Katras is a town equivalent to a city in terms of facilities and a notified area

Notified area

In urban planning, a notified area is any land area earmarked by legal provision for future development. The term is used in the Hindi belt region of North India....

 in Dhanbad district

Dhanbad District

Dhanbad district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Dhanbad is the administrative headquarters of this district...

 in the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n state

States and territories of India

India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...

 of Jharkhand

Jharkhand

Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...

.

Geography

Katras is located at 23.8°N 86.28°E. It has an average elevation of 201 metres (659 feet).

Demographics

India census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, Katras had a population of 51,182. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Katras has an average literacy rate of 84%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 87%, and female literacy is 76%. In Katras, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Overview

An hour drive from Dhanbad city, Katras is place where people from various religions and communities live together. Katras comes under Dhanbad municipal corporation. It is very popular for its Durga puja celebration, prominently in locations like "G.N.M High School Maidan "Rani Bajar", "Railway Ground", "Dhan Mill". It is a located on the bank of the Katri River, and is surrounded by coal mines. It has an important railway station called "Katras Garh". You could almost find everything in walking distance. Hanuman Mansion, Tribhuwan complex, Khaitan Tower are few of the known market complexes. Chief source of income -BCCL is dying and new source of income has not evolved resulting in mass exodus of people from all backgrounds to other states. Rest who remain are either living a life of misery or are involved in illegal coal theft etc. A small section is employed in businesses and BCCL and they are trying to bear each other as best as they can.Those who don't want to go to illegal coal theft are left with few options, one of them being preparation for govt. jobs. Panchgarhi area is under continuous threat of land fall- a problem created by corrupt BCCL officers and coal-mafia who after getting tenders for Sand filling in the empty mines never did so resulting in continuous threat of land-fall. Agriculture is also in very bad condition with the size of farms being tiny. Agriculture is done only for one season and with ancient tools and techniques. There are few movie theaters as well. Katras has numerous hospitals and nursing homes, few of them operate round the clock. Though it has many schools and one college, students rarely if ever attend the classes neither are teachers interested in teaching.

Education

There are some schools among which are D.A.V. HIGH SCHOOL KATRAS, Holy Mother's Academy, DAV Baroda, & De Nobili, G N M High School, Saraswati Sisu Mandir etc. attract most of the students. Some Govt. primary and middle schools attract students from poor background. To fill the void small private unrecognized schools have mushroomed in every nook and cranny. These schools have a single room for five standards and very unqualified poorly paid teachers. Lone Katras College is again a sign of total disregard to education. Till recently it did not have a building of its own .Even now after spending crores of Rs. what it has is a poor building on the illegally occupied land of G N M High School, litigation is underway over the same. There is acute shortage of teaching staff. Most of the departments have a single teacher. Even these teachers prefer not to take classes. Students also take attending classes to be below their dignity. but students are also not interested in studying.

Medical Facilities

Unfortunately despite having a good population, Katras hardly has any hospital. What exists are Nursing Homes sans any facility for dealing with emergencies. They are mostly centres for deliveries of babies and abortions. You would not find any doctor in night. There is no ICU. Diagnostic centres are not relied upon by any doctor. There is rampant medical corruption with doctors recommending un-necessary tests and costly medicines. Underlined tests(in the prescription) are not supposed to be carried out. They are only for cheating patients.Tilatand Hospital of BCCL used to be a centre for better treatment, now-a-days it remains empty most of the times.This when there is no better alternative. Most people either go to Dhanbad (for minor treatments) or Bokaro(for major treatment) and finally to CMC, Vellor for better treatment. The lone train from Dhanbad to Allepy is full of patients. There is an urgent need of a good hospital either in private sector or in public sector.

