| Voice of Surat : Rasik
Bhuva
Surat District
Area, Population & Sex Ratio
Geographical Area : 7657.0 Km2
Population in Surat (Census 2011)
Total Population : 6,079,231
Disabled population
Total disabled population : 63790
In seeing : 31722
In speech : 4634
In hearing : 4222
In movement : 16717
Mental : 6495
Rank ( VoiceOfBharat.org Analysis
)
Backwardness : Does not figure in list of 447 backward
districts
Disability : 85 (Census 2001)
Minority : Does not figure in MCD
Literacy Ratio : 127 (Census 2001)
Sex Ratio Rank : 19 (Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : A (HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 -2006)
Water : Flouride in Groundwater above permissible limits
Brief About Surat District
About The District
Surat is a port city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is located
at 20.58° N latitute and 72.54° E longitude and as of 2005, Surat
and its metropolitan area had a population of approximately 2.9
million. The city is situated on the left bank of the Tapti River,
14 miles from its mouth. A moat indicates the dividing-line between
the old city, with its narrow streets and handsome houses, and the
newer suburbs, but the city wall has almost disappeared. The city
is largely recognized for its textile and diamond businesses. Surat
is also the a district in the state of Gujarat. Surat city is the
administrative headquarters of this district. This district is surrounded
by Bharuch, Narmada (North), Navsari and Dang (South) districts.
To the west is the Gulf of Cambay.
History
Local traditions fix the establishment of the modern
city in the last year of the fifteenth century, and in 1514 the
Portuguese traveller Duarte Barbosa described it as an important
seaport, frequented by many ships from Malabar and all parts. There
still is an irregular picturesque fortress on the banks of the river
built in 1540. One particular village in the suburbs of Surat is
Barbodhan Village, possibly named after the explorer Barbosa. Surat
eclipsed Cambay as the major port of western India, as Cambay's
harbor had began to silt up. During the reigns of Mughal emperors
Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan it rose to be the chief commercial
city of India. At the end of the 16th century the Portuguese were
undisputed masters of the Surat sea trade. But in 1612 the British
Captain Best, and after him Captain Downton, destroyed the Portuguese
naval supremacy and obtained an imperial firman establishing a British
factory at Surat, and making the city the seat of a presidency under
the British East India Company, while the Dutch also founded a factory.
In 1664 the Maratha leader Shivaji sacked Surat, with the exception
of the British factory, a fortified warehouse-counting house-hostel,
which was successfully defended by Sir George Oxenden. The prosperity
of the factory at Surat received a fatal blow when Bombay was ceded
to the Company (1668) and shortly afterwards made the capital of
the Company's possessions and the chief seat of their trade. From
that date also the city began to decline, and the city was sacked
again by Shivaji in 1670. At one time its population was estimated
at 800,000, by the middle of the 19th century the number had fallen
to 80,000; but in 1901 it had risen again to 119,306. Surat was
taken by the British in 1759, and the conquerors assumed the undivided
government of the city in 1800. Since the introduction of British
rule the district has remained comparatively tranquil; and even
during the Revolt of 1857 peace was not disturbed, owing in great
measure to the loyalty of the leading Muslim families. A fire and
a flood in 1837 destroyed a great number of buildings, but there
remain several of interest, such as the mosque of Nay Saiyid Sabib,
with its nine tombs, the Saiyid Edroos mosque (1634) and the ornate
Mirza Sami mosque and tomb (1540). Among the interesting monuments
are the tombs of English and Dutch merchants of the 17th century,
especially that of the Oxenden brothers. By the early 20th century,
Surat was still a centre of trade and manufacture, though some of
its former industries, such as ship-building, were extinct. There
were cotton mills, factories for ginning and pressing cotton, rice-cleaning
mills and paper mills. Fine cotton goods were woven in hand-looms,
and there were special manufactures of silk brocade and embroidery.
The chief trades were organized in guilds. The trading brought an
eclectic mix of ethnicities which make Surat's culture unique even
in modern times. In 1992, violent riots took place between Hindus
and Muslims, and in 1994, a plague epidemic spread in the city.
The municipal commissioner Rao and the people of Surat worked hard
in the late 1990s to clean the city up after which it was recognized
in many circles as the 'second-cleanest city in India'
Geography
Surat is a port city situated on the banks of the
Tapti river. The Surat district is surrounded by Bharuch, Narmada
(North), Navsari and Dang (South) districts. To the west is the
Gulf of Cambay. The climate is tropical and the monsoom is abundant
(about 2500 mm a year). Latitude: 22° 17’ 59’’ North Longitude:
73° 15’ 18’’ East Area: 112.27 km²
Climate Winter Temperature: Max 31 °C, Min 22
°C Summer Temperature: Max 40 °C, Min 22 °C Rainfall (mid-June to
mid-September): 931.9 mm Lowest Recorded Temperature: 7 °C Highest
Recorded Temperature: 45 °C
Surat's 'growth' may bring about downfall
June 02, 2005
It took a major epidemic some 11 years ago to shake Surat out of
its stupor and transform itself from the country's most shabby city
to the second cleanest. But, the city is once again edging towards
yet another urban disaster, with the place bursting at its seams
in the same haphazard way as it did then to invite the plague.
Read
More
State's Parsis oppose move to join new world body
May 30, 2005
Parsis in Gujarat are raising their voice against a move by the
Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP) to join a proposed international body
of Zoroastrians. For, a majority of the 15,000-strong Parsi population
in the state feels the body — International Zoroastrian Organisation
(IZO) — seeks to enrol converts and non-Zoroastrians into the fold
of the community, something which may dilute the basic tenets of
their religion
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