District Profile

Bharuch is an ancient city and is the 2nd oldest city of India. It is developed on the holy riverbank of Narmada. Bharuch has too many names from the beginning as ‘Shree Nagar’, ‘Bhrugukutch’, ‘Bharukutch’, ‘Barugaza’, ‘Bharuattch’, and it was finally set as “Bharuch”. The Britishers used to call it as ‘Bhadoch’, ‘Bhaduch’, ‘Broach’, etc.

History Of Bharuch

Bharuch is mentioned in the mythological volumes of Hindu religion like ‘Matsya Purana’, ‘Brahmand Purana’ & ‘Markandey Purana’. Bharuch is also mentioned as ‘Bharukutch’ in the ‘Sabha Parva’ of ‘Mahabharat’ and as ‘Bhrugukutch’ in ‘Bhagwat Purana’. According to ‘Skand Purana’ of ‘Reva Khand’, Bhrahmaputra Maharshi Bhrugurishi had established this city on the back of a tortoise at Narmada riverbank on the day of ‘Samvatsar Magh Sud Pancham’ according to Gujarati calendar. In the 1st AD, Bharuch was a big province and the largest port of Western India. The whole commercial import–export business was run over this port by the Britishers to deal with Iran, Rome, Egypt, Arabstan, China and Ceylon (Shrilanka).

Geography

Bharuch is located at 21.7°N 72.97°E with an average elevation of 15 meters. Bharuch is also a port city of Gujrat located on the banks of the river Narmada. Bharuch is surrounded by Vadodara in the North, Narmada Vadodara in the East and Surat Vadodara in the South. It has Gulf of Khambhat towards its West.

Climate of Bharuch

Bharuch has what is known as tropical savanna climate, and its weather is strongly moderated by the Arabian Sea. The summer season starts in early March and ends in June. The hottest months are April and May are when the average maximum temperature is around 40 °C.

Monsoon season starts later in the month of  June and it receives about 800 millimeters which is 31 inches of rain by the end of the month September. The average maximum temperature during these months is about 32 °C (90 °F). The temperature again rise during the months of October until late November after which winter starts. Winter begins in December and goes on till late February, during which the average temperatures is around 23 °C (73 °F).

Bharuch witnesses floods in the Narmada basin area very often due to heavy monsoon rains. However the floods have been controlled after building of Narmada dam.

District Demography of Bharuch

Bharuch has a population of 1,550,822 as per the 2011 census. The population density of Bharuch is 238 inhabitants per square kilometer. It has witnessed a  population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 of about 13.14%. The sex ratio of Bharuch is 924 females for every 1000 males with literacy rate of 83.03%.

Bharuch has majority of Muslim population. Muslims comprises 57% of the total  population. Bharuch has significant minority of Hindus. The Muslim Vohra Patel community can also be seen in Bhrauch in large numbers. 

Rivers in Bharuch

The Narmada river also called the Rewa, is the only river flowing across Bharuch. It is fifth longest river in the India and the third longest river that flows completely within India. Narmada is considered as one of the five holy rivers of India by Hindus. A traditional boundary is formed between North India and South India by river Narmada as it flows westwards over a length of 1,312 km. It merges in the sea through the Gulf of Khambhat and then into the Arabian Sea, which happens at a distance of 30 km west of Bharuch.

Overview of Bharuch’s Economy

Bharuch’s economy is largely dependent on the industries in the town. The city is loaded with various industries like cotton, fertilizers, dairy products, dyes, textiles, and paints. The main focus industry sectors are Chemicals, petrochemicals and harmaceuticals, Engineering, Ports and ship building and Textiles. It also has many reputed multinational companies like Welspun OPAL, Videocon, Reliance, BASF, ONGC, GAIL etc. Bharuch has always been flourishing because of its situation on the Narmada River and coast also.

Thus, agriculture and other commercial activities have prospered in Bharuch. Due to peculiar colour of the soil here that is optimal for cotton cultivation, Bharuch is sometimes also known as ‘Kanam Pradesh’ i.e  black soil land. Now, there has been a rise in the retail sector in the city and there are new shopping malls and multiplexes opening up all over the place.

Traditionally, Bharuch has been the hub of the peanut processing and marketing industry with a well established brand name all over the country. It is also the place of the Sujhni method of clothing design and is well known for this traditional art form. Also during the last decade or so, a large section of population has moved to countries like Africa, United Kingdom, parts of Europe and United states of America. This in turn brings some economical jump to the local businesses as people come back for vacations & spend their earnings here. Off Late, these retiring migrants have been returning to Bharuch and building new houses giving the economy a lift up.