Economy

The chief source of income is BCCL, the coal company. It employs a large number of people. Agriclture is under-developed. The farm size is tiny and ancient tools are used. BCCL is now retrenching and closing its mines because of the depletion of the coal in the mines. The new professions which have emerged in the area are Coal-theft and Dalali (Agent-ship). So in the early morning you would find hundreds of cycle-wallah carrying coal illegally to the Nischitpur Railway Halt, from where it would be carried to Gaya and other areas by Passenger trains(sic). In fact some times passengers would not be allowed to board the train so that more of the coal could be carried. Administration- both local and railway maintains a deathly silence. Railway Police people can be seen to take money from coal-thieves as their cut. Dalali is an important vocation here with increasing number of people taking to it. Mind you this is not honest. What they do is, in connivance with the local administration charge money from the public for all govt. services. You would end coughing-up several times the actual amount for getting any service. So their are Dalals of local Police Station, of Block development office, of SDM's office, of DM's office. If one goes otherwise than through Dalals, the work would be completed in such a long time that one would start feeling that perhaps the whole system is dead and this when one has made many rounds of the office.

The main reason for emergence of such vacations is the lack of employment opportunities. People either migrate outside the state or open some retail shop or start coal-theft or Dalali. Now because of the lack of any other source of money in the area most of the newly opened retail shops fail miserably. Though Lilori Temple economy provides employment to some people, even there some people have capture Public infrastructure illegally and charge money from visitors for using them.

The economy is crumbling and unless some new source of income is provided the day is not far when it would be counted as sub-Saharan area.

Business

Once a bustling market, now shops remain empty most of the time. There are many cloth merchants ranging from Retailers to wholesalers. Important shops are Rameshwarlal Sushil Agarwal, Rameshwarlal&sons, Rameshwar Collection, SriLal Pokharmal, Rita Cloth Store, JiwanRam Agarwal, Jaiswal Brothers etc.Burnwal Stores deals in handicraft making , tailoring materials and shoe materials. There are electronic shops like Anoop Electronics, Verma Radio Ghar etc. There are many hard coke plants as well. Apart from these there is a Rajhans Refactories providing employment to over 2500 people. During Durgapuja festival and Lagan (marriage season) retail market gets some impetus but until new source of employment emerges, it will remain a town in slumber. Recently some private insurance companies have opened their offices.

Panchayati raj

Panchayti Raj is also under developed- first elections have taken place last year (2010) only. Elections were fought and won on the basis of use of money power only.

Transport

Roads are in bad conditions. With every renovation width of roads get smaller. Trackers, Auto(petrol& diesel), Buses are main mode of travel. Autos (petrol) are in very bad condition and auto drivers somehow are just able to have a square of meal daily and even that because every fridat they carry coal from the collieries for selling illegally. tongas are also used for travel purpose. There are three Railway stations - Katras garh, Nischitpur and Tetulmari. Some Express trains stop at first and last of them. The other is a mere Halt. Katrasgarh is on loop line, and is facing threat of extinction because of fragile underground.

Water

Water is a perennial problem. Electricity has the same story of want and deficiency. A water project started several years back never fructified because of corruption and mis- management. The water tower constructed in Dak Bunglaw was of such low quality that experts dreaded storing water in it lest it be sagging, endangering lives of local people. Thousands of hand pumps and submersibles have led to a severe fall in ground water level. People carrying water in plastic containers on bicycles is a common sight.

Libraries

There is a Bhartiya club which has a library as well and is currently sole common property resource for mental development of the local populace. Rajendra club established by Baranwals once had its own glories especially when Sri Gopal Baranwal was the secretary but now under the disabling leadership of some of the local vagabonds it has become a place for them to enjoy all kind of illeagal activities like alcohol-drinking etc.

Lilori temple

Lilori temple was considered one of the few natural picnic spots of the area; now it has lost all greenery due to illegal tree felling and indifferent attitude of government. Though it has grown in popularity, there is acute shortage of water and other amenities which become more severe during the summers when marriage season brings thousands of people for concluding marriages. This is an old temple of Goddess Lilori, family deity of local landlord (Raja), who is nowadays considered an incarnation of Goddess Kali. Goddess Lilori, typical to Begal and neighboring area, is non-vegetarian and daily hundreds of animals are sacrificed on her altar. This temple is 5 km from the city center. Liloristhan is considered a very sacred place for Hindus. It is favorite marriage spot for neighboring people. The compound is very unhygienic though. During the marriage season when thousands of people throng the place daily there is hardly any arrangement for clean water. The area is very smelly during the marriage season because of the wastes which are not disposed properly and are thrown at the very compound. Local MLAs and BCCL has constructed some buildings which are supposed to be free for people coming for marriage, but some local people mainly from Jhinjhi Pahari have captured them and now rent them out.

