Shrirampur

History

Shrirampur (श्रीरामपुर) city is quite new as compared to other cities, being only around 75 years old. When Central Railway (India) Daund-Manmad Line was being laid a Railway station for the Village Belapur (बेलापुर) was made which is nearly 6 km (3.7 mi) from the place where station was going to build. During this period people started living around the railway station. This area was considered as one of the major producers of sugarcane in the sugarcane belt in the state of Maharashtra. Over 10 to 15 sugarcane industries surrounded the town make for a very industrious economy. People from all parts of Maharashtra started to come in Shrirampur and settled down here. It was after partition that this place was made native by many migrants from Pakistan, who opted to settle in India. As a result, non-Maharashtrian communities also made their presence felt in lifting this city into a major business center. The rapid pace shown from 60s up to 80s slowed down and this town, in spite of having tremendous merits, is far from having a much awaited district status which was one time very much in its reach.

Culture

Hinduism is the most commonly practiced religion in Shrirampur, but Mosque, Gurudwara, Jain temples, Church and other religious buildings are found in the city. The most prominent Hindu temples in Shrirampur are the Ram temple so the city is named as Shrirampur and Hanumana's Temple, located on Nevasa Road. The Navratri festival is most important attraction of Shrirampur city. The biggest and the oldest Mosque in Shrirampur is "Jama Masjiid" Located near old railway under bridge. Peoples of all religion's celebrating Ramnavami and Sayaad Baba urus together for more than 5 days, in spit of this type of Harmonic events regularly but city had suffered some riots too.

Important Religious buildings of Shrirampur - A very good model of communal and religious harmony is found in Shrirampur. As the name indicates, it is known for Shri Ram Mandir located in the heart of the town. The annual festival for the people is Ramnavami marking the birth of Bhagwan Shri Ramchandra. At the same time, the Urus (Holy Gathering) of Sayyed Baba is celebrated at Sayyed Baba dargah Shrine situated in the city. Recently a beautiful minar was built near jama masjiid. Both these festivals are well attended by people from surrounding places. People from the nearby villages and the town itself come and pray at the temple and shrine during these auspicious day. Fireworks take place at the inaugural day. This is the festival when people come and enjoy themselves. Christian pilgrims in the area visit the village for the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Marathi: Matmauli yatra), celebrated on the second Saturday of September. The Jesuit priest in the village started the celebration in 1949 to help local devotees who could not afford to go to the celebration in Bandra, Mumbai. Now Haregaon is often described as the Pandharpur of the Marathi-speaking Catholics in the state, as nearly 400,000 devotees from Ahmednagar, Pune, Nasik, Aurangabad district and Mumbai attend the feast every year.

Gangagiri Maharaj Samadhi Sthal - This is a holy place situated at Sarala Bet, just 14 km from Shrirampur, which included in Shrirampur Taluka & Ahmednagar district from 1996. 'Bet' means an island. The River Godavari divides its stream and rejoins again, and hence called as 'Bet'. The famous saint Gangagiri Maharaj established this Ashram. Here all devotees celebrates Punyatithi and Harinaam Saptah every year. Gangagiri Maharaj took Samadhi in 1902. After Gangagiri Maharaj, there were legal heirs, Harigiri, Nathgiri, Someshwargiri, Narayangiri and now from 2009 Mahant Ramgiri Maharaj.

Climate

Shrirampur has a tropical wet and dry climate with average temperatures ranging between 20 to 42 °C (68 to 108 °F).

Shrirampur experiences three distinct seasons: Summer, Monsoon and Winter. Typical summer months are from March to May, with maximum temperatures ranging from 30 to 40 °C (86 to 104 °F). The warmest months in Shrirampur are April and May, the city often receives locally developed heavy thundershowers in the month of May (although humidity remains high). City experiences rise in atmospheric pressure in mid October when temperatures ranges from 35 to 40 °C (95 to 104 °F).

Transport

Shrirampur is well connected by Rail and Road to other parts of country. Shrirampur enjoys central location in Western Maharashtra. All major cities in Maharashtra lie within a radius of 500 km (310 mi). Shrirampur can be conveniently reached from any part of India by road. The town is situated between the Shirdi & Shani Shingnapur, both the towns are situated within 30 and 45 km (19 and 28 mi) radius with Shrirampur being Centrally located. The bypass highway from Shirdi to Shingnapur is going from the Shrirampur city.

