Neyveli is a mining and power
generation township in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
It is located at 11.533° N - 79.48° E. It is 62 kilometres (39 mi) inland
from Bay of Bengal, west of Pondicherry and 197 kilometres
(122 mi) south of Chennai, located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of Vadalur.
The Neyveli Township was
developed after mining of lignitestarted under the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) in
1956 some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of the original Neyveli Village . Today the
Township covers 53 square kilometres provide around 18,000 houses for the
employees.
The Neyveli Lignite Corporation is a public sector enterprise
operating out of Neyveli. A large percentage of the thermal power generated
in Tamil Nadu comes from the power plants in Neyveli. NLC contributes about 2,500megawatts and
another 250 megawatts of Themal power is by Saudi basedTAQA Neyveli in Uthangal. The
town of Neyveli is well known to locals for its goat herding history. Goats
from all over the Cuddalore district are brought to Neyveli by goatherders.
Borewells driven in the now famous
peasant Mr Jambulinga Mudhaliyar's land in 1935 revealed the presence of 'black
particles'. The analysis of the 'black particles' led to the discovery of a
huge lignite reserve beneath the areas in and around Neyveli Village. The
Neyveli Lignite Corporation was formed as a Corporate Body in 1956 under the
Government of India. It is still a Central Government Public Sector Undertaking
(PSU). Mining of first lignite seam started in 1962. The first thermal power station was
commissioned in 1962 with full assistance from U.S.S.R ( Russia ) @
a capacity of 600 MW. The current capacity of the thermal power stations in
Neyveli exceeds 2800 MW.
Neyveli Township is located at 11.60°N
79.48°E. It has an average elevation of 87 metres
(285 ft). It is well connected by road along the Chennai-Thanjavur NH
45C National Highway and Cuddalore-Virudhachalam-Salem NH-532
National Highway. A dedicated rail track with a Railway station was constructed
to transport Lignite, heavy machineries for the mining and the power generation
industries.
Contrasting to the adjacent arid
regions of Cuddalore district, the township of Neyveli boasts a
low-moderate tropical climate, mainly due to the rich flora planted as part of
the landscaping during the development of the township. Summers are cooler
(temperatures still reach above 40degrees Celsius) and winters are colder than
the nearby regions, even though the township is at the same altitude with them.
It has red soil, which is quite fertile.
The Township of Neyveli is one of
the modern, well-planned townships in India, and can be compared to the likes
of Chandigarh, New York. The township was in fact planned just like the city of Chandigarh, New York City with
the township being sub-divided into 'blocks'. There are 32 blocks in total.
Each block is 1000 m by 700 m in size. The main roads of Neyveli Township
dividing each of the blocks by double-lane modern roads are constructed with
rubberised top layer. The housing quarters are around 15,000 in number and vary
between hostel-type buildings with 6 apartments to individual two-floor single
cottage type quarters. The houses were originally constructed using concrete,
while newer buildings are constructed using 'hollow blocks' cast from flyash
which is a by-product of lignite. The technique is being used as an initiative
to re-use the by-products of lignite effectively.
Neyveli Township can be termed as
one of the modern industrial townships of India, with round-the-clock, water
and electricity facilities. It also uses well-maintained, underground
sanitation system, unlike some of the other cities in Tamil Nadu. At the dawn
of the new millennium, the overhead communication cables were replaced by the
underground cable communication system, with state-of-the-art optical cables.
Neyveli Township has its own telecom system, complete with company-owned
telephone exchanges, for faster communication between employees of the
township.
