Bongaigaon

The area was ruled by zamindars hailing from the Koch belonging to Indo-Mongoloid ethnic group of peoples from the 16th century to the end of princely states in 1956.

The original Goalpara district was first created in 1822 by David Scott, an employee of the East India Company and the first Commissioner of newly created North east Rangpur district headquarters at Rangpur town (now in Bangladesh). The newly created Goalpara district was connected with North-east Rangpur district for administration. The area, formerly part of the Bijni Kingdom, which included the undivided Garo Hills district constituted the Undivided Goalpara district area in 1822. In 1866, Garo Hills was separated from the Goalpara district area, and in the same year a new district named "Greater Koch Behar" was created and the remaining portion of Goalpara district was withdrawn from Rangpur and tagged with Koch Behar. In 1874 a new province, the Assam Valley Province, was created by the British government, and Goalpara district area was withdrawn from Koch Behar and tagged with Assam Province, which continues until today. The original Goalpara district is now split into five districts: Goalpara, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigoan, and Chirang.

Evening Skyline of Bongaigaon City, Paglasthan

On 14 March 1989, bombs from separatist tribal militants exploded in Bongaigaon, killing 17 and wounding at least 48.[6]

The government of Assam decided in 1989 to create a new district of Bongaigaon, carving out some areas of the Goalpara and Kokrajhar Districts with its headquarters located at Bongaigaon. On 29 September 1989, the creation of Bongaigaon District was declared by the Government of Assam with its headquarters at Bongaigaon. In 2005, the Government of Assam declared Bongaigaon to be a city.

In June 2022, heavy floods in Assam affected the residents of Bongaigaon.[7]

Bongaigaon has a borderline monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) marginally too cool to be a tropical savanna climate (Aw). During the "cool" season from November to February, afternoons are warm to very warm and mornings are cool. In the "hot" season of March and April, the weather becomes hot and thunderstorm rainfalls increase in frequency to prelude the oppressive monsoon season from June to September where heavy rainfall occurs every afternoon.

The most popular Assamese newspaper of Assam, Asomiya Pratidin, is published from Bongaigaon along with Guwahati, Dibrugarh and North Lakhimpur.

The Bongaigaon Refinery is the eighth largest refinery of Indian Oil. Formed upon the amalgamation of Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (BRPL) with Indian Oil on 25 March 2009, Bongaigaon refinery is situated at Dhaligaon in Chirang district of Assam, 200 km west of Guwahati.

Bongaigaon Refinery Main Gate side of National Highway No. 31 (A1)

It has two Crude Distillation Units (CDU), two Delayed Coker Units, and a Coke Calcination Unit (CCU) with a processing capacity of 2.35 million tonnes per year of crude oil. The first CDU with a capacity of 1 million tonnes per year was commissioned in 1979. The capacity was increased to 1.35 million tonnes per year in 1986. An LPG bottling plant with a capacity of 44 million tonnes per year was commissioned in 2003.

The refinery produces a wide range of petroleum products, namely LPG, Naphtha, MS, SKO, HSD, LDO, LSHS, LVFO, RPC, CPC, Needle coke and solvents (Petrosol and Bonmex-II) by processing Assam Crude and Ravva Crude (from the Ravva oil fields of the Krishna Godavari Basin). Bongaigaon refinery has developed an ecological park and a pond surrounding it containing 65,000 cubic metres of water, through which the storm water drains of the plant are routed for final discharge. Another natural pond with a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters of water has been developed into an ecological reserve for migratory birds. A rainwater harvesting system has been installed in the Bongaigaon township complex and the installation of solar water heating systems and solar photovoltaic streetlights is underway. Bongaigaon refinery has received several awards for its ecological efforts, including a National Award for "Prevention of Pollution" from the Ministry of Environment and Forests on 16 September 2010, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puruskar from the Ministry of Environment in 2006, and the Greentech Environment Excellence Gold Award in 2008.

