Petlawad is a town and a

Nagar Panchayat A nagar panchayat () or town panchayat or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,00 ...

in the Jhabua district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, formerly the Central Provinces. The town received nationwide media coverage on 12 September 2015 when an explosion killed approximately 100 people and injured over 150 people in the Petlawad explosion.

Geography

Petlawad is a part of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. It is 310.2 km from

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

and 147.9 km from

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

. Petlawad is located at . It has an average elevation of 388 metres (1,272 feet). Major towns in the region are Raipuria, Sarangi, Bamnia and Karwad.

Demographics

In the 2011 census, Petlawad had a population of 15,174 of which 7,791 were males while 7,383 were females. The average sex ratio is 948 which is higher than the Madhya Pradesh state average of 931. The literacy rate is 84% compared to 69.3% for Madhya Pradesh. The male literacy rate is 92.5% while the female literacy rate is 74.8%. Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 7% of the population while Schedule Tribe is 24%.

Economy

Agriculture is the main occupation of residents. The region is part of an important wheat-growing area of the country. Important crops are tomato , wheat, maize, soybean, groundnut, and garlic. Other than agriculture, cloth and jewelry selling is a common occupation in Petlawad.

Culture

Petlawad is famous for its

Adivasi The Adivasi (also transliterated as Adibasi) are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term is a recent invention from the 20th century and is now widely used as a self-designation by groups classified as Scheduled Tr ...

(ethnic and tribal) traditions, owing to its location in the Jhabua district. The Nilkantheshwar temple is located in the town. Petlawad was selected for a residential-colony for the

Mahi River The Mahi (माही नदी) is a river in western India. It rises in Madhya Pradesh and, after flowing through the Vagad region of Rajasthan, enters Gujarat and flows into the Arabian Sea. It is one of the relatively few west-flowing river ...

dam project. The residential-colony is located 1.5 Kilometres from Petlawad.

Transport

Bamnia railway station is situated from Ratlam Junction on Ratlam-Godhra section of

Western Railways The Western Railway (abbreviated WR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways and is among the busiest railway networks in India, headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra. The major railway routes of Indian Railways which come under Western Railw ...

.Not many trains stop at Raoti stations except for few long distance and local trains. Station is away from the town, however transportation is generally available for commuters. The nearest airport is indore.

References

Cities and towns in Jhabua district Jhabua Cities in Malwa {{MadhyaPradesh-geo-stub