Sahaganj

Sahaganj
Neighbourhood
Sahaganj Location in West Bengal, India Show map of West Bengal Sahaganj Sahaganj (India) Show map of India
Coordinates: 22°56′32″N88°23′56″E / 22.94225°N 88.398769°E / 22.94225; 88.398769 Coordinates: 22°56′32″N88°23′56″E / 22.94225°N 88.398769°E / 22.94225; 88.398769
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Hooghly
Region	Greater Kolkata
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Body	Bansberia Municipality
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	712104
Telephone code	+91 33
Vehicle registration	WB
Lok Sabha constituency	Hooghly
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Saptagram
Website	hooghly.gov.in

Sahaganj is a locality in Bansberia Municipality of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).

Geography

[Interactive fullscreen map]

Bandel-Saptagram Area as it is today
R: rural/ urban centre, F: facility, H: historical site
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly

Ward No. 1 of Bansberia Municipality and parts of Ward Nos. 1,2 and 3 of Hooghly Chinsurah Municipality cover Sahaganj. ^{[1] [2]}

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India, Ward No. 1 of Bansberia municipality had a total population of 2,089 of which 1,084 (51%) were males and 1,005 (49%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 143. The total number of literate persons in Ward No. 1 was 1,721 (88.44% of the population over 6 years). ^[3]

Dunlop at Sahaganj

Dunlop India Ltd. opened its first factory in India at Sahaganj in 1936. It pioneered the manufacture of cycle, automobile and aeroplane tyres. In 1952, it started producing foam cushioning, transmission belting and Vee belts. Conveyor belting and long length braided hose were added to the range later on. ^[4]

Dunlop Rubber, founded in 1889, was a British multinational involved in the manufacture of various rubber products. By the end of the Second World War, around 1946, starting with Fort Dunlop, Erdington, a suburb of Birmingham in Britain, Dunlop had manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Ireland, South Africa and India. It had sales outlets in nearly every country in the world. Then the Monopolies and Restrictive Prices Commission forced some pricing changes. In the early sixties Dunlop opted for the cheaper textile radial tyres rather than the steel belted radial tyres. The British car industry declined and the 1973 oil crisis compounded matters. Dunlop started losing markets. As its business declined it started selling off many of its companies, including that in India. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

Birmingham’s Dunlop plant was closed on 30 May 2014 after being in operation for 125 years. ^[10]

In 1984, Manu Chhabria, the Dubai-based Indian businessman, arrived in India as a "corporate raider". He picked up controlling stake, in association with the R. P. Goenka’s RPG Group, in Dunlop India, which was then ailing. He subsequently took single-handed control of the company. ^[11]

The Sahaganj factory faced major hurdles, first with a 97-days strike by the trade unions in 1988, ^[4] and then in the early nineties with conflicting vision and strategies of the professional managers and owners over falling fortunes of the company. Several top executives, including the managing director, Murli Dhar Shukla, left the company. ^[11] In 1998, the management of Dunlop moved the BIFR for registration as a sick company. ^[12] Manu Chhabria died in 2002, ^[13] and Pawan Kumar Ruia purchased Dunlop in 2005 from the Chhabria family controlled Jumbo Group. At the time of take over, the plant at Sahaganj was closed and employed 2,700 workers. ^{[14] [15]} It was taken out of BIFR in 2007. ^[16] Amongst the other units in Pawan Kumar Ruiya's kitty is Jessop & Company.

Both the earlier Left Front government and the present Trinamul Congress government, in West Bengal, have expressed concern about the state of affairs in Dunlop India, for many years a blue-chip company, but, except for short periods in 2008, 2011 and 2014, Dunlop’s Sahaganj factory has remained closed. In 2011, 800 employees remained on its rolls. ^{[17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]}

Transport

State Highway 6 (West Bengal)/ Grand Trunk Road skirts the western edge of Sahaganj. ^[24]

Education

Dunlop English Medium School is located in Dunlop Estate at Sahaganj. ^[25]

Sahaganj Dunlop Hindi School is located in Ward No. 1 of Bansberia Municipality. It was established in 1961. ^[26]

Sahaganj Dunlop High School is a Bengali-medium high school located in Ward No. 1 of Bansberia Municipality. It was established in 1952. ^[27]

Saraswati World School is located near Dunlop Mor at Sahaganj. ^[28]

References

1. "Bansberia municipality block schools". Free Tutorial. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
2. "Hooghly-Chinsura Municipality, Hugli district, schools list". Schools in India. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
3. "2011 Census – Primary Census Abstract Data Tables". West Bengal – District-wise. Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
4. "ET Markets". The Economic Times. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
5. Jones, Geoffrey (February 1984). "The Growth and Performance of British Multinational Firms before 1939: The Case of Dunlop". The Economic History Review. New Series. Wiley on behalf of the Economic History Society Article Stable. 37 (1): 35–53. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00315.x. JSTOR   2596830.
6. "Our history". dunlop.eu.
7. "DUNLOP RUBBER COMPANY LIMITED". nationalarchives.gov.uk.
8. Competition Report, 1955 Archived 18 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
9. DOMINANCE TO DECLINE: A CASE STUDY OF THE DEMISE OF DUNLOP
10. "Birmingham's Dunlop Plant closing today". itv news, 30 May 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
11. "Manu Chhabria: From Mumbai to Dubai". Business. 6 April 2002. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
12. "Bifr fails to diagnose Dunlop". Business Standard, 1 April 1998. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
13. "Manu Chhabria Dead". The Financial Express, 7 April 2002. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
14. "Pawan Ruia buys Dunlop, Falcon". Business Standard, 3 December 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
15. "P.K.Ruia buys three Chhabria cos". The Hindu . 4 December 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2017.^{[ dead link ]}
16. "Dunlop India out of BIFR, expects profit this year". Business Standard, 28 December 2007. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
17. "Basu threatens legal action against Dunlop". The Hindu, 9 February 2000. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
18. "Dunlop reopens, doubts linger". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
19. "Bengal government to take over Dunlop, Jessop". The Hindu, 27 February 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
20. "Dunlop shutdown, no work no pay". The Telegraph, 30 November 2008. Sanhati. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
21. "Dunlop India's Sahaganj Plant to Reopen Shortly". The Economic Times, 23 September 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
22. "Dunlop factory at Sahaganj opens after West Bengal government intervention". All India Trinamool Congress, 26 September 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
23. "West Bengal government to take over Dunlop and Jessop from Ruia group". Business Standard, 26 February 2016. SmartInvestor.in. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
24. "Road - Highway". Public Works Department, Government of West Bengal. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
25. "Dunlop English Medium School". ICBSE. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
26. "Sahaganj Dunlop Hindi High School". ICBSE. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
27. "Sahaganj Dunlop High School". ICBSE. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
28. "Saraswati World School". schoolandcollegelistings. Retrieved 24 March 2020.