Roorkee

Roorkee (Rūṛkī) is a city in North India and a municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand (previously Uttaranchal), India. It is spread over a flat terrain under Sivalik Hills of Himalayas. The city is developed on the banks of Ganges Canal, its dominant feature, which flows from north–south through middle of the city. Roorkee is home to Asia's first engineering college Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, formerly known as Thomson College of Civil Engineering. Roorkee is also known for the Roorkee Cantonment, one of the country's oldest military establishments and the headquarters of Bengal Engineer Group since 1853.[3] Roorkee has the distinction of being one of the endpoints of the first train journey in India (along with Piran Kaliyar) on 22 December 1851.[4]

Roorkee
City
From top: Main Administrative Building of IIT Roorkee, The East India Company-era (1854) Ganeshpur Bridge over the Ganges Canal and St. John's Church.
Roorkee
Location in Uttarakhand, India
Coordinates: 29°52′29.49″N 77°53′23.74″E
CountryIndia
StateUttarakhand
DistrictHaridwar
Founded1842
Municipality1868
Founded byProby Cautley
Government
 • TypeMayor–council
 • BodyRoorkee Municipal Corporation
 • MayorGaurav Goel, Independent
 • Municipal CommissionerPravesh Chandra Dandiyal, IAS_(Indian Administrative Service)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Metro
273,502
Languages
 • OfficialHindi
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
247667
Telephone code+91-1332
Vehicle registrationUK-17
Sex ratio1.12[2] ♂/♀
Websitenagarnigamroorkee.com

History
Ganges canal, 1860.

Roorkee is listed in the Ain-i-Akbari as a pargana under the sarkar of Saharanpur, producing a revenue of 1,628,360 dams for the imperial treasury and supplying a force of 200 infantry and 25 cavalry.[5]

Before 1840, the city was a tiny hamlet consisting of mud huts on the banks of the Solani rivulet.[6] Digging work on the Upper Ganges Canal formally began in April 1842, under the aegis of Proby Cautley, a British officer. Local works were designed and overseen by the engineer Thomas Login.[7] Soon, Roorkee developed into a town. The canal, which was formally opened on 8 April 1854, provided irrigation waters for more than 767,000 acres (3,100 km2) in 5,000 villages.[8]

Col. P.T. Cautley, an officer in the British Army, was most instrumental in constructing the canal. According to Dept. of Hydrology the canal, which is still considered as a marvel of engineering, was built in 1853. However, water was released in the canal on 8 April 1854.

To look after the maintenance of canal, the Canal Workshop and Iron Foundry were established in 1843 on the civil lines on the canal bank which is known as Irrigation workshop nowadays. This was followed by the establishment of Civil Engineering School; classes started in 1845[6] to train local youth to assist in the civil-engineering work of the Upper Ganges Canal.[9] This was to become the first engineering college established in India.[10] On 25 November 1847, the college was formally constituted through a proposal by the Sir James Thomason, Lt. Governor of North Western Province (1843–53).[6] After his death in 1853, the college was rechristened as Thomason College of Civil Engineering. The college later upgraded to University of Roorkee in 1949; on 21 September 2001, through an Act of parliament, it was made one of the Indian Institutes of Technology, IIT Roorkee.[11] In 1853 Bengal Sappers and Miners were stationed here which provided a controlling influence during the 1857 uprising. Other important events in the history of Roorkee include that under the Post Office Act of 1866, it was among the first few towns to have a post office and first telegraph office in the district. Now Roorkee has a General Post Office (GPO) and a number of post offices located in Roorkee City and Cantt. In 1886, Roorkee was placed on the Railway map of India. In 1907, first provincial trunk road Meerut-Roorkee-Dehradun was constructed. In 1920, Roorkee became the first town in Uttar Pradesh to have Hydroelectricity.

India's first aqueduct was constructed over the Solani river, near Roorkee, part of the Ganges Canal project, which itself was India's first irrigation work in North India, started by the British.[12] The Ganges Canal led to another first for Roorkee — India's first steam engine, Jenny Lind, (specially shipped from England moved on rails in India) ran in Roorkee on 22 December 1851, between Roorkee and Piran Kaliyar,[13] with an approximate distance of 7.6 km. two years before the first passenger train ran from Bombay to Thane in 1853. Operated by the Bengal Sappers, the railway line was built to carry soil used for the construction of the Upper Ganges Canal aqueduct from Piran Kaliyar, 10 km (6.2 miles) from the city.[13][14] The locomotive rail paths are still intact. A replica of what the locomotive is thought to have looked like is exhibited at Roorkee Railway Station.

