Sonbhadra
(Hindi:सोनभद्र) is the 2nd largest district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Sonbhadra is the only district in India which borders four states namely Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh Jharkhand and Bihar. In the popular TV Show Kaun Banega Crorepati, a question rewarding 50 lacs was asked based on the fact just mentioned. The district has an area of 6788 km² and a population of 1,862,559 (2011 census), with a population density of 270 persons per km². It lies in the extreme southeast of the state, and is bounded by Mirzapur District to the northwest, Chandauli District to the north, Kaimur and Rohtas districts of Bihar state to the northeast, Garhwa district of Jharkhand state to the east, Koriya and Surguja districts of Chhattisgarh state to the south, and Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh state to the west. The district headquarters is in the town of Robertsganj.Sonbhadra district is an industrial zone and it has lots of minerals like bauxite, limestone, coal, gold etc.Sonbhadra is called as Energy Capital of India, because there are so many power plants.
History
Based on evidence from religious and cultural perspectives Ramayana and the Mahabharat, Huyen found here is the cultural symbol. By Jarasandh many rulers in the Mahabharat war was maintained prisoner here. The Valley of Son River abounds in caves which were the earliest dwellings of the primeval inhabitants. It is said that ‘Bhars’ had settlements along with Cheros, Searis, Kols and Kherwars communities in the district up to 5th century there was the rule of ‘Kol’ kings on Vijaygarh Fort. This district was famous as second Kashi during 11th to 13th century. In the 9th century B.C., the Brahmadutt dynasty was subdivided by Nagas. In the 8th and 7th century B.C., the present area of the district was in Kaushala and Magadha. Kushans and Nagas also held supremacy over this region before the advent of the Gupta period. After the death of Harshvardhan in the latter half of the 7th century, it remained under the control of the Gurjars and the Pratihars till 1025 before they were driven out by Mahmud of Ghazni. This area was under the administration of various Governors of Mughal emperors. Some of the forts such as Agori Fort were under the control of Madan Shah.
During the 18th century, the district came under the control of the Narayan rulers of Benares State, who built or occupied several fortresses in the district. In the decade after 1775, the British took over administrative control of most of the territory of the rajas of Benares. The British district of Mirzapur included present-day Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts, with all of present-day Sonbhadra district included in Robertsganj tehsil.
In the 1901 census, Robertsganj tehsil had a population of 221,717, with two towns and 1,222 villages. In 1989, Sonbhadra district was divided from Mirzapur district.
The forts Located in the district
Agori Fort – ruled by Madan Shah
Vijaygarh Fort – ruled by Raja Chait Singh of Benares
Sodhrigarh Durg- ruled by Garhwal kings.
Son View Point
The heroine of Famous Novel Chandrakanta written by Devaki Nandan Khatri was the princess of Vijaygarh and the daughter of king Jay Singh.
Geography
The northern third of the district lies on a plateau north of the Kaimur Range, and is drained by tributaries of the Ganges including the Belan and Karmanasha rivers. South of the steep escarpment of the Kaimur Range is the valley of the Son River, which flows through the district from west to east. The southern portion of the district is hilly, interspersed with fertile stream valleys. The Rihand River, which rises to the south in the highlands of Surguja district of Chhattisgarh, flows north to join the Son in the center of the district. The Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar, a reservoir on the Rihand, lies partly in the district and partly in Madhya Pradesh. East of the Rihand, the Kanhar River, which originates in Chhatisgarh, flows north to join the Son.
The district has historic, cultural, and ecological affinities with the Bagelkhand region. Robertsganj is the district headquarters.
Climate
Sonbhadra has a relatively subtropical climate with high variation between summer and winter temperatures. The average temperature is 30 °C–46 °C in the summer and 2 °C–15 °C in the winter. The weather is pleasant in rainy season from July to October.
Ecology
The portion of the district north of the Son River lies in the Lower Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests ecoregion. The portion south of the Son lies in the Chhota Nagpur dry deciduous forests ecoregion.
Kaimoor Wildlife Sanctuary lies mostly within the district, reaching generally east and west along the spine of the Kaimur Range, and extending to the Son River at its eastern end.
Economy
The southern region of Sonebhadra is referred to as the ” Energy Capital of India ” this region has many electrical power stations around Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar. NTPC (a leading power generation company in India) has three coal-based thermal power plants.
- Singrauli Super Thermal Power Station, Shaktinagar 2000 MW (India’s first NTPC Power Plant)
- Vindhyachal Thermal Power Station (largest capacity in India, 4760 MW)
3.Rihand Thermal Power Station, Renukut 3000 MW.
