Jagdalpur is a city in Bastar district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Jagdalpur City is governed by the Jagdalpur Municipal Corporation. Jagdalpur is the administrative headquarters of Bastar District and Bastar Division, and was the capital of the erstwhile princely state of Bastar. Jagdalpur is well known for its greenery, lush green mountains, deep valleys, dense forests, streams, waterfalls, caves, natural parks, monuments, natural resources, herbs, exuberant festivity and peaceful solitude. Bastar conjures up images of the royal past and the tribes. Currently two steel plants are being built near Jagdalpur by NMDC and Tata Steel Plant. After completion of these projects Jagdalpur city will also be industrial hubs. The city's demographic is changing rapidly and it is fastest in Chhattisgarh state.

 

JAGDALPUR POPULATION

State Name District Name SubDistrict Name Level
Chhattisgarh (22) Bastar (414) Jagdalpur(03360) Jagdalpur SUB-DISTRICT

Courtesy http://www.censusindia.gov.in/

Total Number of House Hold : 55378

Population Persons Males Females
Total 239,808 120,903 118,905
Scheduled Castes (SC) 8,714 4,318 4,396
Scheduled Tribes (ST) 95,511 47,671 47,840
Literates 147,087 82,876 64,211
Illiterate 92,721 38,027 54,694
In the age group 0-6 years 31,337 16,080 15,257
Total Worker 92,694 66,289 26,405
Main Worker 68,698 53,990 14,708
Main Worker - Cultivator 7,317 6,468 849
Main Worker - Agricultural Labourers 6,535 4,409 2,126
Main Worker - Household Industries 1,230 938 292
Main Worker - Other 53,616 42,175 11,441
Marginal Worker 23,996 12,299 11,697
Marginal Worker - Cultivator 2,199 1,419 780
Marginal Worker - Agriculture Labourers 14,510 6,409 8,101
Marginal Worker - Household Industries 498 220 278
Marginal Workers - Other 6,789 4,251 2,538
Marginal Worker (3-6 Months) 20,161 10,651 9,510
Marginal Worker - Cultivator (3-6 Months) 1,941 1,284 657
Marginal Worker - Agriculture Labourers (3-6 Months) 12,291 5,680 6,611
Marginal Worker - Household Industries (3-6 Months) 414 185 229
Marginal Worker - Other (3-6 Months) 5,515 3,502 2,013
Marginal Worker (0-3 Months) 3,835 1,648 2,187
Marginal Worker - Cultivator (0-3 Months) 258 135 123
Marginal Worker - Agriculture Labourers (0-3 Months) 2,219 729 1,490
Marginal Worker - Household Industries (0-3 Months) 84 35 49
Marginal Worker - Other Workers (0-3 Months) 1,274 749 525
Non Worker 147,114 54,614 92,500

 

 

Transport

Road transport

Road network in and around Jagdalpur can be seen from the road network map of the area.

Bus Services Both Luxury and Ordinary) are available from Jagdalpur Bus Terminus provided by local Service Providers to major cities like Vijayawada, Raipur, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Vishakapatnam, Amravati, Vizianagaram etc. Busses for Raipur and Bilaspur are available in every 15 minutes interval. In view of the poor rail and practically non-existent air connectivity, road based transport has emerged as the sole mode of transport for almost all the goods as well as people originating from or destined to Jagdalpur.

Jagdalpur is well connected by road with the Chhattisgarh state capital Raipur, Hyderabad Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and other nearby National Highways providing onward connectivity to other major towns and cities of India.

The National Highways passing through Jagdalpur are NH 30 (connecting Raipur to Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh), NH 221 (connecting Jagdalpur to Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh) and NH 16 (connecting Jagdalpur to Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh) while passing through Maharashtra.

NH 30 at Raipur connects Jagdalpur to NH 6 leading to Nagpur and Kolkata.

NH 43 connects Natavalasa in Andhra Pradesh and Raipur in Chattisgarh and passes through Jagdalpur.

