ISM, The Indian School of Mines, was started by Britishers in 1926. Located in Dhanbad, it draws students from all over India through IIT-JEE, as well as other countries. It is one of the pioneer universities of its kind in Asia. Situated in the heart of the country’s prime coking coal belt, 260 km from Kolkata with a campus spread over 88 hectares, the fully residential ISM has all the facilities of world-class academic institute. What started as an institution to impart mining education has graduated into a full-fledged technical institution of international acclaim offering a host of programmes like B. Tech., M. Tech., M. Sc. Tech., and MBA. In addition the School offers M. Phil. and full as well as part-time Ph. D. programmes, while also awarding D.Sc. as the highest degree of academic achievement. Up to 1967 it was a pure government institute where the faculties were recruited through the UPSC Selection Board. ISM had an All India Character and national outlook from the very day of its inception.The School was granted university status under the UGC Act in 1967. From 1996 the school came directly under Union Ministry of HRD.
Dhanbad has a very good rail connectivity with the other major parts of the country such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kochi, Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Nagpur, Pune, Guwahati etc. Dhanbad Rail Division comes under East Central Railway zone. Grand Chord rail-line passes through Dhanbad junction, it connects Howrah and New Delhi. CIC rail line starts from Dhanbad and ends at Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh. There is one more rail line passing through the district, it starts at Kharagpur and ends at Gomoh, this rail line comes under South Eastern Railway. Dhanbad is connected with almost all states through rail network. Each and every train through this has a stop at Dhanbad,other than the Sealdah New Delhi & Howrah New Delhi Duronto Exp,which also has a Technical Halt,but not to be used for Commercial Purposes.
Dhanbad features climate that is transitional between a humid subtropical climate and a tropical wet and dry climate. Summer starts from last week of March and ends in mid-June. Peak temperature in summer can reach 47 °C. Dhanbad also receives heavy rainfall. In winter, the minimum temperature remains around 12 °C with a maximum of 22 °C. Damodar River is the main river flowing through the district. Katri, Jamunia, Gobai, Khudia and Irji are the other rivers flowing through the district. The Red soil is found in the area and is not that much fertile for good agricultural produce. Due to presence of two large dams in the district, many people are involved in pisciculture. Forests present in the district are of northern tropical dry deciduous type. In many of these forests, people are engaged in Sericulture.
On October 1, 2011, India’s first AC double-decker train was flagged off to connect Howrah and Dhanbad. With this India joins the league of Europe and North America that run multi-deck trains.As on Oct 2011, the train runs daily except Sunday, departing from Howrah at 8:30 am to arrive at Dhanbad at 12:45 pm, and on return trip it departs Dhanbad at 6:30 pm to arrive at Howrah at 10:40 pm. It has a maximum permissible speed of 110 kilometres (68 mi)/hr with stops at Bardhaman, Durgapur, Asansol, Barakar and Kumardhubi on both legs of the route. This new AC design has several features namely stainless steel body, high-speed Eurofima design bogies with air springs and other safety-features. The coaches have a control discharge toilet system.
The Damodar is the most important river of the Chotanagpur plateau. It rises in Palamu and flows eastward between the plateaus of Ranchi and Hazaribag. It is joined by the Bokaro, the Konar and the Barakar rivers. The Damodar enters Dhanbad district at its confluence with the Jamuria, a stream which marks the western boundary of Dhanbad with Hazaribagh District. Further east, the Damodar is joined by the Katri River which rises in the foot hills below Parasnath and traverses through the Coal-field Area. The Damodar flows for about 77 km. through the district being joined by the Barakar at its eastern border near Chirkunda. The Panchet dam extending to roughly 6 km is built on river Damodar. The hydal station there generates 40,000 K.W. per hour (sicsic).
The present district used to be a part of Manbhum. In the Settlement Report for Manbhum (1928) it was stated that no rock inscriptions, copper plates or old coins were discovered and not a single document of copper plate or palm leaf was found, during the Survey and Settlement operations. The oldest authentic documents produced were all on paper and barely even a hundred years old. Dhanbad was in Manbhum district from 1928 up to 1956. However, on 24 October 1956, Dhanbad was declared a District on the Recommendation of the States Reorganization Commission vide notification 1911. And from 1956 to 14 November 2000 it was under Bihar. At present it is in Jharkhand, after the creation of state on 15 November 2000.
Bank More being the central hub for Shopping, now the city has malls and shopping centers spread across length and breadth of Dhanbad city namely City Centre Bartand, City Style-Dutta Tower(Hirpur), Ozone Galleria (with Big Bazaar & Pantaloons), Ozone Plaza (having KFC and Domino’s), Sri Ram Plaza, Urmila Tower, The family Store, New Market, Park Market (Hirapur), etc. These are the places where one can shop and many more upcoming, namely Prabhatam Grand, Center-Point Mall(With Bank, Retail Shops, Food Court containing Restaurants,PVR Cinemas Multiplex), Shristi Plaza (First Green Project of Jharkhand) creating shopping paradises and housing major brands for people of Dhanbad.
BIT Sindri, founded in 1949, BIT Sindri is a technical institution offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in various branches of engineering approved by All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi. It is wholly owned by the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of Jharkhand, Ranchi and affiliated to Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribag., known as Birsa Institute of Technology (BIT Sindri).BIT,Sindri was started as College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in 1949 at Patna. After one year it was shifted to Sindri on 17 November 1950 and thus was born BIT Sindri. It is the one of the oldest engineering college in India.
