Delhi
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Area |
1,483 sq km |
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Union Territory Portal |
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Population |
13,80 million |
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Open Forum Partners
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Capital |
Delhi |
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Important Contact Numbers |
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Principal
Languages |
Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu & English |
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Development Initiatives |
History
and Geography
Delhi finds prominent reference right from the
times of the epic Mahabharata. Its control passed
from one ruler/dynasty to another, beginning
with the Mauryas, Pallavas, Guptas of Central
India, and then to the Turk and Afghan during
the 13th to 15th centuries, and finally to the
Mughals in the 16th century. In the latter half
of the 18th century and early 19th century,
the British rule was established in Delhi. In
1911, Delhi became the centre of all activities
after the capital was shifted from Kolkata.
It was made a Union Territory in 1956. Lying
in the northern part of the country, Delhi is
surrounded by Haryana on all sides except the
east, where it borders with Uttar Pradesh. The
69th Constitutional amendment is a milestone
in Delhi's history, as it got a Legislative
Assembly with the enactment of the National
Capital Territory Act, 1991.
Agriculture
The principal food crops are wheat, bajra, jowar,
gram and maize. However, emphasis has now shifted
from food crops to vegetables and fruit crops,
dairy, poultry-farming, floriculture, etc.,
as these are more remunerative than food crops
in the territory.
Industry
Delhi is not only the largest commercial centre
in northern India, but also the largest centre
of small industries. These are manufacturing
a wide variety of items like television, tape
recorders, light engineering machines and automobile
parts, sports goods, bicycles and PVC goods
including footwear textiles, fertilizers, medicines,
hosiery, leather goods, software, etc.
Delhi’s new millennium industrial policy,
emphasizes setting up of high tech and sophisticated
industries in electronics, telecommunications,
software industries, IT enabling services, etc.
The industries, which are non-polluting and
encourage high value addition and depend largely
on skilled manpower are being promoted. DSIDC
is setting up a Training Institute for Gems
and Jewellery and Assaying and Hallmarking Centre
at Okhla in the building of Hi tech Vocational
Centre.
For the purpose of relocating industrial units
functioning in residential non-conforming areas,
the Government of NCT of Delhi took possession
of 1900 acres of land at village Bawana, Holambi
Kalan and Holambi Khurd for developing new industrial
estates. Bawana Industrial area developed by
DSIDC is the largest in Asia and is spread over
1900 acres of land. At Narela 900 plots have
been developed and allotted and another 600
plots are being developed. Work of construction
of 378 flatted factories at Jhilmil Industrial
Area for relocation of smaller units has been
completed. 450 acres of land have been taken
for development at the Bhorgaarh industrial
estates. In addition to the above, 652 hectares
of land is being acquired for development into
a huge industrial area in Kanjhawala/Kerala.
Irrigation and Power
Due to fast urbanisation taking in the rural
areas of Delhi, cultivable command area under
irrigation is getting reduced day by day. Two
schemes, namely, ‘‘Keshopur Effluent
Irrigation Scheme Phase-III’’ and
‘‘Improvement and Extension of Effluent
Irrigation System from Coronation Treatment
Plant’’ are under execution. Irrigation
of about 350 hectares with state tube-wells
and 1,376 hectares from effluent water is being
provided in the rural area of NCT of Delhi.
In addition about 4,900 hectares of land is
being irrigated from western Yamuna Canal network.
The firm availability of power for Delhi from
its own generating units at Rajghat Power Houses,
IP Station and Gas Turbines including Badarpur
Thermal Station is of the order of 850-900 MW.
The remaining power is drawn from Northern Regional
Grid. Delhi has also envisaged a number of generating
projects to be taken up. Pragati Combined Cycle
Power Project has been established at Indraprastha
Estate. A 330 MW Pragati Power Project under
construction is scheduled to be commissioned
soon. The test run for its first phase of 100
MW has already started. The work of newly planned
330 MW gas based power plant under Pragati-II
and 1000 MW power plant planned at Bawana are
going on. Existing coal based Indraprastha plant
is being replaced by 1000 MW gas based plant.
To streamline the distribution of power, DVB
has been privatised and Delhi is now served
by the two of the best electric utilities in
India, BSES and Tata Power (NDPL).
Transport
Delhi is well connected by roads, rail and air
with all parts of India. It has three airports—Indira
Gandhi International Airport for the international
flights, Palam Airport for national air services
and Safdarjung Airport for training purposes.
It has three important railway stations —
Delhi Junction, New Delhi Railway Station and
Nizamuddin Railway Station. Delhi has three
inter-state bus terminals at Kashmeri Gate,
Sarai Kalen Khan and Anand Vihar.
Keeping in view the rising vehicular pollution
and chaotic traffic condition in the city of
Delhi, it has been decided to start Mass Rapid
Transit System (MRTS) in Delhi. The Project
is under implementation and is using the state
of- the-art modern technology. The metro rail
project has come in Delhi. Now three metro corridors
are existing in phase-1 of Delhi Metro comprising
of three corridors of total length of 65.1 Km
has been completed and operational in record
time with full commissioning of line from Shahdara
to Rithala and Vishwa Vidyalaya to Central Secretariat.
The third line from Barakambha road to Dwarka
has also been approved to provide better connectivity
to the commuters from NCR region.
Festivals
Being a cosmopolitan city, all major festivals
of India are celebrated here. Moreover, some
tourism festivals have become regular annual
events of Delhi. Delhi Tourism and Transportation
Development Corporation organises Roshnara Festival,
Shalimar Festival, Qutub Festival, Winter Carnival,
Garden Tourism and Mango Festival every year.
Tourist Places
Important tourist places are Lal Quila (Red
Fort), Jama Masjid, Qutub Minar, India Gate,
Laxmi Narain Mandir (Birla Mandir), Humayun's
Tomb, Lotus Temple, etc. Delhi Tourism and Transportation
Development Corporation Limited conducts city
sight-seeing and excursion tours. The Corporation
has also introduced adventure tourism activities,
such as para-sailing, rock-climbing and boating.
The Corporation has also developed Delhi Haat,
where coffee and food items of different states
are available at one place. More such Haats
are coming up in different parts of the city.
The ‘‘Garden of five Senses'' in
the South District of Delhi attracts a lot of
tourists visiting Delhi.
