Haldwani

Haldwani

Haldwani RS

Haldwani is a city, which along with its twin township of Kathgodam forms the Haldwani-Kathgodam municipal Corporation (since May 2011) in Nainital District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Haldwani is the third most populous city in Uttarakhand, and is known as the "Gateway of Kumaon".
In Kumaoni, the local dialect, the place is called "Halduvani", literally "forest of Haldu", after the tree named "Haldu", often referred to as "Kadamb" (Haldina cordifolia), which was found in abundance prior to deforestation for agriculture and settlement. In 1816, after the British defeated Gorkhas, Gardner was appointed the Commissioner of Kumaon. Later George William Trail took over as Commissioner and renamed Halduvani as Haldwani in 1834. Though British records suggest that the place was established in 1834, as a mart for hill people who visited the Bhabhar (Himalayan foothills) region, during the cold season. 

History

Mughal historians mention that in the 14th century, a local ruler, Gyan Chand of Chand Dynasty, visited Delhi Sultanate and received the regions of Bhabhar- Terai up to the Ganges as a grant from then Sultan. Later, the Mughals tried to take over the hills, but their attempts received a setback due to the difficult terrain. In 1856, Sir Henry Ramsay took over as the Commissioner of Kumaon. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, it was briefly seized by the rebels of Rohilkhand, soon martial law was declared in the region by Sir Henry Ramsay, and by 1858, the region was cleared of the rebels. Later, Ramsay connected Nainital with Kathgodam by road in 1882. In 1883–84, the railway track was laid between Bareilly and Kathgodam. The first train arrived at Haldwani from Lucknow on 24 April 1884. Later, the railway line was extended to Kathgodam.

In 1901, with a population of 6,624, Haldwani was the headquarters of the Bhabhar region of Nainital District, in the United Province, and it also used to become the winter headquarters of the officers of the Kumaun Division and of Nainital District. The Arya Samaj Bhavan was built in 1901 and Sanatan Dharm Sabha in 1902. The Tehsil office was opened here in 1899, when it became the tehsil headquarters of the Bhabhar, one of four division of Nainital district, and included 4 towns and 511 villages; and had a combined population of 93,445 (1901), spread over 1,279 sq. miles. Though before the formation of Nainital district in 1891, it was part of the Kumaon District, which was later called Almora district. In 1904, it was consitituted as a 'notified area' and in 1907 Haldwani got the status of town area. Gora Padao, 4 km south of Haldwani was named after a British camp/post at that location in the mid-19th century, Gora being a slang for the British. Haldwani-Kathgodam Municipal Council was established on 21 September 1942. Currently it is the third largest Municipal Council in the state of Uttarakhand after Dehradun and Haridwar.

Trains from Haldwani

All trains start from Kathgodam Railway Station which is a terminal of North Eastern Railway's Izzatnagar Division and then reach Haldwani Railway Station and proceed towards Lalkuan Junction Railway Station the trains currently running from here are

Ranikhet Express

It runs from Kathgodam to Bhagat ki Kothi in Jodhpur, Rajasthan via Delhi, Jaipur and Ajmer

Kathgodam Dehradun Link Express

It Connects Haldwani with state capital Dehradun via Lalkuan, Rampur,[disambiguation needed] Moradabad, Najibabad and Haridwar

Bagh Express

From Kathgodam to Kolkata Howrah Junction via Bareilly, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Hajipur and Asansol

Uttarakhand Sampark Kranti

From Kathgodam to Delhi Junction

Kathgodam Anand Vihar Shatabdi Express

From Kathgodam to Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi

Kathgodam Jammu Garib Rath

From Kathgodam to Jammu Tawi in Jammu which runs once in a week. every Tuesday

Kathgodam Kanpur Garib Rath

From Kathgodam to Kanpur Central

Kathgodam Moradabad Passenger

Kathgodam to Moradabad via Lalkuan, Kashipur.

Kathgodam Moradabad Passenger

Kathgodam to Moradabad via Lalkuan, Rampur.

Apart from these there are Passenger services to Bareilly and Kashipur from nearby Lalkuan Junction. And also there are plans to start the following new trains.

Kathgodam Mumbai Bandra Terminus Daily Express Kathgodam Bareilly Passenger Service 4 times a day Kathgodam Madurai Weekly Super Fast via Nagpur Hyderabad Chennai Kathgodam Ahmedabad Bi Weekly Express via Mathura Jaipur Marwar or add slip coaches to Aala Hazrat Express in Rampur Kathgodam Lucknow Janshatabdi or Intercity Daily in Morning Time Daily Kathgodam Delhi Intercity around 12 Noon Daily Kathgodam Dehradun Intercity in Morning Daily Kathgodam Varanasi Express via Lucknow Raebareli Jaunpur Daily Kathgodam Allahabad Express via Lucknow Kanpur Weekly Kathgodam Bhopal Weekly Express via Mathura Jhansi Kathgodam Amritsar weekly Express(non A.C. with sleeper and general coaches) via Lalkuan Kashipur Moradabad Ambala Cantt Chandigarh these are genuine demands of local people from many years.

Plans

There are various developmental plans for the city owing to its importance in the state of Uttarakhand. These include building of additional infrastructure like stadium, flyover, bus terminus and industrial complex. All this has come at a cost – the last 20 years have seen an explosion in the demographics leading to a creaking infrastructure. The city is struggling to live up to its sobriquet of "Green City". The shortage of water in the Gaula river has forced the Administration to create some new projects for water harvesting and also increase of number of water treatment plants. Haldwani is said to be a fast-growing educational hub of Uttarakhand. Many new institutions are open in lower Haldwani areas. Since, the success of 108 mobile medical van services across the province, the Govt. is planning to expand this service in a better way for the more populated Haldwani city. Haldwani's forests which bear the best timber (cite?) anywhere in India and South Asia, are for now in a motion of significant demand because of their best quality. So the Govt. is also planning to keep the forestry as green as it always was.

Haldwani City Map

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