Noamundi is a

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

West Singhbhum district West Singhbhum or Pashchimi Singhbhum is one of the 24 districts of Jharkhand state, India. It came into existence on 16 January 1990, when the old Singhbhum district (then in Bihar) was bifurcated. Chaibasa is the district headquarters. The dis ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

. It is also an administrative block. It is a small mining town located close to the

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

border. It lies near

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

and from Chaibasa. Nearby towns include Padapahar, Barajamda, jagannathpur,

Kharsawan Kharsawan garh is a town and a notified area in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. History Kharsawan (also spelt as Kharsuan) was founded around 1650. It was one of the Oriya P ...

Gua Gua may refer to: Biology * GUA, a codon for the amino acid valine * Gua or Guanine, a nucleobase found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA Telecommunications * GUA, Global Unicast Address Languages * Gua language, a Guang language of coa ...

and Kiriburu.

Overview

The major produce of this mine is

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

(including blue dust). The mines are run by the

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company, based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO), Tata ...

and most of the residents of this town are employed by this company. In the recent past a lot of private mine-owners have also set up shop in and around the town. A

Pelletizing Pelletizing is the process of compressing or molding a material into the shape of a pellet. A wide range of different materials are pelletized including chemicals, iron ore, animal compound feed, plastics, waste materials, and more. The process ...

Plant of

to convert blue dust to pellets, suitable for use in blast furnace functioned here from 1972 to 1986 but was closed down because it was not economically viable . The town is the right on the border of Jharkhand and

with some of the iron-mines spanning the two states. The portion of iron mining area of Noamundi in the state of

is called Katamati. Legend has it that when the first iron ore explorers came to this region, they were amazed to find the local tribal population (

Adivasis The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The term ...

) using iron axes. When the explorers asked the tribals where they had found the ore, they pointed to a hill nearby and called it Noamundi, which literally means 'that hill' in their language. The native tribal are known as

Ho people The Ho or Kolha people are an Austroasiatic Munda ethnic group of India. They call themselves the ''Ho'', ''Hodoko'' and ''Horo,'' which mean 'human' in their own language. Officially, however, they are mentioned in different subgroups like K ...

and their language is also known by the same name, Ho. In spite of the commodity boom across the world over the last couple of years and the consequent effect of this on the area around Noamundi, the trickle down effect of this boom on the local Adivasi population has been negligible.

Illegal mining Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission, in particular in absence of land rights, mining licenses, and exploration or mineral transportation permits. Illegal mining can be a subsistence activity, as is the cas ...

thrives and is the rule rather than the exception. The result is the increased popularity of the Naxalite movement in this area and in greater Jharkhand.

Geography

Noamundi is located at . It has an average elevation of 487 metres (1597 feet). Noamundi is located in the heart of

Saranda forest Saranda forest is a dense forest in the hilly region of West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Saraikela district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. This area used to be the private hunting reserve of the Singh Deo family (the erstwhile royal family of Sar ...

, which is the densest deciduous forest of Asia. 'Saranda' in the local tribal language means 'The land of 700 hills'. The administrative boundary of the Saranda reserve forest, however, lie a few kilometres away. Along with dense

forest cover Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canop ...

Noamundi, is highly resourceful region. The place is rich in iron ore hematite and Indian multinations like TATA STEEL operate in this region. Apart from forest cover and mining belt, Noamundi has a diversified population, inside the TATA STEEL township people for various regions of India can be found, apart from that being the border of orissa and jharkhand, two most resourceful states of India cultural flavor of both the states can be seen here. With the scenic view of forest cover and hills of saranda forest this region is developing fast.

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Noamundi had a population of 126,994. Noamundi has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 95%, and female literacy is 82%. In Noamundi, 57% of the population is under 6 years of age and 79% of the population is under in Adult.

Transport

Noamundi is a station on the Tatanagar–Barbil section of Howrah-Tatanagar-Rajkharswan-Barbil line 126 kms from Tatanagar station. There is a Jan Shatabdi express which connects Noamundi to Tatanagar and Howrah

References

{{Kolhan Division Mining communities in India Cities and towns in West Singhbhum district