Dharan () is a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Koshi Province, in eastern Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in eastern Nepal after

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a List of cities in Nepal, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Koshi Province. With a Metropolitan Urban Agglomeration population of 244,750 as per the 2021 Nepal census, 2021 census, it is the largest c ...

and Itahari. The Nepali word "dharan" means a saw pit. In 1960, a British Gurkha camp was also established near the city. The use of the camp by British Gurkhas finished in the mid-1990s. Dharan has an estimated city population of 173,096 living in 34,834 households as per the 2021 Nepal census. It is one of the cities of the ''Greater Birat Development Area'' which incorporates the cities of

- Itahari-Gothgau- Biratchowk-Dharan primarily located on the Koshi Highway in Eastern Nepal, with an estimated total urban agglomerated population of 804,300 people living in 159,332 households. It is the largest city in the Koshi Province by Area. It covers 192.61 square kilometers while Biratnagar and Itahari are the second- and third-largest cities by area, respectively.

Geography

Dharan is situated on the foothills of the Mahabharat Range in the north with its southern tip touching the edge of the Terai plains. The city sits at an altitude of 1148 ft (349 m). Dharan bazaar grew up near Phusre where the old walking route to Dhankuta and a large part of the Eastern hills left the plains with the ascent of Sanghuri Danra. Historically, hill villagers made annual treks to the plains for trade, making this a natural location for a marketplace at the junction of the hills and the Terai. In 1952, the construction of the Kosi barrage began and a narrow gauge railway was built to take stone from Phusre, loaded at a locality now known as "Railway", to the site of the barrage near the Indian Border. The Koshi highway runs through the city, connecting Dharan to

and Itahari, where it links to the east–west Mahendra Highway. The highway also extends north to Kimathanka at the Nepal-China border. The road from Dharan to Dhankuta was funded by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

under the Overseas Development Administration aid scheme. The construction began in 1976 and was substantially completed by mid-1982. The road, which measures 51 km in length, was largely built by hand using local labor, with as many as 15,000 workers employed at the height of the project.

History

Dharan served as the capital of the Morang Kingdom, a Limbu-ruled state in the lowlands of Limbuwan. It was ruled by Limbu King Buddhi Karna Khebang. From 1584 to 1774 AD, Dharan-Bijaypur was the capital city of Morang Kingdom of Limbuwan. In August 1774, the Gorkha King Prithivi Narayan Shah's representatives Abhiman Singh Basnet, Parath Bhandari, Kirti Singh Khawas and Bali Baniya met the ministers of Morang state. They agreed to accept the Gorkha monarch as Maharaja, while retaining self‑government rights for the Limbu rulers under a treaty that also pledged land autonomy. City, which is connected with the historical importance of Bijaypur started its development since 1985 BS. Then Prime minister Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana established Chandra nagar (now purano bazaar) and primeminister Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana established Juddha nagar (now naya bazaar). City abstracted its name after "Dharan" (nepali word) a rectangular hollow dug under the ground and a low platform upon it for sawing logs with a big saw; one person on the platform and other below it. And, after the establishment of Dharan city, logs used to be widely split up here in "Dharan". It took its present shape when Bijaypur village panchayat and Ghopa village panchayat were merged into Dharan municipality in 2035 BS.

Demographics

Languages

At the time of the 2021 Census of Nepal, 42.5% of the population in the city spoke Nepali, 10.1% Limbu, 8.0% Maithili ,7.4% Newar, 5.9% Rai, 5.9% Tamang, 5.8% Bantawa, and 14.4% spoke other smaller languages as their first language.

Caste and ethnic groups

The largest single caste/ethnic in Dharan is Rai, who make (19.4%) of the population, Limbu comes to second with (13.01%), Newar makes (11.1%) of population Chhetri (10.7%), Tamang (7.3%), Hill Brahmin (7.1%), Kami (6.2%) and other various ethnic groups makes (25.2%) Of the population.

Environment

A study conducted in 2016 to analyze the bacteriological quality of bottled drinking water and that of municipal

tap water Tap water (also known as running water, piped water or municipal water) is water supplied through a Tap (valve), tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used f ...

in Dharan found that one hundred percent of the tap water samples and 87.5% of the bottled water samples were contaminated with heterotrophic

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

. Of the tap water samples, 55.3% were positive for total coliforms, compared with 25% of the bottled water, but no bottled water samples were positive for fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci, in contrast to 21.1% and 14.5% of the tap water samples being contaminated with fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci, respectively. One hundred percent of the tap water samples and 54.2% of the bottled water samples had pH in the acceptable range.

Media and communication

*Newspapers: The people of Dharan are served by several daily local newspapers and national newspapers. There are 11 local newspapers in total. These include ''The Blast Times'' and ''The Morning Times''. National newspapers are also provided to the people of Dharan on a daily basis. National newspapers include '' The Kathmandu Post'', '' Kantipur'', ''Annapurna Post'', and '' Himalayan Times''. Several monthly neighborhood papers serve the town. *Radio: The state-owned Radio Nepal is broadcast on the medium wave on 648 kHz in the city. Five private local FM stations are available. They are Star FM - 95.6 MHz, Vijayapur FM - 98.8 MHz, Dantakali FM - 88.5 MHz, and Radio Dharan FM - 88.8 MHz. Radio Ganatantra FM 95.1 MHz is a community radio station. Likewise, Dharan has a BFBS Radio Relay station. It broadcasts on FM frequencies. *Television: Nepal's state-owned television broadcaster, Nepal Television's relay station is present near its border, which provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels. A mix of Nepali, Hindi, English, and other international channels are accessible via cable subscription and direct-broadcast satellite services. Dharan Cable Network broadcasts Kriti Television Channel as a local television channel that covers events in the city.

Climate

Notable people

* Bhola Rijal, Doctor and lyricist * Deep Shrestha, Singer and music composer * Deepak Limbu, Singer * Govinda Subba, First governor of Koshi Province * Hari Nath Bastola, Politician * Harka Raj Rai, Current mayor of Dharan, social activist, and leader of public mobilization movement. * Krishna Kumar Rai, Politician * Malina Joshi, Miss Nepal 2011 * Malvika Subba, Miss Nepal 2002 * Minendra Rijal, Politician & MP * Prashna Shakya, Singer * Namrata Shrestha, Actress * Miruna Magar, Actress * Raju Kaji Shakya, Former captain of national football team * Sabin Rai, Singer * Subin Limbu, Miss Nepal 2014

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Sunsari District Sunsari District Municipalities in Koshi Province Nepal municipalities established in 1962 Submetropolitan municipalities of Nepal Municipalities in Sunsari District