Shrirampur Bus Stand

Shrirampur is having very magnificent bus stand situated in the area of 3 hector. It is established in 17th Dec.1960. The bus stand is situated in the midpoint of the city so it is very convenient for the Shrirampur citizens. Along with this, there is Railway station just in front of the bus stand so it is very convenient for those passenger who have to travel by bus after leaving the train. It is known that there are 74 buses, 136 conductors, 129 drivers & 5 workshop labors of Shrirampur. Shrirampur buses travels very long distance upto Nanded, Kolhapur, Surat etc. For the Shrirampur bus stand Government has given very useful facilities such as canteen, timetable, digital timetable on large screen, bus announcement, & also drinking water by ‘Manavseva Charitable Trust’ etc. There are also facilities for students pass, handicapped people, bus pass, life insurance, etc. There is a separate for ladies called “Hirkani kaksha’ for their safety. They arrange more buses on demand of passengers at the time of festivals, yatra, or any religious celebration. In the premises of this bus stand there is a temple of God Datta. They celebrate the birth ceremony of God Datta very religiously.Programs like safety campaign, increase passengers campaign, save fuel campaign, etc. are held there.

Economy

Arid dry climate and well established irrigation system makes Sugarcane an ideal cash crop. Shrirampur is considered as one of the major producers of sugarcane in the sugarcane belt in the state of Maharashtra. The first sugar mill of India known as "The Brandy Factory" was established in Haregaon by the Britishers in the pre- independence era of 1923. After independence, Co-operative movements were raised in the surrounding. In 1950, The first co-operative sugar mill in India was established by the farmers in Pravaranagar (Shrirampur Taluka). This co- operative movement was appreciated by the whole country. For this Great movement, the Founder Shri. Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil was felicitated with "PADMASHREE" by The Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Over 10 sugarcane industries surrounding the town make for a very industrious economy. Due to recent setbacks in the sugar industries the people from these areas are turning to other cash crops. The credit of this goes to Mr. Wilson who due his foresight constructed a Dam at Bhandardara, the water through the canal web helps to irrigate the entire north part of Ahmednagar district specially for the Shrirampur region. It has Shrirampur MIDC (Industrial Area), area which is well developed for industries. Prabhat dairy is one of the biggest industry in Shrirampur and surrounding area. Due to scarcity of water farmers are moving to agriallied business like poultry, goat farming where government and some private organisations are helping the farmers to venture into this lucrative and alternate earning resources. KVK ( Krishi Vidnyan Kendra, Loni) organisations train and help farmers and arranges seminars to help them understand new ways and techniques adapted in modern-day agribusiness.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Shrirampur had a population of 89,282. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%.Shrirampur has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 66%. In Shrirampur, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. Shrirampur had Sex Ratio - 939

People

The following is a list of notable people from Shrirampur.

Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer

Govindrao Adik

Ramrao Adik

Karamshi Jethabhai Somaiya

Chandraprakash Gupta

Electricity

The Mula Pravara Electric Co-operative Society Limited (MPECSL), Shrirampur was established in 1969, as one of the five pilot co-operative societies established in India as a rural electric co-operative Society. It used to distribute electricity in 183 villages spread over five talukas in the Ahmednagar district. Its consumer base was around 1.45 lakh consumers with sanctioned load of around 207 MW and MPECS receives power from Maharashtra.

Since 1977, it has defaulted on Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL)'s bills. It also refused to increase power tariff as directed by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) in 2007. that resulted in dues to MSEDCL to staggering Rs 2300 crore. MERC has directed MPECS directors to hand over the entire power distribution system and associated assets, including offices, land, material and workshops to MSEDCL from zero hours on February 1, 2011. It can file an appeal before the commission to decide the transfer value of the assets. The society will also have to hand over all data in soft as well as hard format. It will also have to pay the security deposit amount collected from consumers.

Proposal for Shrirampur district

The Ahmednagar district is under proposal to be divided and a separate Shrirampur District be carved out of existing Ahmednagar district with the inclusion of the northern parts of Ahmednagar district which include Rahata, Rahuri, Shrirampur, Sangamner, Akole, Shevgaon, Kopargaon, and Nevasa talukas in the proposed Shrirampur district. It has already R.T.O. office, railway, additional police commissioner office and government land for establishing new offices.