It neighbours local Smashan, where dead bodies are burnt. It sometimes give it a mystic colour.

Now a park is being developed in the vicinity but construction of park has led to elimination of natural forest. The coke plant, in very neighbourhood was already hurting the health of local people. Now situation is expected to worsen.

Gaushala

There is a gaushala(cow's house)as well. Established by the local land lord(Raja)it has seen its days of glory but now it functions under the headship of some self- perpetuating local traders who are involved in all kinds of corrupt practices like devouring all the fodder meant for cows coming from govt.All Mnagos, milk and other products also go into their cauldron. An annual fair is organised here on Gopashtmi after the Chhat Puja. It has also lost its sheen.

Kako Math

Kako math is also a centre of much activities. Religious education is provided to Hindu boys there. It also has a huge tract of land and other properties. Its income is also handsome. Once in a year birthday of Guruji is celebrated in which people are given Khichri to eat.

Rakshas Temple

The oldest and most important structure by archaeological and historical point of view is Rakshas temple of Jhinjhi Pahari. This temple is made of stones only and not even small amount of any other, including sand, material has been used to join them. It is understood to be at least six hundred years old. It is said that a similar temple was situated just in front of the lilori temple which fell in an earth quack and that these two temples signified some treasure. There is a myth that the temple was constructed by Lord Vishwakarma in a single night.

Water bodies

There are several ponds in katras like Raja Bandh, Rani Bandh, Guhi Bandh and others. Most of them however are under threat. Telia Bandh- once a big pond is now almost extinct and same is the story of all other ponds. Population burden has created the problem of space and ponds are losing out to residential buildings. This has made the water crisis more acute.Now a days two water tankies are made near katras college.
Katri Nadi is a small river which passes through the area. It discharges its water into the Damodar.It is a river of rainy season so most of the time water level is very low. In chhapulwa a small dam has been made from where water is supplied to the railways.

Banks

There are many banks in Katras like State bank of India, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, Allahabad bank, ICICI bank,Punjab National Bank, SBI Gramine bank. State Bank Of India which is the leading Bank of this area is always crowded. It generally takes the whole day to complete even a single transaction. Punjab National Bank has opened a branch in the Katras Bazar area but it is not fully functioning. ICICI Bank is in Nadi Kinare area and is far from the populated areas. Overall infrastructure of all banks is of poor quality. No Business Process Re-engineering has been done in any of the public sector banks. It is a common experience that even though employees are not working (at least in SBBJ)they would not do your work unless you have gone their the next day. It takes the full day for them to make a Demand Draft. And at least 5 days to open a new account. Account opening forms are generally not available in any public sector banks and when they have they would ask you to produce all Id and Address proofs even to get a form. It is very strange because at almost all other places Bank distribute forms freely. Though RBI's policy bars them from asking for any verification from others if customer full-fills all Know Your Customer norms, they would not open your account if you don't have introducer's signature. SBI ATM most of the time either does not have cash or is not working. Axis Bank's ATM is a relief for people.

Though it is not possible to give any reference it is a well known secret that local money lenders along with Bank Staff exploit the laborers of the Coal Company to such an extent that they can not withdraw money from their own account without the concurrence of the moneylenders. I (Atul Burnwal) have seen moneylenders carrying 10s of ATM Cards of laborers. When the laborers need money they request the moneylender to give them some-money and only if he is satisfied he will withdraw money from the ATM and hand it over to them. If such a laborer reaches the branch to withdraw money on his own, bank staff would inform the moneylender, who in turn would not only not allow him to withdraw money but would also beat them. Now it may be said that is not there any rule of law in the area. Answer is- it is a very under-developed area. Laborers are illiterate and unaware of their rights. Indian Police is, it is well known, most of the time on the side of the exploiters. Bank staff gets their cut. In fact even otherwise these illiterate people when they go to withdraw money, they take help of Dalals(Agents)with them whose work is to fill the form, count the money and hand it over to the person. In return they take their charge. The irony is that they are not satisfied with the commission. In fact savior becomes the cheater in connivance with the Bank Staff. Because the person in question does not know money counting, they would give him lesser amount.

