Birtamod

Birtamode Municipality बिर्तामोड
Municipality
Birtamode Municipality बिर्तामोड Location of Birtamode in Nepal
Coordinates: 26°38′N 87°59′E / 26.633°N 87.983°E / 26.633; 87.983Coordinates: 26°38′N 87°59′E / 26.633°N 87.983°E / 26.633; 87.983
Country	Nepal
Zone	Mechi
District	Jhapa
Elevation	300 m (1,000 ft)
Population (2010)
• Total	60,177
Time zone	NST (UTC+05:45)
Postal code	57204
Area code(s)	023
Website	www.birtamodmun.gov.np

Birtamode (Nepali: बिर्तामोड नगरपालिका) is a municipality in Jhapa District of Nepal. It is the commercial, educational and transport hub of Jhapa District. Sarnamati Bazar, Shivasatakshi Bazar, Kamatoli Bazar, Chakchaki Bazar and Surunga Bazar are some of the nearest local towns/settlements connected to Birtamode. Birtamode is the largest city of Jhapa.

History

The town was under Anarmani Village Development Committee was transformed into municipality in May, 2014 merging with Charpane VDC.^[1][2] Birtamode was a part of a great forest in those days. Due to the presence of mosquito and threat of malaria very few people inhabited here. Later, the forest were cleared off for cultivating the fertile lands. Slowly, peoples of the hills started to migrate here. These peoples were accompanied by the Nepalese who returned home from Indian territories of Assam and West Bengal. Birtamode started to rise when the East West Highway passed through it. Being at the physical center of the district, it started to rise a center for commercial activities. Birtamode took greater rise at the time of Maoist insurgency. Trade and banking of the whole district got concentrated in this place and Birtamode took great hike day by day. At present, it is not just the physical center of Jhapa District.

Transportation

Birtamode is connected to all parts of the country by a central highway, the Mahendra Highway which runs throughout the length of the country from east to west. Chandragadhi (Bhadrapur) Airport is located in Bhadrapur (about 12 km from Birtamode) and serves 5 to 6 daily flights to and from Kathmandu. Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines and Saurya Airlines are some of the airlines that have daily flights to and from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. There are various means of transportation in Birtamode but the major means of transportation is Via Local bus.

Major cities nearby

• Damak
• Mechinagar
• Surunga
• Bhadrapur
• Shani-Arjun

Demography

Birtamod has a small population, and the major ethnicities living there are |Chhettri, Limbu, Rai, Tajpuriya, Newar, Brahmins, Marwari, Rajbanshi, Bengali and various others. Majority of the people in Birtamode are Kirant's and Hindu's are the largest in majority but have significant numbers of Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians.

As of 2001, the official total population of Birtamod stood at 27,762. Male population was 14,219, female population was 13,543 and the number of households were 5,899.^[3] However, current population is much more than from 2001. The latest figure is estimated at about 60000 it might be more than estimated becasuse now Birtamod is merged with nearest VDC Charpane. So it is now Birtamod Municipality.^[4]

Climate

Climate of Birtamod is very hot and humid during summer, and mild and dry during winter. During the summer, temperatures can reach 40 degree Celsius, and the low in winter is about 2 degree Celsius. Rainfall is abundant during the monsoon season (June–September). There is little or no rainfall during winter, which makes it ideal for harvesting crops such as rice, wheat and Mustard.

Industry and Agriculture

Because of the fertile soil, the land around Birtamod is well suited for agriculture. rice, wheat, mustard and tea are some of the crops that are grown seasonally. Rice and Wheat is cultivated during the monsoon season when there is abundant rainfall, and harvested during the dry winter months. Several large Tea Estates and processing factories are located just east of Birtamod. Giri Bandhu Tea Estate (गिरी बन्धु चिया बगान), New Giri Bandhu and Sons Tea Estate, and Buttabari Tea Processing are the major ones. Apart from agriculture the industrial trends are growing. Various cement factories are present to fulfill local requirement of cements at small scale production capacity.

Due to revolution of Information technology in Nepal, It takes few effects in Birtamode also, The establishment of IT Industry in Birtamod take more effective in Human Resource in Birtamod for outsourcing Business. The Aimfosys Technologies Takes vital roles in Blogging in Birtamod.

Recently this city is making its way to medical city of Mechi zone having a facilitated hospitals & recent medical college.

This city is also witnessing retail industry boom. This city has Nepal's biggest shopping mall after Kathmandu—Hanuman Central. And more than two big shopping complexes are under construction. And many more retail shops are open.

Now, the people of Birtamode don't need to visit other cities for their purchase needs. A lot of good shops such as Rasta House for fashion needs, Third Home cafe for coffee needs, Balaji Jewellers for jewellery, Santosh Varities for grocery and food items, have come up.

Development and Communications

Birtamod is a developing and growing town, more than most others in Nepal. The main area of Birtamod is a rapidly growing town with new building complexes, homes and local businesses constantly being built. Although the town is developing, communication infrastructure is properly established. The town is properly wired for telephone and Internet Access (Dial-up, ISDN, ADSL, Wi-Max) provided by Nepal Telecom (NTC). There are 3 cellular provider Ncell,NTC and UTL .This city is properly connected by 3G connectivity which is provided by NCELL and NTC (Nepal Telecome). Worldlink Communications has connected Fiber To Home(FTH) internet service all over Birtamode with cable tv channels included in it.It comes more cheaper than any other Internet Service Provider in Birtamode with minimum bandwith speed of 5Mbps.Only Rs 24000 yearly for home users of 5Mbps internet bandwith speed.And it is seeking for 5 free HotSpot Zone in 5 different places in Birtamode.In near future it is planning to expand Fiber To Home service towards east town Dhulabari and Kakarbhitta.Several local cable distributors provide Cable TV access to most of the town and the surrounding local establishments. Presently the center of Birtamod is under Close Circuit TV camera surveillance.

Culture

The culture of Birtamod is a mix of cultures of various ethnicities, but these two festival seasons are the most important (Partly because of Nepal's 68% population being Hindu's and 18% of Population being Buddhist).

• Lhosar:(ल्होसार) This Festival celebrate three times once a year. The various combination of Buddhism community such as major community of Tamang celebrate Sonam Losar in Marga, Sherpa Community celebrate Gyalpo in Falgun as well as Gurung Community celebrate Tamu Losar in Poush.
• Dashain: (दशै) Dashain is celebrated by the Hindu's and is an exciting time for families to get together and meet relatives and each other. This festival last for 15 days. Celebrations and shopping are common during this time and so are religious ceremonies.
• Tihar and Dipawali: (तिहार) Tihar lasts 5 days, and among the days is a day called Laksmi Puja which coincides with Dipawali. Dipawali is a Hindu festival of lights and colors. People light up their house with little lamps called diya, generally fueled with mustard oil and burst firecrackers all night long during the 5 days of Tihar. The most interesting part is everybody enjoys blasting fire crackers.

Incidents

• March 22, 2006: Nine policemen and three Maoist rebels were killed during a clash at Birtamod police station and traffic office. A group of Maoists, loaded in three trucks attacked the office at around 7:00 am. In the attack, 20 policemen and 2 civilians were injured. The injured civilians were under detention and were being held in police custody when the attack took place. Most of the injured policemen were airlifted to Kathmandu for immediate medical treatment because the local hospitals where not able to handle severe trauma victims. Several Maoist rebels were also killed and injured when the truck carrying the rebels overturned during retreat.^[5]

Images

Footnotes