Other power stations are at Anpara (UPRVUNL), Obra (UPRVUNL), Renusagar (Hindalco) and Pipri-Hydro (UPRVUNL). NCL (a branch of Coal India Limited) has its headquarters and many coal mines in this region. Hindalco has a major aluminium plant at Renukut.
This region became an industrial heaven from an area of forest and hills. Some of the hills were having limestone and lot of them were having coal. There were some small rivers running through the area and the major was the Son.
Owing to the limestone hills, initially one cement factory was established at Churk in 1956. Later another cement factory started at Dala in 1971 name them Dalla cement factory this Cement plant is Biggest plant in Asia and ancillary unit of Dala got started at Chunar in 1980. The cement factories became the foundation on which other industries were built. A big dam constructed at Pipri in 1961 and named Rihand Dam. The dam produces 300 MW of electricity. Another small dam was constructed at Obra in 1968, 40 km from Rihand dam which generates 99 MW of electricity.
The Birla group then set up an aluminum plant at Renukut, which is one of the biggest aluminum plant of Hindalco. Later, the Birla group set up its own power plant at Renusagar in 1967. This plant has the current capacity of 887.2 MW and supplies the power to Hindalco. The Birlas also started a company in Renukut called HiTech Carbon. Another industrial group initiated a company in Renukut named Kanoria Chemicals, which produces chemicals and later it started own power plant at Renukoot in 1998 which generates 50 MW of electricity.
A big thermal power plant construction was started at Obra in 1967 with support of Russian engineers and was successfully completed in 1971. This had a capacity to produce 1550 MW of electricity.Another power plant was initiated at Anpara in 1980. It produces 1630 MW of electricity and has proposed to extend the capacity to 2630 MW. NTPC’s first thermal power plant that it started in Shaktinagar, generates 2000 MW. The plant at Bijpur generates 3000 MW.Dalla super 6 is new plant make by jaypee Group and bought a aditya birla group a plant produced in 8500 MTP in 2012
This region has three cement factories, one of the biggest aluminum plants, a carbon plant, a chemical factory and an energy hub of India, which generates 11000 MW with plans to reach 20000 MW. The whole country is benefiting from this region, which was once full of forests and hills, which seemed like infertile land.
In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Sonbhadra one of the country’s 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).
Industry timeline
1956 : Churk Cement Factory, 800 T/day.
1961 : Rihand Dam, Pipri, 300 MW of electricity, Reservoir for power plants.
1962 : Hindalco Aluminium Plant, Renukoot, Alumina refining – 114,5000 TPA, Aluminium metal – 424,000 TPA.
1965 : Aditya Birla chemicals, Renukoot, Acetaldehyde – 10000 TPA, Formaldehyde – 75000 TPA, Lindane – 875 TPA, Hexamine – 4000 TPA, Industrial Alcohol – 225 million litters/annum, Aluminium Chloride – 6875 TPA, Ethyl Acetate – 3300 TPA, Acetic Acid – 6000 TPA, Commercial Hydrogen.
1967 : Renusagar Power Plant (Hindalco), 741.7 MW of electricity.
1968 : Obra Dam, 99 MW of electricity, Reservoir for power plant..
1971 : Dalla Cement factory plant, A UP Govt. But present in Aditya birla Group.
1971 : Obra Thermal Power Plant, Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board (UPSEB), 1550 MW of electricity.
1980 : Chunar Cement Factory, Ancillary unit of Dala Cement Factory.
1980: Vindhaya stone cruising company kuwari.
1980 : Anpara Thermal Power Plant, UPSEB, 2000 MW of electricity.
1983 : B.P. Construction Company, Anpara. http://bpconstructioncompany.com
1984 : Singrauli Thermal Power Plant, NTPC Limited (NTPC), Shaktinagar, 2000 MW of electricity.
1985 : Mishra Stone Crushing Company.
1988 : Hi -Tech Carbon, Renukoot, Carbon Black – 1,60,000 MT/annum.
1989: Vindhaya stone cruising company bagvanwa obra.
1989 : Rihand Thermal Power Plant, NTPC, Bijpur, 3000 MW of electricity.
1990 : Finding of Gold Mine in Hills, Mirchadhuri.
1993 :Jan Kalyan Gramodyog Seva Ashram Sonbhadra. http://jkgsa.org
1997 : A.K. Brothers & Associates, Anpara.
1998 : Kanoria Chemicals Power Plant, Renukoot, 50 MW of electricity.
2008 : Lanco Anpara Power Limited, 1200 MW of electricity.
2012 : Dalla super six open new plant in dalla
2014: BGR outsourcing company coal mines