Once an important mart of region
By Jatinder Sharma

BHIWANI town is said to be the creation of the British. At the beginning of the present century, when Delhi territory came under British rule, Bhiwani was an insignificant village.

It is believed that a Rajput named Nim founded the village in honour of his wife Bahni, who had saved his life from treachery and called it by her name. The name was first corrupted from Bahni to Bhiani and later to Bhiwani. The locals still call it Bhiani.

Bhiwani was the first place to be taken over by the British force which accompanied Edward Gardiver, who was deputed to restore order in that region in 1810 AD.

In 1817, William Fraser, a political resident at Delhi, selected the village for setting up a mandi. Up to that time the town of Dadri, under the rule of an independent nawab, was the main centre of commerce of the area. The estates of the nawab were confiscated in 1857 on account of his rebellion and were bestowed upon the nawab of Jind as a reward for his fidelity to the British.

The excessive duties extorted from traders by the nawab of Jind were irksome and annoying for people of Dadri. Therefore, upon the establishment of a mart at Bhiwani, all the principal firms at once transferred their business to the new market place.

Bhiwani had been a part of Rohtak district. In 1824, when Rohtak was constituted into a separate district, Bhiwani was transferred to it. But in 1861, Bhiwani was transferred to Hisar district.

Bhiwani town rapidly rose to become the main channel through which all trade from Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jaipur and other states of Rajputana flowed into Hindustan. The principal mercantile firms of every part of southern India had agents here. Bhiwani was then called the "gate of the desert".

Most of the businessmen of the town had, besides local dealings, branches in Calcutta and Bombay. Many of them made money in Calcutta and spent it in Bhiwani. In the beginning of the century, an estimated 4,000 businessmen, agents and brokers from Bhiwani were doing business in Calcutta.

Bhiwani was also an important centre for negotiating hundies, by which much of the business of India was carried on.

The town is located in a depression with sand hills rising towards its west. In the past, the town had a wall around it with 12 main gateways. But for the expansion of the town, it became necessary to dismantle the wall.

The town has nearly 3000 big and small temples and is called Chhoti Kashi. The Gauri Shankar temple, also known as Kirori Mal Mandir, was constructed in 1948. Its entrance is 50 feet high and it has clocks fitted on the four sides of its 108-foot-high tomb.

Bhiwani was made a separate district on December 22, 1972.

Academic centre of Haryana

EDUCATIONALLY, Bhiwani has developed tremendously after Haryana came into existence in 1966.

Today, the town can boast of over half-a-dozen academic and vocational colleges and about a dozen senior secondary schools, enough to meet the educational requirements of the residents and those of the surrounding areas. The contribution of the government in the expansion of education has been limited, as most of these institutions have been set up by private societies and organisations.

The Technological Institute of Textile and Sciences (TITS), established here in 1943, is among the premier technical institutes in the country. The institute is offering B.Tech degree courses in textile technology, textile chemistry and computer sciences.

It is also conducting postgraduate courses in textile technology up to the master and doctoral levels. The postgraduate programme in management science was introduced in 1986.

The other professional institutes here are K.M. College of Education and Government College of Education that provide B.Ed courses. Brahmchari Sanskrit Maha-vidyalaya provides courses on teaching.

There are three senior secondary schools and a college exclusively for girl students. The college, Adarsh Mahila Maha-vidyalaya, was established in 1970.

The Board of School Education, Haryana, has been located here since 1981. The main functions of the board are to conduct middle-level, matric and senior secondary examinations. More than seven lakh students throughout the state appear in these annual examinations.

— J.S.

Civic body facing crisis

THE municipal committee at Bhiwani is perhaps among the oldest civic bodies of the state. It was established in 1864 when the town had a population of approximately 30,000 and its area was confined to the boundary wall raised around the town.

The boundary wall was later removed to extend the town. The town has a population of 1.52 lakh and is spread over an area of 27.4 sq km. But, the city has expanded in a haphazard manner. A number of colonies have sprung up over the years with no proper planning.