Neyveli also have 2,000 temporary
Housing quarters near Neyveli Railway station namely M.K Colony, G.K
Colony, Sainik Quarters, J.E Quarters & Thandavankuppam
Colony . It is 7 km south of Township & NLC Employees working
in Mine-2stay here as it is
just 1.5 km away. These housing colonies are also administered by Township
Administration (TA)
There many Villages around Neyveli
Township like, Neyveli (Old Neyveli), Mandharakuppam, Gangaikondan,
Periyakurichi, Veppankurichi, Vadakkuvellur, Therkkuvellur, Valaimadevi, Ameri,
Melpaathi, Kelpaathi, Thenpaathi, Thenkuthu, Uthangal, Oomangalam,
A.Kuravankuppam, Uyyakondaraavi, Pudukuppam, Irruppu, Dhedeerkuppam, Pazhaya
Koorapettai, Sepalanatham, Thandavankuppam, Koonakurichi, Thoppulikuppam,
Romapuri, Athipattu, Aandarkollai, Paapanampattu, Elavarasampattu,
Velludaiyanpattu etc. These Villages not just share PINCODES of
Neyveli but also the primary reason behind success of NLC by giving their
precious Homes, lands, livelihood and the Name Neyveli to the NLC's Mines,
Thermal Power Stations and Township.
The Township of Neyveli is well
managed by the Department of Township Administration (TA), under the Neyveli
Lignite Corporation. The TA department, comprises Water Services, Sanitary
Service, Fuse-off Call Services (Power Management), Telecom and also
Maintenance and Repairs. The administration also runs a chain of hospitals for
its employees with the main General Hospital at Block-6 and several
dispensaries at various other places.
The township area comes under the Neyveli legislative
constituency from 2008, While the rest of Neyveli area (Mandharakuppam, Old Neyveli, Gangaikondan,
Periyakurichi, Veppankurichi, Therkkuvellur etc.) comes under Bhuvanagiri
legislative constituency.
From 2008 Neyveli Township and
Indira Nagar comes under the Cuddalore Parliamentary constituency, While the
Old Neyveli region remains under Chidambaram Reserved (SC) Parliamentary
constituency. Neyveli Township also has the dubious distinction of being the
only place in Tamil Nadu that does not have any local self-government. But
local body elections are held in Old Neyveli regions (Neyveli Town panchayat).
Tamil Nadu Police is the law-enforcement agency in Neyveli, supervised by a
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and includes a dedicated All-Women
Special Police Station. Apart from the State Police services, the industrial
units employ Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for maximum security and to
suppress the Contract Labours. The NLC also has its own security force, a fire
& rescue department and home guards.
The employees of NLC are provided
compensation at Central Government Wage levels and the economy of the Neyveli
township is more thriving than the nearby regions. A small township of 50
square kilometres, Neyveli is nonetheless serviced by many commercial banks and
more than 17 ATMs. The living expenses are less than
the Metropolitan cities of India.Also the quality of life is far better than
the other regions
The basic industries on which Neyveli
thrives are the lignite mines (I, II, IA) and thermal power stations (I,II
& I-Extn.). The largest 'open-cast' mines in India, with very large
machinery, the lignite mines is an engineering marvel. Since, the entire
township has been built for the purpose of employees of the corporation, the
other sources of economic activity are the support services to the township.
This includes contracts with the NLC, shops, private hospitals in the
periphery, schools etc. There are also a lot of mining industries that have
been developed in the last two decades. A fertilizer, B&C plant that was
owned by Neyveli Lignite Corporation was closed few years back.
Other than N.L.C, Neyveli also have
various small & medium Industries such as Cashew nut Industries, Bricks
Industry, Weaving Industries, Agriculture, Cattle breeding, Chit Funds etc.
As of 2001 India census, Neyveli
had a population of 128,133. Males constitute 51% of the population and females
49%. Neyveli has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national
average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 72%. In Neyveli,
12% of the population is under 6 years of age. Neyveli has a huge student
population of 34,000. The demographics of Neyveli can often be classified as
Cosmopolitan. Most of the people living in the township are not native to the
place and not even native to Tamil Nadu either in most cases and can be called
as expatriatesfrom states other than Tamil Nadu. The people speak
many languages including Tamil,
Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Oriya, Marathi, Gujarati and more, as most
of the population is diversified and come for various parts of India. The rich
diversity can be identified from the presence of services and cultural centres
for the different communities.
Neyveli Township has a unique
culture. The fact that all the people who live in Neyveli are not natives of
the town, brings about a sense of diaspora. There are cultural organizations
meant to encourage different regional cultures of India, there are temples and
places of worship that quite reflect the diversity of the place.
