Ambikapur is a city and headquarters of Surguja district in the Indian state of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

. It is one of the oldest cities in the state, in east-central

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Ambikapur is also the divisional headquarters of Surguja Division which consists of the six districts of Surguja,

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, Manendragarh, Balrampur, Surajpur and Jashpur. Ambikapur was the capital of the Princely state of Surguja before Indian Independence. The name of the city is derived from the Hindu goddess Ambika ( Mahamaya) Devi, who is the central figure of worship for the Hindus in the area. The area under Ambikapur Municipal Corporation is 35.360 km².

Geography

Ambikapur is located at . It has an average elevation of 623 metres (2078 feet). The district is spread over a forest-rich area of 22,237 km². Most of the district's terrain is forested and hilly. Natural resources include

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

, forest products and paddy crops.

Land

The land is classified into six categories. About 41.67% is under agriculture, while about 5.70% remains fallow. A further 11.44% of the land could be brought under cultivation by improvements in farming techniques and reclamation of marginal areas . A further 1.27% is barren and uncultivated while 33.09% is forest cover and 6.83% is covered by buildings, roads and other infrastructure. This distribution of cultivated land reflects the patterns and intensity of early agricultural practices and the extent of the population, combined with physical factors. Areas with a high concentration of cultivated land are generally those with longer histories of settlement and agricultural use.

Demographics

2011 census, Ambikapur had a population of 121,071. The municipality had a

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 920 females per 1,000 males and 11.3% of the population was under six years old. Effective literacy was 88.20%; male literacy was 92.73% and female literacy was 83.29%. Ambikapur is inhabited by people from across India. Moderate weather makes it an attractive place for settlement. Unlike the capital, the district population comprises aboriginal populations including the Pandos and Korwas, who still live in rural areas. Mainpat near Ambikapur is home to a significant number of Tibetan migrants who took refuge in India after the Chinese annexation of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

in 1959.

Government and politics

The city is part of the Sarguja Lok Sabha constituency represented by Member of Parliament Shri Chintamani Maharaj from the BJP, and in the state assembly through the Ambikapur Assembly constituency, represented by MLA Rajesh Agrawal from the Bhartiya Janata Party.

Civic administration

The city is governed by the

Municipal Corporation Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally o ...

of Ambikapur or Nagar Nigam Ambikapur, which is administered under the Chhattisgarh Municipal Corporation Act,1956. The municipal corporation has two parts, elected body and administrative body. The elected body is headed by the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Ajay Tirkey from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. The last election to Ambikapur Municipal Corporation took place in 2019. The administrative body is headed by the Municipal commissioner Mr. Luvkush Singrol. The city is divided into 48 wards and each ward is represented by a

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

directly elected by the people from the ward. The mayor of the city is elected indirectly from amongst the councillors.

Civic utilities

Electricity is supplied by the state's

State Power Distribution Company Limited. Ambikapur Municipal Corporation supplies 10.6 MLD of water to the city. Drinking water was initially sourced from the Banki Dam, but after pipeline expansion and construction of an automatic filter plant in Katkalo under the AMRUT scheme, in 2020 will also be sourced from the Ghughutta Dam in Nawagarh. The city has a total of 16 tanks for this purpose. The Municipal Corporation is responsible for the solid waste management of the city. Ambikapur generates 45 metric ton

solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

everyday, 90% of which is segregated through a decentralised waste management model. Household waste is collected door-to-door by 447 SHG women of 48 wards. The city has achieved 100% segregation of waste at the household level. It has no landfills and has been declared a zero-waste city since it converted its 15-acre

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

into a park in 2016. Ambikapur has implemented Solid Liquid Resource Management (SLRM) for disposal of municipal solid waste. There is no sewerage system in the city. Toilets are linked to individual septic tanks. In the Ambikapur block 74.51% of the total geographical area is cultivated. The Ambikapur Development Plan 2021 (Draft) was created by the Chhattisgarh Directorate of Town and Country Planning.

Transport

Rail

Ambikapur Railway Station is connected to the Anuppur railway junction, a bordering town in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, by a broad gauge railway. Trains reach Ambikapur from

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Katni Katni officially Murwara is a city on the banks of the Katni River in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Katni District. It is in the Mahakoshal region of central India. The city is from the divisional headquarter ...

, Satna,

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

Durg Durg is a city in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, east of the Shivnath River and is part of the Durg- Bhilai urban agglomeration. With an urban population of 1,064,077, Durg- Bhilai is the second largest urban area in Chhattisgarh after Rai ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), 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 ...

and the state capital

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

. More destinations, such as New Delhi, can be reached from Anuppur railway junction. Ambikapur - Delhi Special, Jabalpur - Ambikapur Express, Ambikapur – Shahdol, Ambikapur – Surajpur – Anuppur – Bilaspur – Raipur – Durg Express and Bhopal – Chirmiri Passenger run from major cities

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

and

. ABKP-NZM AC Special The train from AMBIKAPUR TO HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN (NEW DELHI). Route from Ambikapur-Anuppur-Katni-Damoh-Jhansi-Agra-Harzat Nizamuddin

Road

Ambikapur is well connected by road to other major cities of Chhattisgarh such as Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Bhilai, Korba and Raigarh. Daily bus services also runs for Varanasi, prayagraj, Renukoot in U.P (170 km), Raipur (345 km) and Garhwa in Jharkhand, Aurangabad in Bihar. Bus services from Anuppur to Ambikapur operate via Manendragarh and Surajpur. The bus journeys from Bilaspur and Anuppur take between five and six hours.

Air

Ambikapur Airport, now Maa Mahamaya Airport, is located at Darima, 12 km (7.5 mi) south of Ambikapur. The airport up-gradation work was finished in May 2023 at a cost of Rs. 48 crore from category 2C to 3C, to enable operations of 70-72 seater aircraft under UDAN Scheme. Making this the Fourth Public Serving Airport in Chhattisgarh after Raipur, Jagdalpur and Bilaspur.

Climate

Education

* Sarguja University Sant Gahira Guru Vishwavidyalaya Ambikapur * Sainik School Ambikapur * Govt. Rajeev Gandhi (Auto.) PG College * Rajmata shrimati Devendra Kumari Singhdeo Govt Medical College * University Engineering College * Govt. Polytechnic college & ITI * Govt Rajmohani Agriculture College. * Holly cross college of Nursing * Holly cross Women's College * Sai Baba Aadarsh College * K R Technical College * Oriental Public School *Carmel School *Sunrise Public School *Montfort School, Ambikapur

Media and communications

State-owned

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

has a local station in Ambikapur. *Sigma media limited

Notable people

* T. S. Singh Deo * Sunil Kumar Sinha * Akshat Gupta

Royal Palace

Surguja palace also known as Raghunath Palace is a prime palace in Ambikapur. It is a white, two-storey palace. Surguja Palace is one of the most eye-catching tourist places for both urban and rural crowds. This palace is open for public only on the day of Dussehra every year. Its an old tradition that the heir of royal family of Surguja meets and greets the visitors on Dussehra and the festival is celebrated in a pompous manner.

References

External links

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Surguja district