Itarsi is a city and municipality in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, India in

Narmadapuram District Narmadapuram district is one of the districts of Madhya Pradesh state of India, and Narmadapuram city is the district headquarters. Geography The district has an area of 5408.23 km². Narmadapuram district is bounded by the districts of ...

. Itarsi is a key hub for agricultural goods and is the biggest railway junction in Madhya Pradesh. Rail services from all 4 major metropolitan cities of India namely Mumbai to Calcutta and Delhi to Chennai pass through Itarsi. Itarsi has large number of agro-based industries and warehouses . Itarsi got its name by "eeta(eent)", (literally means brick in Hindi) and "rassi", (literally means rope in Hindi). Bricks and ropes had been made earlier in itarsi. It has an Ordnance Factory. The

bori wildlife sanctuary The Bori Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary in Hoshangabad District of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The sanctuary covers an area of , located in the northern foothills of the Satpura Range. It is bounded by the Satpura Nationa ...

and Tawa Dam are nearby.

Geography

Itarsi is located at . It has an average elevation of 304 metres (997 feet).

Itarsi Tehsil Population Statistics

Itarsi is a sub district in the Narmadapuram district, in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The total population in Itarsi sub district is 240,719 as per the survey of census during 2011 by Indian Government. Of this about 123,325 people are living in the urban (towns and cities) area and about 117,394 are living in villages (rural areas) There are 49,297 households in this sub district. There are 124,898 males (52%) and 115,821 females (48%).

Demographics

As of the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Itarsi had a population of 114,495. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Itarsi has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81% and female literacy is 69%. In Itarsi, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. Itarsi comes under "Constituents of Urban Agglomerations of Madhya Pradesh" includes Itarsi (M), Pathrauta (part) (OG), Bhilakhedi (CT) and Meharagaon (CT).

Administration

The city is a

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

under Narmadapuram District. It is a part of Narmadapuram Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) and comes under Narmadapuram - Narsinghpur Loksabha (Parliament) constituency. It has a municipality with 34 wards and is headed by a municipality chairperson.

Transport

Itarsi Junction railway station Itarsi Junction railway station (station code: ET) is a junction railway station in Narmadapuram district in Madhya Pradesh from which more than 420 trains pass every day. It is the 8th busiest railway junction in India. It falls under the ...

Itarsi is one of the biggest railway junctions in Madhya Pradesh, at the crossing of important east–west and north–south routes. Itarsi comes under West Central Railway zone whose headquarters is in

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

. Itarsi is connected via

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

lines to

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

to the north,

Bhusawal Bhusawal is the largest municipal council (established in 1882) in the Jalgaon district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, situated along the banks of the river Tapi. The city emerged as a major railway junction during the British Raj, and s ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

to the west, the railway junctions of

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

to the south and

to the east. Rail services from Mumbai to

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

and Delhi to

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

pass through Itarsi. 250 trains are daily passing through. Itarsi runs one express train — Vindhyachal express — and it runs three passenger trains in Jabalpur route daily. Itarsi is the busiest railway station in Bhopal division. The new platforms 6 and 7 opened for Jabalpur, Nagpur and Bhusawal routes. National Highway (NH-69) connects Itarsi to major cities Bhopal and Nagpur. New four lane roads are under the making in to be functional under 5 years. Four Duronto Express trains have technical halts at Itarsi. The nearest airport is in

. Under construction project - * Itarsi-Bhusawal 3rd line. * Itarsi-nagpur 3rd line (Central Railway pushes Rs 140cr third line project in ghat section). * Itarsi-bhopal 3rd line. *

Diesel Loco Shed

Itarsi Diesel Loco Shed is an

engine shed The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

located in Itarsi. It comes under the

Jabalpur railway division Jabalpur railway division is one of the three railway divisions under West Central Railway zone (WCR) of Indian Railways. This railway division was formed on 1 April 1952 and its headquarters are located at Jabalpur city in the state of Madhya ...

of the West Central Railway zone.

History

As one of the oldest Diesel Loco Sheds, it was opened in the year 1964 with a total number of 40 locomotives.

Operations

After the electrification of Itarsi-Allahabad section at a cost of Rs 350 cr and Itarsi-Jabalpur at a cost of Rs 134 cr, the shed now services both diesel and electric locomotives. Two effluent treatment plants and Incinerators are also available. It also has canteen facility for the staff members. In 2020, it employed around 750 people. In 2014, amidst reports of

contact dermatitis Contact dermatitis is a type of acute or chronic inflammation of the skin caused by exposure to chemical or physical agents. Symptoms of contact dermatitis can include itchy or dry skin, a red rash, bumps, blisters, or swelling. These rashes are ...

caused by diesel handling in other Indian Railway sheds, around 100 mechanics from Itarsi shed also reported persistent skin afflictions. In 2021, 23 diesel locomotives were scrapped in the shed earning 13.86 crores. The shed consumed 875 MWh electricity in 2019-20 and 563 MWh in 2020–21.

Locomotives

References

{{Narmadapuram Division Cities and towns in Hoshangabad district