Festivals

Katras is known for its Durgapuja festival. though its sheen has decreased much after lottery was banned you can even today hear people savouring the memory of those days of immense crowd and festivities. Holi, Diwali, Id are celebrated with much fun-fare.

Civil Society Organization

The Student Study Circle, Chhatabad, a local organization for the students, located in the premise of Urdu High School and established on the 5th January 1994, has produced BDOs Shabbir Ahmed, Mustaqueem Ansari, Auditor Ahmed Reza, Tripple IIItian Shamshad Alam, Primary Teachers, UDC LDC. etc.

A Nagar Vikas Samiti used to work earlier for development of the area. During wide spread menace of Diarrhoea it had worked a lot for removal of wastes and distribution of medicines. It used to organize annual sports competitions of school children as well. Now it is nonfunctional.

Most other organizations are religious in nature. Like Durgapuza Committees, Muharram Committees, Ramnavami Committees etc.

There are many temples here Lilori temple being the most famous. Sankat Mochan temple is the 2nd most famous temple. There is Durga temple, old thakurbari etc.

There is a local village market which is organised every Sunday (Hatiya). Its size has decreased much in recent years and some illegal constructions have been made.

Communal Harmony

Traditionally it has been free of communal tensions. After Babri some shops were burnt and allegedly some people were killed but thereafter everything was normal till recently when some people from a community destroyed the statue of a deity during immersion procession, beat people, and molested girls from the other community. Due to timely action by the administration situation remained under control but the tension is palpable among people.

Landmarks

• Liloristhan Temple. This is an ancient temple of Goddess Lilori who is an incarnation of Goddess Kali. This temple is 5 km from the city center. Liloristhan is considered a very sacred place for Hindus.
• Bhartiya Club. It is one of the oldest library in India which solely carries books from Hindi literature. The library was started by the great freedom fighter Late Shri Ramanand Khaitan, who was an ardent political activist during the Indian freedom movement. During the British days, the library used to be the melting pot of pro-freedom think-tanks and activists. Today, the library serves the people of Katras and its surrounding areas, filling a necessary void in providing access to Hindi literature. It has a free & open access reading room which gets a regular supply of newspapers, magazines and journals.
• Ranisati Temple. It is one of the newest temples situated in the middle of the city. This was constructed by the local Marwadi business community.
• RajaGarh. Old fort, or better to say haveli, of king of Katras (now in almost ruins).
• Dhan Mill Durga Puja Ground. This place is beside Keshalpur Road and Near New Colony and keep important for durga puja pandal.
• Sankat Mochan Mandir. It is situated in front of hanuman mansion and organises hanuman jayanti and ramnavmi every year in a grand way. People from all communities worship in this temple.

Schools

• De Nobili School. affiliated with ICSE Board. Class I-XII
• Holy Mother's Academy. affiliated with CBSE Board. Play-XII
• Saraswati Shishu Mandir. affiliated with CBSE Board. K-XII
• Delhi Public School.
• Katras Public School.
• Competition Public School.
• DAV High School. State Board
• DAV Middle School. State Board
• DAV Mahila Maha Vidyalaya. State Board.
• Katras College. Vinoba Bhave University
• G.N.M.High School State Board RK,NJ
• Kako Hill School ICSE Board.

Theatres

• Swastik Talkies. This is a 50+-year-old movie theatre, which came back into operations after it was shut down for nearly 10 years in the mid-1990s.Again it open but it is get down that time also,that's the reason it again closed.
• Durga Talkies (closed). The theatre has been torn down for a school
• Laxmi Talkies (closed)