People who live in the Township are
either employed by Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) or by the business
enterprises that serve the NLC or the employees of NLC. Disparities in wealth
is rather limited - one can consider it as a Public Sector Unit (PSU) salaried
class culture. High literacy rates and multilingual nature of people reflect in
a culture that lays high importance for education.
While the Original Neyvelians, belonging to Old
Neyveli are still involved in Agriculture, Cattle breeding, Grocery shops, Chit
Funds, Share markets, Gold smiths & also as Contract labours in NLC. Old
Neyveli region have people belonging to various communities n faiths. It also
have a considerable Muslim population.
Reflecting the cosmopolitan
composition of the population, places of worship of all religions can be found. Temples of
Lord Pillaiyar, Lord Natarajar, Lord Murugan, Lord Aiyyapan, MaariAmman, Lord
Krishnan and almost of all Hindu Gods,Churches (Catholic & Protestant), Mosques,
Jain temples are all found here.
Notably, Neyveli is famous for the
world's largest metal statue of Shiva as Nataraja.
Thaipoosam is a local festival with much flair at the Villudayanpattu Kovil of Lord Murugan holding a Bow as his weapon instead
of the regular spear. Thaipoosam is also special in Neyveli because of its
proximity to Vadalur,
the famous place of samathi of saint Vallalar Sri. Ramalinga Adigalar that is just 7 km away
from Neyveli.
The most important festival
celebrated is "Panguni Uthiram" festival for the Lord Murugan at
Villudayanpatti Temple.
Sri Ayyapan Swamy Temple at Block-4 is very famous for its
beauty. Many Ayyapan Swamy Devotees come here to worship Lord Ayyapan before
going to Sabarimala, Kerala. 600 year old Khasi Vishwanathar temple at Vadakku Vellur in Neyveli-2 is
also popular among locals.
The sight of the huge construction
cranes digging dirt to unearth lignite is a sight worth watching. Moreover it
is a good place for tourism, with tourist interests being the Afforestaion
complex and mining sites. However permission to visit these places is
selective.
Neyveli Township has a beautiful
eco-friendly park which ranks in the international level, named as "Nehru
Park" in Block 8. The "Main Bazaar" located in the heart of the
township in Block 12 is the favorite hangout place for children and adult
alike. All kinds of commodities are available in these shops for the welfare of
Neyvelians. Sandwiched between the buzzing shops is "The Golden Jubilee
Park" which was constructed in remembrance of 50 years after the beginning
of NLC. It is a children's and adult's park. Many tourists come during
their vacations.
The Natarajar Temple has the largest
Panchaloha (made up of five metals/ alloys) idol and is the first in Asia. Many
natural sceneries are there to visit and it will be worth spending some time
here.
Also the Book Fair is the yearly event conducted by the NLC
from 1998,with around 200 publishers taking part in the event. Many other
related events are conducted like felicitating writers, book discussions,
debates, Dramas etc., during the 10 day course of the book fair which usually
happens in the months of June to August. Neyveli Book Fair also consists of
large number of interesting games, eatables which attracts children to a
greater extent. The 16th Neyveli Book fair-2013 was held from 5 July 2013 to 14
July 2013, 10.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. on all days at Book Fair Grounds,Block-11.
Safety Week is a week long event
conducted by various departments of the NLC, exhibiting the best practices of
Safety to be followed in workplace and NLC also encourages its school students
to actively participate in preparing the models for its "SAFETY WEEK
CELEBRATIONS" by giving them prizes and certificates for the best display.
Here there is a Nataraja Temple is
located near central bus stand, the Lord nataraja statue is 12 feet
(3.7 m) in height weighing of more than 1.25 tonnes and also a
Sivagamasundari statue is also in height of 7 feet (2.1 m) and weighs .5
tons kept in a big hall which is also a dynamandapam. Another beauty of this
temple is 63 Nayanmars are lively looking in statues. A hall lies under a
Nagalinga tree.
There is a Devara temple related to Lord Nataraja is Melakadambur is
located at about 30 km from here. By road you should take
sethiathope-kattumannarkoil- route. From Kattumannarkoil melakadambur is at
about 6 km distance. Here Lord nataraja lies in a panchaloga vigraha as
well as in hard granite stone dating back to Kulothunga Chola period. And a
rare idol of Lord shiva dancing on a bull with ten hands is open for devotees
darshan only on pradosha days from 4:30-6:00 pm.
