Dahod



Dahod is a city on the banks of the Dudhimati River in Dahod District in the State of Gujarat, India. It is said that it has taken its name from Saint Dadhichi, who had an Ashram on the bank of Dudhumati river. This city is known for the birth place of 6th mughal emperor Aurangzeb son of 5th mughal emperor shahjahan. The city serves as District Headquarters for Dahod District. It is 214 km from Ahmedabad and 159 km from Vadodara. It is also known as Dohad (meaning "two boundaries", as the borders of the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are nearby).

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb was born in Dahod in 1618, during the reign of Jahangir. Aurangzeb was said to have ordered his ministers to favour this town, as it was his birthplace. Tatya Tope, the freedom fighter, is known to have absconded in Dahod. He is believed to have lived his last days in this region.

It was previously within the boundaries of Panchmahal District. However, in 2006, Dahod was recognized as a separate district. Urban Bank Hospital is situated here. The foundation stone for a dental college was laid by the trust of philanthropist Girdharlal Sheth.

The railway colony, also known as Parel area of Dahod was built by the British and it still follows the same architecture.There is also a western railway locomotive workshop here, and this area contributes to population of mostly people from other states, working here in railways workshop. Dahod is taking step into digital era also. Iskcon Dahod also functions here for the welfare of society by providing them cultural and value based education, youth program. Dahod has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship Smart Cities Mission.

Demographics
As per the 2011 census, Dahod had a population of 130,503. Males constituted 51% of the population and females 49%. Dahod had an average literacy rate of 83.57%, higher than the national average of 74.04%.

Education
Educational institutions in Dahod include: Hindi Higher Secondary School, Hindi Primary School, Edu Nova, St. Stephen's Higher Secondary School, R.R.Dabiyal Primary School, Government Engineering College,

St. Mary's School, Government Polytechnic, M.Y. High School, S&I Dadararwala higher secondary school, Little Flowers School, Shashi Dhan Day School, Jamali English School, Burhani English Medium School, R.L. Pandya High School, Sunrise Public School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Shree Gnanjyot Secondary and High Secondary School, and Aadivasi Secondary and Higher Secondary School. Many other village government schools.

Cuisine
Kachori, Samosa, Ratlami sev and Panipuri are the main namkeen of the city. Dahod is also known for Mattha and Pakwan. Ratlami Sev Bhandar, Shree Krishna Bhojnalay and Dhaval Restaurant are the hotspot for snacks in Dahod and is famous for its Kachori all over Gujarat.

Health
Dahod is also a medical hub for Gujarat, and surrounding areas of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Dahod hosts some non-profit health centers like Urban hospital, Anjuman Trust, and Government Hospital. Drashtri Netralaya is a famous non-profit eye clinic with a staff of 20+ specialists. It also offers a Diploma in Optometry course.

Engineering
Dahod is a city in the Indian state of Gujarat, and it is home to a growing engineering sector. The city has a number of small and medium-sized engineering firms that specialize in areas such as metal fabrication, machining, and tool and die making. Additionally, there are several larger companies that have established manufacturing operations in Dahod, including Siemens India, which plans to manufacture and maintain freight locomotives at its facility in the city.

Real estate market
In recent years, the real estate in Dahod has increased in value considerably. Dahod has been part of international service organization Lions Clubs International, five clubs are active in community service here.

Arts and authors
The town's Najmi Masjeed mosque, inaugurated in 2002, is one of the largest mosques in the Dawoodi Bohra community. Dahod is also famous for its handicraft products by Sahaj- An Organisation for Women's Development, an NGO with outreach to 3000 women. Founded in 2001, Sahaj creates fine handicraft products and is an established brand in tribal handicraft in India and the world.

Road ways
Road Connectivity Dahod is connected to all major towns of Gujarat by public transport service operated by GSRTC.

Railways
Dahod comes under the Western Railways of Indian Railways and it is on New Delhi–Mumbai main line. The specialty of Dahod is that it marks the beginning and the end of Gujarat on Western Railways line. Few years back the facade of Dahod Railway station was also modernized. The fastest train to reach Mumbai or New Delhi (Hazrat Nizamuddin) from Dahod is August Kranti Rajdhani Express. On 25 April 2018 Ministry of Railways decided to give stoppage of August Kranti Rajdhani Express at Dahod plus, prestigious trains like Golden Temple Mail, Avantika Express, Paschim Express and Mumbai Jaipur (Gangaur) Superfast also halts at Dahod. Other than that Dahod is well connected to major cities of India. Dahod handles the traffic of around 106 trains out of which 7 trains originates and terminates at Dahod. After completion of Dahod-Indore rail line project Dahod will turn into a Junction.

Dahod was selected for construction of POH workshop for steam locomotive fleet because of its pleasant weather, availability of cheap land and sincere workforce. Dahod is also ideally situated mid-way between Bombay and Delhi, the main route of BB&CI Railway broad gauge system. Initially trained staff was transferred from Parel to Dahod. A full-fledged colony was constructed for accommodating full strength of staff. Mr. Hendree Freeland established the colony that is named after him as Freelandganj. The foundation of Locomotive workshop, Dahod was laid by Sir Clement Hindlay Kt, then Chief Commissioner of Railways (India), on 14 th January 1926. It took about 4 years to complete the construction of the workshop and a steam powerhouse attached to the workshop, the office complex and staff amenities like colony, main hospital, area health units, railway institutes etc. Originally, the workshop at Lower Parel (Bombay) was catering to the requirement of POH of locomotives, passenger carriages and freight cars of then Bombay, Baroda and Central India (BB&CI) Railway. With the increase in the train services, Lower Parel workshop was not able to cope with the arising of all the three types of rolling stock. Therefore, it was decided to shift locomotive POH activity from Lower Parel to some other place.

Airport
Nearest Airports are Vadodara Airport (125 km), Ahmedabad Airport (210 km) and Indore Airport (190 km).