AC Shatabdi buses also run from Pilibhit to Delhi , Lucknow and Dehradun. Some UPSRTC 'buses run from Pilibhit to Shahjahanpur , Haldwani , Udham singh Nagar also. Connectivity via buses for these places are compratibly poor.

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is located in Pilibhit district, mahof range of Uttar Pradesh state in India. It lies along the India-Nepal border in the foothills of the Himalayas and the plains of the 'terai' in Uttar Pradesh. It is one of India's 50 Project Tiger Tiger reserves.

Pilibhit is one of the few well-forested districts in Uttar Pradesh. According to an estimate of the year 2004, Pilibhit district has over 800 km² (310 sq mi) forests, constituting roughly 23% of the district's total area. Forests in Pilibhit have at least a good number of tigers and a good prey base for their survival as per records and assumption there were 36 tigers in 2016–17, then counts goes up till 45 in 2017–18, and present August 2019 to November 2020 there are 65 tigers in this reserve and more. Although some illegal human residents are still present in the reserve, the government is aiming to remove them. During winter, tigers could easily be seen in the countryside near forest areas. It holds a wide range of different animal and bird species.

• Chuka Beach
• Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
• Bifercation
• Bhiramchari Ghaat

Bhiramchari Ghaat।

• Gauri Shankar Temple
• Yashvantri Temple
• Jama Masjid Pilibhit

Jama Masjid Pilibhit in the 1780s

• Dargah Shahji Mohammad Sher Miya

• Amaria
• Barkhera
• Bilsanda
• Bisalpur
• Jahanabad
• Kalinagar
• Madhotanda
• Nyoria Husainpur
• Puranpur
• Majhola

Pilibhit lies between the parallels of 28°64' and 29°53' north latitude and the meridians of 79°57' and 81°37' east longitude covering an area of 68.76 km². The north side of Pilibhit is bordered by Udham Singh Nagar of Uttarakhand state and by the territory of Nepal. Shahjahanpur lies on the south side Pilibhit. The east of Pilibhit is flanked for a short distance by Lakhimpur Kheri and the remaining distance is swathed by the Shahjahanpur. The western limit touches the limits of Bareilly.

According to the Central Statistical Organisation, the district Pilibhit had an area of 3504 km² on 1 September 2007, occupying 46th position in the state and the total area of the Pilibhit city is 68.76 km². Pilibhit city, with 2365.11 people per square kilometer, is more densely populated than the rest of the district, which has 469.51 people per km².

The area has diverse features, and topographically may be divided into several distinct tracts. In the north and north-west, the tract is a continuation of the Terai. The southern portion of the Bisalpur tehsil is similar in most respect to the adjacent tract of Bareilly and Shahjahanpur. The eastern and smaller section approximates rather to undeveloped forest areas of Lakhimpur Kheri, though with the spread of cultivation the dissimilarity between Puranpur and the rest of the area is gradually becoming less marked. There are 1216 villages within Pilibhit's limits, of which 982 are electrified.[11]

Agricultural and forestry science center, Pilibhit

The area has more than ten small to medium-sized rivers and nine small to medium-sized water bodies. The origin of river Gomti, Gumti or Gomati (Hindi: गोमती), which is a tributary of the Ganges River, is from a small lake, Gomat Taal, situated in Madhotanda in the Puranpur Tehsil region.[12] Pilibhit city also has a few water bodies in its limits, one being on Tanakpur road in front of the Dramond college gate, another being at the Chauraha degree college. Every year during winter, the Chauraha water body attracts thousands of migratory birds. The main source of water in the district is the groundwater and the canals. District Pilibhit is swathed by a big net of canals. The district has six main feeders or canals, which run through almost 138  km in the district.

Road side canals are very common around Pilibhit

The major part of Pilibhit District is covered by dense forest. Total 784.572 km² is forest.[13] Till 1978, 63% area of the district was a dense forest, but deforestation has reduced the total forest cover to 22.39% in 2004.[14] The Sharda canal is the main canal of the district, the others being its branches. The total length of canals in the district is 138 km. Apart from the canal system, the district also has a few water bodies, which are being used for agriculture purposes.