Evening view of BGR Township Gate No. 2

BGR Township is a residential campus for employees of the Indian Oil Corporation BGR. The town is located in Dhaligaon near Bongaigaon Refinery. In the township there are two schools (BGR HS School and DPS Dhaigaon) and two clubs, RCCC Club & Auditorium and Champa Club & Play Hub.

Mayapuri Cinema, Mayapuri City Centre

The nearest domestic and international airport is Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati.

New Bongaigaon Railway Junction (Front View)

Bongaigaon falls under the Northeast Frontier Railway zone of the Indian Railways network. There are two stations in Bongaigaon: New Bongaigaon railway station (the second largest railway junction in Assam) and Bongaigaon (old) station. Major trains serving Bongaigaon with major cities are the Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express, Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express, Saraighat Express, Brahmaputra Mail, North-East Express, Guwahati Bangalore Express, Guwahati Ernakulam Express, and Kamrup Express. It is the largest station in Western Assam after Guwahati. According to the 2012 budget, New Bongaigaon Jn. is considered to be the Adarsh Station of India.

Biodiversity Special train name Science Express stands on a platform of New Bongaigaon Railway Junction

Dibrugrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on the platform no.3 of New BNGN Jn. Station

Construction of the 265 km (165 mi) long 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge Siliguri-Jogihopa line, between 1963 and 1965, brought broad gauge railways to Assam. This was also the reason for constructing the New Bongaigaon railway station.[13]

A new railway track from New Bongaigaon to Guwahati was commissioned in 1984.[14]

Saraighat Bridge opened in 1962. It initially carried a metre gauge track, which was later replaced by broad gauge.[15]

National Highway 31 connects Bongaigaon with the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. National Highway 37 via Naranarayan Setu from Goalpara in Assam to Dimapur in Nagaland traverses the entire length of Assam and connects Bongaigaon with almost all the major cities of Assam, including Jorhat and Dibrugarh. National Highways 31C and 37 both connect Bongaigaon with Guwahati. There are several bus terminals in the city, providing connections with major cities of Assam such as Basugaon, Mangaldai, Gossaigaon, Dhubri, Barpeta, Tezpur, Goalpara, Abhayapuri, Kokrajhar, Bijni, Siliguri, Cooch Behar and Guwahati.

Night view of Bir Chilarai Flyover

In 2010 Bongaigaon city built the Bir Chilarai Flyover, to address the city's busy railway and road traffic, connecting three parts of the city:

1. New Bongaigaon with the western part of Bongaigaon
2. The north part of Bongaigaon City with the centre of Bongaigaon
3. New Bongaigaon with the northern part of Bongaigaon City

Mayapuri Cinema, as seen from outside

The city has three movie theatres: Jolly Max Theater, Universal Cinema(Universal Studio Mall) and Mayapuri Cinema. There are various public markets in different parts of the city.

View of Koya Kujia lake

Koya Kujia Eco Park, a natural body of water converted into an eco park by the district rural development agency of Bongaigaon, is a tourist attraction situated near Abhayapuri about 15 kilometers from Bongaigaon, open since September 2008. The park consists of many small islands with myriad flora and fauna, including many migratory birds.[35]

Bagheswari Temple

Bagheshwari Temple is a temple devoted to Goddess Durga for followers of the Hindu religion in Western Assam. The temple is located in the centre of the city, in Borpara. According to legend, the king of Abhayapuri decided to build a temple after a sword was found at the site. The name of the temple means "devoted to the tiger" (Bagh), taken from a nearby hill, Bagheswari pahar, where tigers lived as late as the middle of the 20th century.

Bagheswari hill, situated in the middle of the city, has a Shiv temple at its peak, and elevated views of the whole city.

A golden langur in Kakoijana reserved forest

Covering an area of around 20 km² to the south-east of the city,[36] the park is known for its populations of golden langur[36] and birds.

Manas National Park

Bongaigaon city is the entry point for the Manas National Park and wildlife sanctuary, a UNESCO listed natural World Heritage Site, a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve. Located in the Himalayan foothills, it is contiguous with the Royal Manas National Park[4] in Bhutan. The park is home to rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog, and is well-known for its population of wild water buffalo.[37]