East India · West Bengal
Asansol, West Bengal
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia
About Asansol
- Inland
Where it is
Asansol is an industrial city in the Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal, on the lower Chota Nagpur Plateau between the Damodar and Ajay rivers, close to the Jharkhand border.
History
Asansol grew from the late 19th century as a railway junction and coal town on the Raniganj coalfield, and the railways were its first big employer. Ironworks at Kulti and the steel plant at Burnpur then helped make the Asansol and Durgapur area one of eastern India's great industrial belts.
People
Bengali and Hindi are the main languages, and Urdu, Santali and Punjabi are also spoken, reflecting workers drawn from Bengal, Bihar and further afield. Durga Puja is the year's great festival, alongside Chhath and Eid.
Known for
- Coal mines of the Raniganj coalfield
- IISCO steel plant at Burnpur
- Asansol railway junction
- Kalyaneshwari Temple
- Maithon Dam nearby
Did you know?
Coal mining in India began in the Raniganj coalfield around Asansol, where officials of the East India Company started working coal in 1774.
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