Neyveli is notable for its "Republic Day" and
"Independence Day" celebrations which is conducted in Bharathi
Stadium. Many Schools actively participate in Dance Competitions, parade, and
other sports. Even the students of Neyveli who achieved in State level,
National and International level sports competitions are encouraged by NLC by
giving prizes during these celebrations.
Neyveli provides benefit for its
students as well as readers by providing an excellent "Library" in
the midst of the Township to gain enormous knowledge. Thousands of books
dealing different topics, daily newspaper, magazines, all kinds of journals and
reference books are available in the library which is governed by NLC.
NLC also issues its book called "BROWN COAL" to
its employees to share its important events and also publishes some important
information's.It also portrays about achievers of NLC who are in all walks of
sports and education.
Transport inside the township is
managed by the Bus Services, again a department under NLC. There are almost 15
bus routes for this small township. The bus services are excellent with a
frequency of less than 10 minutes during the day and 15 minutes during the
night. Owing to the high per capita income of people and easy loans from the
NLC, the number of private vehicles per household is also high.
The Township has two bus stations
for outstation connectivity, each closer to two different highway routes
running alongside the township, the Chennai-Thanjavur National Highway and the
Cuddalore-Virudhachalam-Salem National Highway NH-532 route. Most outstation
goers towards Chennai, Bangalore, Tanjore, Vellore, Tirupathi, and
Thiruvannamalai catch the buses at The Central Bus Stand (CBS) in Block-24, All
mofussil buses stops at NLC arch gate in the National Highway NH45C
(Vikravandi-Kumbakonam-Thanjavur). While regular bus services for Cuddalore,
Salem, Tiruchirappalli, Virudhachalam, Madurai, Theni, Palani, Coimbatore,
Chidambaram, Erode, Puducherry, Kumuli are available at the Bus Stand in
Cuddalore-Virudhachalam-Salem, National Highway NH 532, Which is just few
hundred meters away from Neyveli Railway station. There is also talk of toll
gate to be set up near Neyveli at kadampuliyur when 4 lane NH45C comes into
action. Rs 100Crs has been allotted for National Highway 532 by the Central
Government for converting it to Four-lane roads, Works will start after the
2014 General Elections. NH45C project may start from February 2013 once the
bidding is completed. Neyveli has a railway station which lies on the Cuddalore-Salem railway
line. Daily 6 Passenger Trains pass through the town i.e. the Cuddalore
Port-Trichy passenger, Bangalore Yeshwanthpur-Karaikal Fast
passenger, Karaikal-Bangalore fast passenger, Coimbatore-Cuddalore
Port Jn, Cuddalore Port Jn-Coimabtore, and the Cuddalore-Virudhachalam
passenger. The nearest major railway stations are at Cuddalore Port
Junction (40 km) and Virudhachalam (21 km).
It has a wonderful airstrip but
incidentally has no commercial flights. Currently it seems to be not under
operation, but neyveli youngsters are using this as their favorite spot. The
nearest airport is at Puducherry (90 km).
Neyveli boasts of having some of the
best educational institutions in the region; including the Neyveli
administration run 13 N.L.C Schools, to private institutions. These
institutions attract students from the neighboring towns and villages as well.
N.L.C.Girls' Higher Secondary
School, BLOCK-11, N.L.C.Boys' Higher Secondary School, BLOCK-10, N.L.C. Higher
Secondary School, Mandarakuppam, Neyveli-2, N.L.C. Girls High School,
Mandarakuppam, Neyveli-2 & Two N.L.C.High Schools, Five Middle Schools,
three Elementary Schools. Jawahar Martriculation Higher Secondary School
(Matric and stateboard), Jawahar Higher Secondary School (CBSE), St.Joseph of
Cluny Matriculation Higher Secondary School for the girls, St. Paul's
Matriculation Higher Secondary School, NLC School for Boys and
Girls, Tagore Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Sri Aurbindo Vidyalaya
Matriculation Higher Secondary School, the Seventh Day Adventist Matriculation
Higher Secondary School, NMJ School and Sacred Heart Matriculation School,
Ar-Rahmath Anglo Arabic School in Neyveli-2 are some of the notable schools
that foster a healthy intellectual environment.