NH 221 near Vijayawada connects Jagdalpur to NH 9 leading to Hyderabad and Pune.

NH 16 at Bhopalpatnam connects with NH 202, which once completed, would connect Jagdalpur to Warangal and Hyderabad.

 

Rail transport

Jagdalpur is not particularly well connected by trains to other cities. Rail network in and around Jagdalpur can be seen from the map of the area. There have been series of efforts in the past three decades to have meaningful rail connectivity between Jagdalpur and Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh but none have succeeded so far.

A line from Bailadila to Visakhapatnam via Jagdalpur is in place mainly for the purposes of evacuation of iron ore by National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) from Kirandul with limited passenger trains. Plans are underway for doubling the railway line from Bailadila to Jagdalpur.The cost of this is projected to be about INR 870 crore which is proposed to be initially borne by NMDC and NMDC will in turn get a rebate in the freight from Indian Railways towards the initial cost incurred by NMDC.[3]

It would be evident from a cursory glance at the railway map of India[4] that, east central India, i.e., Jagdalpur and its surrounding areas have no rail lines and certainly no usable rail connectivity with Raipur.

Jagdalpur railway station got grade B in station category by rail budget 2012. Therefore all basic amenities are being set-up at the station. currently construction of platform number 2 and 3 and one Foot Over Bridge are in progress and expected to completed by May 2014.

 

Existing Rail Connectivity

There are daily trains connecting Jagdalpur to Visakhapatnam (passenger train 58501/58502), Bhubaneswar (Hirakhand Express 18447/18448) and Kirandul (passenger train 58501/58502). According the new Railway Budget of 2012-13, Jagdalpur has got one new train i.e. (Durg–Jagdalpur Tri-weekly express 18211/18212) and the(18005/18006) Howrah - Koraput express has been extended to Jagdalpur.

Jagdalpur - Raipur Rail Connectivity

Jagdalpur has got one new train i.e. Jagdalpur - Durg express (via titlagarh)and passing from raipur. One can go to Raipur from Jagdalpur by train for which one has to take the Jagdalpur–Bhubaneswar train and get down at Rayagada and there board the Visakhapatnam-Korba train which will go to Raipur and beyond.

The above however is a roundabout way to reach Raipur from Jagdalpur as it is a much longer route (622 km compared to 300 km by road) and takes much longer time (about 16 Hrs as compared to 5-6 Hrs by road).

Proposed Rail Connectivity

Proposed Dalli Rajhara-Jagdalpur Rail Line

Dalli Rajhara-Jagdalpur Rail Line has been proposed with a view to support the transport needs of people, trade and industries of the region. Construction of the section from Dalli Rajhara to Rowghat of the Dalli Rajhara-Jagdalpur Rail Line is currently underway amid threat from Naxalites and other challenges.

List of new line surveys in the region to be taken up during 2012-13 as per Railway budget

1. Rail link between Raipur-Dhamtari BG line up to Jagdalpur via Banskot, Amravati, Kondagaon.

2. Linking Bhanupratappur with Dalli Rajhara-Rawghat under construction railline and connecting it with Jagdalpur.

Doubling of Kirandul - Jagdalpur Rail Line

The Ministry of Railways have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NMDC Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Steel for doubling the Jagdalpur-Kirandul section.The Jagdalpur-Kirandul doubling project will be implemented by Indian Railways at a cost Rs.826 crores and it will be funded by NMDC with provisions for suitable returns through freight rebate. The Railways will additionally make necessary investment in wagons, locomotives, other maintenance facilities and deployment of staff. The new line is likely to create an additional traffic of up to 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA) in a phased manner.

Construction of line between Silakjhori and Jagdalpur section is already started and expected the completion of Doubling of rail line between Kirandul and Jagdalpur will be done by end of 2016.

Air transport

There is an airport at Jagdalpur but no scheduled services are currently run to or from here. The airport is predominantly used by political leaders and insurgency operation related activities by army and the police. The nearest airport is Raipur Airport in capital city of Raipur and Visakhapatnam Airport, Andhra Pradesh.