Morbi
Morbi | |
|---|---|
city | |
| Nickname: Paris of Saurashtra | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Gujarat |
| District | Morbi |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 250,000 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Gujarati, Hindi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 363641/42 |
| Area code | 02822 |
| Vehicle registration | GJ-36 |
Morbi or Morvi is a city and a municipality in Morbi district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was a Princely State ruled by Jadeja clan of Rajputs until Indian independence in 1947. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. In 1981[update], the city's population was determined to be 73,327. Its chief products are cotton and grain. The town of Morbi is situated on the river Machhu, 22 miles (35 kilometres) from the sea and 60 kilometres from Rajkot.
The city-state of Morbi and much of the building heritage and town planning is attributed to the administration of Sir Lakhdhiraji Waghji,[1] who ruled from 1922 until 1948. Sir Waghji acted as a ruler, manager, patron and policeman of the state with great authority. Sir Waghji, like other contemporary rulers of Saurashtra, built roads and a railway network (of seventy miles), connecting Wadhwan and Morbi and the two small ports of Navlakhi and Vavania, for exporting the state's production of salt and cloth. The Morbi railway station combines Indian and European architectural elements.Today Sir Waghji Thakor's grandson Shivam Thakor is still the Prince of the state and resides in the royal palace.
History
During the British Raj era, Morvi State was one of several princely states governed by the Jadeja dynasty of Rajputs. It was classified as an 11-gun salute state.[2]
Education
Morbi has many schools and colleges for commerce, arts, science, home science and different branches of engineering. Mahila college, St.Mary's Higher Secondary School, V. C. high school, New Era Public School, Om Shanti school, OMVVIM college, M. P. Sheth girls high school, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Kanya Vidhyalay etc. are some of the major schools available in Morbi. Sardar Patel Kanya Vidhyalay provides opportunity literacy training for poor village girls.
Lukhdhirji Engineering College (L.E. College) is one of the oldest colleges in Gujarat, hosts over 3,000 engineering students and is a major source of local income. Maharaja Mahendrasinhji College and Smt.G.J.Sheth College are part of Saurashtra University.
- The V C Technical High School
- Shree Rasiklal Sheth boys high school
- Sardar Patel Kanya Vidyalaya
- Sardar Patel College for Arts, Commerce and Science
- OMVVIM College of IT & Management
- L.E. college for Engineering
- St.Mary's Higher Secondary School
- M.P. Sheth Girls School
- Shree Sarashwati Shishu Mandir
- Shree U N Mehta Arts College
- G.J. Sheth Commerce College
- Doshi High School
- Smt. R. O. Patel Women's College (Arts, B.C.A. & M. C. A.)
- Navyug vidhyalaya
- Navyug science school
Industry
Morbi produces 70% of the country's gross ceramic production and 5% of the world's needs,[3] around 80% of compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) production and is the largest producer of wall clocks in India.
There are around 600 ceramic manufacturing units with production worth 40,000 million rupees (4,000 crore) annually.The main products are ceramic tile, vitrified tiles, floor tiles, glazed wall tiles, luster wall tiles, sanitary wares, porcelain tiles, spartek tiles, glaze tile, roofing tiles and mosaic tiles. Morbi's ceramic factories belong to small and medium scale units which together comprise the largest ceramic production in India.
A major industry of Morbi is clock manufacturing. Ajanta Clocks, Samay Clocks, Sonera Industries and Sonam Quartz are the world's largest clock manufacturers and lead the clock manufacturing industry. The majority of these companies' workforce are females from neighbouring villages. Clocks are manufactured and exported nationally and internationally, with major international shipments to Middle-East, and East Asia.
A paper mill produces a wide range of paper product and some paper crafts is operating in the city.
Transportation
Morbi can be reached by road from Ahmedabad in approximately 4.5 hours via:
- 8A National Highway - via Limbadi, Chotila, approximately 232 km
- SH 7 Highway - via Viramgam, Dhrangadhra, approximately 200 km
Buses are run by the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation and private travel companies.
The nearest railway station is in Wankaner taluka (MORBI) from which one can get trains to many major cities of Gujarat and other states. To reach Morbi by air, the nearest airports are about 62 km away in Rajkot and 247 km away in Ahmedabad. Indian Airlines runs regular flights from Mumbai to Rajkot and Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
There are various connecting flights to Ahmedabad airport and bus facilities are smoothly available from Ahmedabad.