Jawahar Science College [Thiruvalluvar University] offers a
plethora of undergraduate programs in fundamental science and computing.
NLC Administration arranges summer
camps for all the students and those who are interested can participate in
respective events. Special trainers and events are arranged for the summer
camps. Apart from security grounds and playgrounds of leading schools, Neyveli
has a fully operative Bharathi Outdoor Stadium where major events are hosted.
It is common sight to see people across age groups practicing volleyball,
football, hockey, badminton, swimming, basketball, indoor games, karate and more.
Neyveli Lignite city club has laid 2 world class synthetic courts. The town has
nurtured national level players in Chess. Boy's Higher Secondary School Block
10 usually is the chief organizer of school sports in Neyveli Township. Sports
Devoplment Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) is also present in Neyveli.
In Neyveli, there is a good golf
course with 9 holes spread over an area of 45 Acres. National level tournaments
are held once in a year apart from Inter club tournaments. The course was
formed in the year of 1989 by the then Chairman of NLC Mr. Mahibsingh with 9
brown holes.
The course was modified with 9 Greens and with more hazards
and beautiful fairways in the year of 2004-2005 during the regime of Mr. S.
Jayaraman Chairman cum Managing Director of NLC.
In spite of the various comforts of
the township, the town on an outward look is more of a silent one lacking a bit
in the entertainment area. But there are fairs/exhibits, theaters, parks,
Shopping Complexes/Bazaars, etc. to keep people occupied.
The NLC conducts and sponsors two
exhibits/fairs each year - 'Book Fair' and 'Safety Week Exhibit'. Each of these
two exhibits happen over ten days during different parts of the year and is a
big crowd puller where people come from quite far places as well.
The Book Fair is one of the largest
in the country accounting for almost 200 stalls. The thirteenth edition of the
Book Fair was held on 2013.
It is an exhibit where different
divisions across NLC - from the Mines, the Thermal Power Plants, etc. - display
their engineering marvels as prototype models and there are round the clock
engineers/technicians with the models explaining to their visitors how the
system work. It is a huge knowledge fest especially for students in the
Technology side. The special side of the exhibit is the touch of safety that is
pressed upon in each exhibit being the theme of the fair itself.
There are four cinema theaters in
Neyveli as listed below:
1. Sri Nidhirathna A/C DTS, UFO Digital
2. Jayapriya Theatre DTS, UFO Digital, Cuddalore-Virudhachalam-Salem,
NH-532, Gangaikondan, Neyveli-2
3. Mahalakshmi Palace A/C DTS, QUBE
Digital, Cuddalore-Virudhachalam-Salem
NH-532, Periyakurichi, Neyveli-2
4. Sri Ranga A/C DTS, QUBE Digital
There was a theatre in Neyveli some years before named 'Ganapathi Theatre', but now it was not there. Besides the theaters, the two big
parks in the township area - 'Golden Jubilee Park' and 'Nehru Park' - are a
quick and nice getaway for families especially on weekends.
Pay-Day Bazaar, Main Bazaar, Daily
bazaar & Market @ Main Road, Neyveli-2.
The Lignite City Club provides NLC
Officers and their family members with very good sports facilities along with
professional coaches. The club also hosts monthly get together evenings for its
members rick with many cultural events.
The different cultural organisations
like the Telugu Samiti, Kannada Sabha, etc. also conduct annual celebrations
rich with cultural performances.
For those on the lookout for more
entertainment, it is sad that there is none availablae in the immediate
vicinity of the township. But there are many other locations close by - like
Pondicherry, Chidambaran, Cuddalore, Virudhachalam, Kumbakonam, Chennai, etc. -
which are known for providing better entertainement activities (boating at
Pichavaram, drive to the beaches at Pondicherry/Chennai, exploring Metrocity,
shopping, Cinema, etc.) besides being tourism centres with many historic and
religious sites (in and around Chidambaram and Kumabakonam).