The municipality of Roorkee was created in 1868.[6] Now it is a Municipal Corporation. It had been home to the Bengal Sappers and Miners since 1853, and two artillery units were stationed there.[6] Today, the Roorkee Cantonment has a large army base. The Bengal Engineering Group and Centre (BEG&C), are still there today.

In 1901, when the city had a population of 17,197, it was made headquarters of the Roorkee Tehsil, in Saharanpur district of the United Province of the British Raj; the tehsil included in it 426 villages (of the parganas of Jwalapur, Manglaur and Bhagwanpur) and six towns, most important among them being Haridwar and Manglaur.[8] The Old Cemetery in the city is a protected monument, by the Archaeological Survey of India.[15]

Geography

Roorkee is located at 29.87°N 77.88°E / 29.87; 77.88.[16] It has an average elevation of 268 metres (879 feet).

Roorkee is 184.3 kilometres (114.5 mi) north of the Indian capital, New Delhi, between the rivers Ganges and Yamuna, close to the foothills of the Himalayas. It is 70.02 kilometres away from Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, and 13 kilometers away from BhagwanpuR. Before the creation of Uttarakhand on 9 November 2000,[17] Roorkee was a part of the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The city is located in the Roorkee plain which is composed of recent alluvium with a gentle slope. As per the census 2011, this region is spread over 129.88 km2.[18]

Climate

In Roorkee, the climate is warm and temperate. Roorkee is a city with significant rainfall. The climate here is classified as Cfa by the Köppen-Geiger system. The average annual temperature in Roorkee is 23.7 °C. In a year, the average rainfall is 1170 mm.

Roorkee
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
0
 
 
22
2
 
 
230
 
 
25
6
 
 
40
 
 
30
7
 
 
0
 
 
37
10
 
 
100
 
 
38
16
 
 
40
 
 
39
21
 
 
700
 
 
34
20
 
 
800
 
 
34
22
 
 
460
 
 
33
22
 
 
0
 
 
30
12
 
 
10
 
 
27
7
 
 
190
 
 
22
4
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: GAIA case studies
Climate data for Roorkee (1981–2010, extremes 1901–2012)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 30.1
(86.2)		 31.9
(89.4)		 39.0
(102.2)		 43.8
(110.8)		 47.4
(117.3)		 46.7
(116.1)		 45.0
(113.0)		 39.8
(103.6)		 38.3
(100.9)		 38.3
(100.9)		 33.9
(93.0)		 30.5
(86.9)		 47.4
(117.3)
Average high °C (°F) 20.1
(68.2)		 23.5
(74.3)		 28.8
(83.8)		 35.2
(95.4)		 37.7
(99.9)		 37.6
(99.7)		 33.8
(92.8)		 32.7
(90.9)		 32.7
(90.9)		 31.5
(88.7)		 27.4
(81.3)		 22.5
(72.5)		 30.3
(86.5)
Average low °C (°F) 6.2
(43.2)		 8.4
(47.1)		 13.1
(55.6)		 18.3
(64.9)		 22.5
(72.5)		 24.4
(75.9)		 25.0
(77.0)		 24.6
(76.3)		 22.7
(72.9)		 17.0
(62.6)		 11.3
(52.3)		 7.3
(45.1)		 16.7
(62.1)
Record low °C (°F) −1.1
(30.0)		 −2.2
(28.0)		 2.8
(37.0)		 7.2
(45.0)		 11.1
(52.0)		 16.1
(61.0)		 18.8
(65.8)		 19.0
(66.2)		 15.2
(59.4)		 8.9
(48.0)		 2.2
(36.0)		 −0.7
(30.7)		 −2.2
(28.0)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 31.0
(1.22)		 39.8
(1.57)		 34.7
(1.37)		 10.7
(0.42)		 31.8
(1.25)		 79.8
(3.14)		 255.8
(10.07)		 265.7
(10.46)		 183.3
(7.22)		 18.9
(0.74)		 3.9
(0.15)		 18.1
(0.71)		 973.5
(38.33)
Average rainy days 2.2 2.5 2.4 1.4 2.8 4.3 9.5 11.2 5.7 1.0 0.5 1.1 44.6
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) 62 53 44 35 37 47 69 74 68 57 59 60 56
Source: India Meteorological Department[19][20]

Demographics
Population in Roorkee City[21]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 72.72%
Islam
 