National Highway No. 74 runs through the district connecting Haridwar to Bareilly via Kichha, Kashipur and Nagina city. Apart from the National Highway, the district is well connected with Shahjahanpur in south, Lakhimpur Kheri and Indian International Border (IIB) with the Nepal in east, Nanital and town Khatima in north, and the city of Bareilly in the west by roads and railways.

The district Pilibhit also has several places of religious importance in or around the district. A main gurudwara of the Sikh community is located in Nanakmatta town around 46 km from the city.[15][16]

As of the 2011 India census,[17] District Pilibhit had a population of 2,037,225. Pilibhit district is the 46th most populous Districts of Uttar Pradesh. Pilibhit City has 197,455 people. Males constitute 52.94% of the population and females 47.06%. Pilibhit has an average literacy rate of 63.58%, lower than the national average of 74.04%. Male literacy is 73.46%, and female literacy is 52.43%. In Pilibhit, 14.58% of the population is under 6 years of age.[18]

Studies reveal that the poverty level in the district is associated with the social identity, source of livelihood, landless and level of education of the head of the household. Education is a crucial instrument for raising income levels of people and moving out of the vicious circle of poverty. A study done by Delhi-based NGO, Nav Bharat Nirman indicates a strong correlation between educational attainment and poverty levels among various social classes in the district. The incidence of poverty is much higher among scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) households in Pilibhit. Nearly 60 percent of SC households were below the poverty line in Pilibhit in 1999–2000. However, this proportion came down to 45.23 percent in 2007–08.[19]

Pilibhit experiences winter from November to February. It experiences pleasant windy days, clear skies and cool nights from November to the end of February. The day temperature hovers around 14 °C (57 °F) while night temperature is below 7 °C (45 °F) for most of December and January, often dropping to 3 °C (37 °F) or 4 °C (39 °F). Rain is very expected in February.[20]

Reported climatic variations:[21]

• The highest temperature recorded in Pilibhit was 48.5 °C (119 °F) on 29 May 1989.
• The lowest temperature recorded in Pilibhit was −1.2 °C (30 °F) on 17 January 1949.

According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, Pilibhit was once known as Hafizabad after the Rohila leader of the area, Hafiz Rahmat Khan, but later took its current name from a nearby village.[23] According to a document from the British Library, 'the city Pilibhit' existed in the late 18th century (1770–1780) when Marathas invaded the Rohilkhand region. With this invasion, the Kurmi community came to this region and over time, the city Pilibhit enlarged it boundaries.[24]

Another evidence of the city's existence is found in Nepali literature, which mentions a city named as Pilibhit, which provided shelter to the last king of the Shah dynasty, Deepa Shah, who was attacked by the Gorakha king in 1789 AD.[25]

Jamia Mosque in the 1780s

At the introduction of the British rule, the Parganas of Pilibhit, Jahanabad and Bisalpur was formed into separate tehsils. Puranpur was united for this purpose with Khutar. A redistribution of the area was affected in 1824 when the Bisalpur tehsil contained the Parganas of Bisalpur and Maurari, which afterward become a single area, Jahanabad was joined with Richha to form tehsil Pareva and Pilibhit with Baheri, the HQ being at Pilibhit. In 1851 Baheri and the other Tarai pargana were taken under direct management and in 1863 Richha was attached to the new Baheri tehsil, pargana Jahanabad being assigned to Pilibhit which also received Puranpur on its transfer in 1865. The latter, in 1871, a became sub tehsil dependent on Pilibhit. The promotion of Puranpur into a full tehsil occurred in 1879, while Bisalpur throughout remained a separate subdivision. Thus the area is now divided into three tehsils and four Parganas. Puranpur and Bisalpur constitute individual tehsils and Parganas and the tehsil of Pilibhit comprises the Parganas of Pilibhit and Jahanabad.[26]

Historical facts

It is believed by locals that Pilibhit was ruled by an ancient king named Mayurdhwaj or Moredhwaj or King Venu, a great devotee of lord Krishna and a loyal friend of Arjun. King Venu's name and the geography of his kingdom can be traced in the Hindu epic Mahabharat.[27]

Jahanabadi Darwaza in the backdrop, In Pilibhit Main Market.