Dhanbad is famous for its coal mines and industrial establishments; it has 112 coal mines with a total produce of 27.5 million tonnes and an annual income of 7000 million Rupees through coal business. There are also number of coal washeries present there. The city is also known for its power generation plants. Hydro Power is being generated at Maithon and Panchet. Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) are setting up a 1050 MW thermal power plant at Maithon. This project is already in operation with one unit running successfully. ONGC is using CBM (Coal beded methane) for power generation at some of the coal mines.
Doordarshan relay station is present in Dhanbad near Koyla Nagar. There are some local news channels in the city such as, Antarkatha Vision News which are creative media houses which broadcast on local cable on Dhanbad, Bokaro, Chatra, Hazaribag, Kodrma and Lakhisarai Bihar. This News Channel makes some artists which popular in all India and makes some short film documentaries and other programs which are popular. And other some creative youth is active in this channel. Divine News successfully relays to seven districts of Jharkhand.
Anything from cycle rickshaws, auto Rickshaws to all modern means of transportation are available within the city. Private and State buses are available for inter-city traveling. National Highway 2 and National Highway 32 are the major highways passing through Dhanbad. NH 2 has now been converted into Golden Quadrilateral (GQ). Golden Quadrilateral starts from Kolkata and ends at Delhi. From Dhanbad to Kolkata, Golden Quadrilateral will be converted into six lane expressway; NH 32 connects Govindpur to Bokaro-Jamshedpur.- Barbil.
Cricket is the most popular sport in Dhanbad, followed by Football. Dhanbad is one of the centres where 34th National Games was organized. Cricket Stadiums at present are at Tata Steel Stadium Digwadih, Nehru Stadium Jealgora and Railway Stadium where Ranji Trophy matches are organised. Women’s International Cricket were also played at Railway Stadium Football matches of national level were played at Railway Stadium (but now it is converted into Cricket Stadium by the Railway management)and Sijua Stadium.
Originally the name of Dhanbad was Dhanbaid which seems to have been derived from the word Dhan (paddy) and baid, i.e., the paddy land. The Dhanbad originated from the district of Manbhum occupied by Mundari or Kolarian races in the wilderness of South undivided Bihar. In the seventh century A.D. some information is available from the account of the travels of Hieun Tsang. These accounts narrate existence of a powerful kingdom which comprised the district and adjoining areas, ruled by Sasanka.
Mannan Mallick of Congress won in the 40 Dhanbad assembly constituency defeating Raj Kumar Sinha of BJP in 2009. Pashupati Nath Singh of BJP defeated Mannan Mallik of Congress in 2005, Prasadi Sao of RJD in 2000, and Ramadhar Yadav of JD in 1995. Surendra Prasad Roy of Congress defeated S.K.Shriva of JD in 1990 and Ram Chander Singh of Janata Party in 1985. Yogeshwar Prasad Yogesh of Congress defeated Gopi Kant Bakshi of CPI(M) in 1980 and Kalawati Devi of Janata Party.
Dhanbad is the Headquarter of the District and also the headquarter of DMC (Dhanbad Municipal Corporation). DMC was formed as per the State Government Notification dated 1/02/06 with merger of areas Jharia NAC, Sindri, NAC, Chhatandih NAC, Katras NAC. Dhanbad city elects one Member of Parliament. Also some part of the district comes under Giridih seat of Lok Sabha. There are six Legislative Assembly seat; they are Sindri, Baghmara, Dhanbad, Jharia, Nirsa, Tundi.
BCCL- BCCL is a Public Sector Undertaking(Subsidiary of Coal India Ltd.) engaged in mining of coal and allied activities.BCCL meets almost 50% of the total prime coking coal requirement of the integrated steel sector. BCCL was incorporated in January, 1972 to operate coking coal mines operating in the Jharia & Raniganj Coalfields, taken over by the Govt. of India on 16th Oct,1971 to ensure planned development of the scarce coking coal resources in the country.
CIMFR, Barwa Road Campus- Erstwhile CMRI, the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) Dhanbad, is a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) was aimed to provide R&D inputs for the entire coal-energy chain from mining to Consumption through integration of the Core Competencies of the two (CFRI & CMRI) premier Coal institution of the country.
The Barakar, which forms the northern boundary of the district, traverses about 77 km. In the district. It flows in south westerly direction up to Durgapur and then south till it joins the Damodar near Chirkuda. The Maithon dam is located on this river about 13 km off its confluence with the Damodar. Attached to it is the Maithan Power Station with a generating capacity of 60,000 K.W.H.
Hindi is the predominant language of Dhanbad, Khortha, Bengali, kurmali, Santali, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Magahi are also widely spoken. English serves as the connecting language in business and tourist function. Additionally, Urdu, Tamil, and Punjabi speaking people are present in significant numbers. Several tribal languages are also spoken in the city, including Kurukh and Ho.
Dhanbad has an average elevation of 227 m (745 ft). Its geographical length (extending from North to South) is 15 miles (24 km) and the breadth (stretching across East to West) is 10 miles (16 km). It shares its boundaries with West Bengal in the Eastern and southern part, Dumka & Giridih in the North and Bokaro in the west. Dhanbad comes under the Chota Nagpur Plateau.