 23.62%
Sikh
 
 1.54%
Jains
 
 1.02%
Christians
 
 0.94%
Others
 
 0.16%

The Roorkee Tehsil is the most populous among the three Tehsils in the Haridwar District with 35.17% of its population categorized as urban.[18] According to the 2011 census Roorkee city has a population of 273,502,[1] within the area of 8.11 square kilometres.[22] The average literacy rate of Roorkee is 89.48%[21] The sex ratio of the town as-off 2011, is 863 for all age groups while between the age 0-6 it is 820.[18]

Government and Politics

For administrative purposes, the Roorkee city is part of the Haridwar district's Roorkee Tehsil.[23] The city falls under the Roorkee Legislative Assembly constituency, which is one of the seventy electoral Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly constituencies of Uttarakhand state in India.[24]

Civic Administration

The governance of Roorkee city is done by the Roorkee Municipal Coorporation (RMC) which comes under Roorkee Metropolitan Region. According to the 2011 census, the RMC covers an areas of 28.91 km2 with 1.84 lakh population. The RMC is administered through the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act 1959 which was adopted and amended by Uttarakhand. The act is administered by the Urban Development Department (UDD), Government of Uttarakhand.[25]

The council is formed every five years through ward councillors's elections and it holds the highest authority within the Urban Local Body (ULB) to make decisions. The council is headed by a Mayor, who is elected by the Ward Councillors from 40 municipal wards. A Municipal Commissioner (MC) is appointed by the state who is responsible for the operations of the ULB. The RMC is responsible for city related civic services like cleanliness of the city, solid waste management, maintenance of gardens/dividers/circles, street light, bio-medical waste, all storm water and wastewater drainage.[25]

Politics

The RMC has 40 wards with a voter population of 14.05 lakh voters- split between nearly 7.26 lakh men and 6.79 lakh women voters.[26] The major political parties which are active in the local elections are Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bhartiya Lok Dal (BLD), Janta Party (JP), Lok Dal (LKD) and Samajwadi Party (SP).[27]

Economy

Roorkee is a main market area of the Haridwar district. It also has a manufacturing base for drawing, surveying and mathematical instruments which have a demand all over the country.[18]

Languages

Major languages spoken in Roorkee are: Hindi 72% (including Garhwali Accent 0.35%, ), Urdu 23%, Punjabi 3%, English 2%[28]

References
  1. "City Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  2. "Census of India, 2011". Office of the Registrar General, India. 2 March 2002. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 28 May 2010.
  3. "Bengal Sappers’ saga of valour", The Tribune, 24 November 2008.
  4. "First train ran between Roorkee and Piran Kaliyar". The Hindu. 10 August 2002. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  5. Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak; Jarrett, Henry Sullivan (translator) (1891). The Ain-i-Akbari. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal. p. 292. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  6. Roorkee Town2, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 21, p. 325.
  7. "Obituary. Thomas Login, F.r.s.e., 1823-1874". Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 39 (1875): 269–271. 1875. doi:10.1680/imotp.1875.22738.
  8. Upper Ganges Canal, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 12, p. 138.
  9. Indian Engineering Colleges, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 4, p. 321.
  10. Sandes, Lt Col E.W.C. (1935). The Military Engineer, Vol II. Chatham: Institution of Royal Engineers. p. 358.
  11. IIT Roorkee Official website.
  12. Irrigation and Navigation Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909 v. 3, p. 341.
  13. Cautley, Proby Thomas (1 January 1860). Report on the Ganges canal works:from their commencement until the opening of the canal in 1854. London. p. 440. hdl:2027/uc1.$c19601.
  14. First train ran between Roorkee and Piran Kaliyar, The Hindu, 10 August 2002.
  15. Alphabetical List of Monuments – Uttarakhand Archaeological Survey of India website.
  16. "Falling Rain Genomics, Inc – Roorkee". Fallingrain.com. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  17. Uttarakhand Govt. of India, Official website.
  18. "Cencus of India- 2011, District census handbook-Hardwar- Village and town directory" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  19. "Station: Roorkee Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 671–672. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  20. "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M228. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  21. "Population in Roorkee City 2011". Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  22. "District census handbook-Hardwar-Village and townwise Primary Census Abstract (PCA)" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  23. "DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK HARDWAR VILLAGE AND TOWN WISE PRIMARY CENSUS ABSTRACT (PCA)" (PDF).
  24. "Roorkee - Uttarakhand Assembly constituency Details". Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  25. "Roorkee Municipal Corporation-ICRA". 28 February 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  26. "Roorkee Municipal Corporation elections: Polling underway in 40 wards, result to be declared on Nov 24". DNA India. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  27. "Roorkee Municipal Corporation Election Count Released, Congress leadsFor Mayor Post". News Track. 24 November 2019.
  28. "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 28 August 2018.

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