The city Pilibhit was an administrative unit in the Mughal era under Bareilly suba. For security, the Mughal subedar Ali Mohammed Khan constructed four magnificent gates around the administrative building in 1734  AD. These gates were named Barellwi Darwaza at the west, Hussaini Darwaza at the east, Jahanabadi Darwaza at the north and Dakhini Darwaza at the south. Because of a lack of proper maintenance, all the gates have been lost; only their ruins remain.[28]

The last king of the Shah dynasty of Doti, Nepal, Prithivipati Shah, was sheltered in Pilibhit by the ruler of Rampur suba Faizullah Khan in 1789 AD, after being attacked by the Gorakha king of Nepal.[29]

The freedom fighter Maulana Enayetulla, from Pilibhit, voluntarily played host to the exiled Queen of Avadh, Begum Hazrat Mahal, who reached Nepal in late 1859.[30][31]

Lalit Hari Sugar Factory Stadium

Lalit Hari Sugar Factory Stadium is mainly used for cricket. It was established in 1931. It has a matting type of pitch. This stadium had hosted a few Ranji trophy cricket matches in the early 1980s. Lalit Hari sugar factory stadium is located in the Shri Lalit Hari sugar mill compound.

Gandhi Stadium

This stadium is under control of Government. This stadium is mainly used for Hockey, Football, and Karate Training. This statidum is located on Gandhi Road so it is called Gandhi Stadium.

Various educational institutions have their Ground, including DGIC ground, St. Aloysius ground, Rama college ground, and SVM college ground. The City teams have produced many national level athletes who represented themselves at national tournaments and different events and have won a few state level and national level competitions on various events.[32]

The main crop in the district is sugarcane and there is a sugar factory in the city.[33] According to an article published in Hindustan Times, by a 1991 estimate, 95% of India's flutes were manufactured in Pilibhit.[34] The craftsmen were used to source its bamboo from Barak Valley in Assam. Earlier, there was an unbroken narrow-gauge line running from Silchar, in Assam, via Bihar, and into Pilibhit. On this line, 60-strong bundles of bamboo, each stalk 10  ft long, used to make their way to Pilibhit, but around 15 years ago, sections of that line were removed. Now, the bamboo has to travel on the narrow gauge from Silchar to Jiribum, then shift onto a broad-gauge line to travel to Bareilly, the nearest big town, and then reloaded onto narrow gauge to come into Pilibhit.[35] The soil in the rural area is known as Dumat. The wheat & rice yield is very high. The handlooms were established in the villages by local entrepreneurs in their houses but today because of mechanization no handlooms are visible. The rural folks work as labor in neighboring towns of Uttrakhand namely Rudrapur, Tankpur Khatima. The reason for the underdevelopment of the economy is poor transportation. Till today railway line is the main mode of communication. The goods transportation is done through road. Grain Merchants are the biggest traders in the area. These are concentrated in Pilibhit, Puranpur & Bisalpur towns.

Pilibhit has one local Radio Station (Akashwani) at 100.1  MHz but it also receives Bareilly's FM signals of following Radio providers:

Print media

The Hindi daily newspapers include Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, and The Hindustan. Prominent English dailies like The Times of India, The Hindustan Times and Indian Express have fewer readers. Among lesser-known Hindi papers are Swatantra Bharat, Rashtriya Sahara, and Jansatta. The Hindi newspapers Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala have their offices in the city.

The Pilibhit Nagar Palika Parishad (PNPP) is the largest municipal board in the Pilibhit district, in charge of the civic and infrastructural assets of the city of Pilibhit. This municipal board was established in 1865.[36]

• P. C. Kanjilal, P (1982). "A Forest Flora for Pilibhit, Oudh, Gorakhpur, and Bundelkhand" (5 ed.). Narendra Pub. House. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Basil Leonard Clyde Johnson, P (1979). India,: Resources and Development (6 ed.). Heinemann Educational Books. ISBN 0-06-493348-2.
• Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, P (1959). "Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers" (2 ed.). Govt. of Uttar Pradesh. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Walter C. Neale, P (1962). "Economic Change in Rural India: Land Tenure and Reform in Uttar Pradesh:1800–1955" (1 ed.). Yale University Press. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Ira Klein, P (1974). "Population and Agriculture in Northern India, 1872–1921" (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

• Official Web Site
• Pilibhit city guide
• Government Of Uttar Pradesh – Official Web Site
• Pilibhit Tiger Reserve