Haldia


Haldia is an industrial port city in Purba Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a major river port and industrial belt located approximately 125 kilometres southwest of Kolkata near the mouth of the Hooghly River, one of the distributaries of the Ganges. The Haldia Township is bordered by the Haldi River an offshoot of the Ganges River. Haldia is a centre for many petrochemical businesses, and is being developed as a major trade port for Kolkata.

Geography

Location

Haldia is located at. It has an average elevation of 8 metres.

Demographics

, Haldia had a population of 200,762, out of which 104,852 were males and 95,910 were females. The 0–6 years population was 21,122. Effective literacy rate for the 7+ population was 89.06 per cent.
India census, Haldia had a population of 170,695. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. In Haldia, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Administration

Haldia Municipality falls under the jurisdiction of two police territories, served by Haldia and Bhabanipur police stations. Haldia police station is located in Chinranjibpur, and covers an area of 98 km2 with a population of 65,000. Bhabanipur police station is located in Bhabanipur, and covers an area of 115 km2 with a population of 124,906.
Haldia is also a base of Indian Coast Guard. Indian coast guard DHQ 8 is located at Haldia. There is a hoverport to house four of the eighteen hovercrafts belonging to the Indian Coast Guard. Indian coast guard also have pantoon jetty to berth fleet of ships. Presently two fast patrol vessels, one inshore patrol vessels, and one small craft is based at Haldia.

Climate

Haldia has a tropical savanna climate, with winter temperatures ranging from a low of around degrees Celsius to a high of. Summers can be very hot and humid. Usual summer temperatures in May, the hottest month range from a low of degrees to highs around degrees. Although summers are hot and humid, Kalbaishakhis provide a relief to the people, albeit killing some in the process. Rainfall is heavy during monsoons, with an average rainfall of and the rainy months are between May and September.

Transportation

Road-way

Haldia is connected to Kolkata by bus. Recent efforts have seen introduction of new air-conditioned buses which takes less than three hours from the place to Kolkata.. Haldia is also connected to Kharagpur by bus.

Rail-way

is the major railway station connecting the city to Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi. For long-distance trains except one or two weekly for Delhi and chennai you have to go to either Mecheda or Kolkata or Kharagpur.

Water-way

Haldia is also connected via the 1620 km long inland waterway, National Waterway 1 that runs from Prayagraj across Ganges, Bhagirathi and Hooghly river system to Haldia. A catamaran service used to operate from Kolkata to Haldia, but was withdrawn due to its high price and unpopularity among tourists.

Industry

Haldia has several major factories, including South Asian Petrochemicals Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Haldia Energy Limited, Exide, Shaw Wallace, Tata Chemicals, Haldia Petrochemicals, India Power Corporation Ltd., Hindustan Lever, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporations, S.J.Constructions and LTC&Co., other major logistics companies are JAY ROAD CARRIERS which provides affordable logistics across all channels in India.

Sports

The Indian Football Association and Tata Football Academy have been operating for years in the city to scout and promote football talent. A new project called Haldia International Sports City is also under construction.

Japanese community

The Japanese community of Haldia are mostly engineers and top executives at the Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation purified terephthalic acid plant in the city. The community have been living in the mini Japanese township called Sataku for many years. Sataku has many Japanese restaurants and a local Japanese news station. Japanese movies are shown in local theaters. Haldia is the only Indian city to have a Japantown.