The main streets in the older parts of the town were 15 to 40 feet wide. But with the passage of time, residents have encroached upon the open space opposite their houses and shops. Many streets in the old town are narrow and barely six to 12 feet wide. However, the roads in the circular road and adjoining localities are quite wide. The majority of the roads in outer colonies are still unpaved.

Till the extension of the Delhi branch of the western Yamuna canal to the town, the water supply was deplorably bad. Even now it is by no means good. A good drinking water supply system is needed for the town.

Except on the circular road and its adjoining localities, the town has no proper drainage system. There are open drains on both sides of the streets in the old part of the town. As the town is lower than the surrounding area, it is difficult to set up a proper drainage system. Most of the drain water in the past used to find its way into tanks located inside and outside the town. But these tanks have been filled over the years and as a result the drain water accumulates on the streets, emitting a foul smell.

The sanitary conditions in the town are also in a bad shape. Heaps of garbage are a common sight in most parts of the city. The financial state of the municipal committee is extremely poor. In 1997-98, the committee had an income of Rs 1.72 crore but its expenses on establishment, petrol, diesel for vehicles, fire-brigade, street-lights and repair of roads exceeded Rs 2.11 crore.

The civic body is not in a position to undertake any development projects and depends on grants. The total expenditure incurred by it last year was merely Rs 50,000.

Though the municipal committee has a budget of Rs 2.35 crore for the current financial year, its employees have not been paid wages for the last two months. They have also been denied the benefits of the revised pay-scales recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission.

The Nehru Park, set up in 1982 on 12 acres, is in a state of neglect. The 22-foot-high fountain erected in the middle of the park has been non-functional for the past couple of years.

— J.S.

Industrial growth sluggish

BORDERING the desert state of Rajasthan, Bhiwani has been catapulted to the industrial map of Haryana.

The town has 15 large-scale and medium-scale industries and nearly 3350 small-scale units which have provided employment to over 25,000 persons. The items produced here include textiles, gum and its byproducts, steel tubes, yarn and plastic goods.

It is considered the largest market in northern India for plastic products. It was once an important trade centre for brass and bell metal (kansi) items.

The industrial growth of the town started with the setting up of Punjab Cotton Mills, a spinning and weaving unit, in 1913. The ageing mill got a new lease of life when it was taken over by the Grasim group of industries owned by the Birlas in 1964.

Most of the products manufactured here are now making waves in the overseas markets also. The products are exported to China, Germany. The Netherlands, Pakistan, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the USA and Zimbabwe.

The polyster yarn and viscose blended fabric, produced by textile mills here, are popular in Turkey, Australia, Saudi Arabia, The UAE, Syria, Cyprus, Mauritius, Jordan, Singapore, Hong Kong and East European countries.

But lack of infrastructural facilities and resource crunch has marred the growth of the industry. Five large-scale and medium-scale industries and over 160 small units are closed today due to recession and shortage of finances. Approximately, 30 small-scale units, which could not repay their loans, have been locked by the Haryana Financial Corporation and other financial institutions.

The entrepreneurs, who raise loan for setting up units from the Haryana Financial Corporation, have to wait for two to three years to get power connection. Before the unit starts production, the loan instalments are to be paid and the corporation charges penal interest if the loan instalment is not paid on time.

The high tariff charged by the Vidyut Nigam from the industrial sector has also contributed in making the industry sluggish. The erratic supply of electricity and power cuts have further confounded the problems of the industry here.

The Bhiwani Textiles Mills, the largest industrial unit here, has set up its own power generation unit at a cost of Rs 16 crore. The mill needs 1.10 lakh units per day to run its 14,000 spindles.

The state government has planned to set up an integrated infrastructural development centre here to boost the industry. It proposes to acquire 62 acres of land for this project and a notification under Section 7 of the Land Acquisition Act has already been issued.

— J.S.