Asansol is a city in Rarh in India. It is the second largest urban agglomeration in West Bengal and is an important mining and industrial centre. Burnpur is part of Asansol municipal corporation.
How to Reach
Asansol is an important junction on the Howrah-Delhi track and most of the trains stop here. For travel from Kolkata, 200 km, the short distance trains are ideal - Ranchi Shatabdi Express, Howrah-Dhanbad AC Double-decker, Agniveena Express, Coalfield Express and Black Diamond Express from Howrah, and Inter City Express from Sealdah. Be sure to book a reserved seat in advance because the trains are generally crowded. Reservation of seats will enable a person to avoid the gross misbehavior of uncivilized, ill-mannered and irritating daily passengers. Some long distance trains also offer reservation from Howrah to Asansol, but not the other way.
Daily direct trains to Delhi, Jammu Tawi, Dehradun, Kalka, Kathgodam, Jodhpur, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur and Mumbai either start from Asansol or pass through Asansol. There are several weeklies and bi-weeklies to far off destinations such as Kanyakumari, Yeshvantpur, Ahmedabad and Dibrugarh.
Asansol is on Grand Trunk Road (the city is off NH 2) and so travel is straight. The road is superb with four lanes and a divider in place. Those travelling from Kolkata should take the Durgapur Expressway (part of NH 2) from Dankuni and then Grand Trunk Road/ NH 2 (bypassing Bardhaman town) from Palsit. Air-conditioned Volvo and State Transport buses along with non-air-conditioned buses leave daily from Esplanade (Kolkata) for Asansol. The tickets can be booked in advance or at the spot before the departure of the buses. The Volvo bus journey is comfortable and relaxing in comparison to the journey by State Transport AC buses. The additional comfort comes at an additional cost.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose airport at Kolkata is the nearest commercial airport. There is a private airstrip at Burnpur, suitable for small planes. No direct flight service is available for Asansol.
Get around
Hired cars, auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws are available. Nobody goes by meters and so be sure to check about the hire charges before boarding.
City landmarks
- Asansol railway station, Station Road, Asansol
- IISCO Steel Plant (Steel Authority of India Limited).Modernised at a cost of Rs. 16,000 crore, the new plant will be on stream by Decemeber 2013
- Eastern Coalfields Limited (Headquarters) Sanctoria
Buy
It is one of the big markets in West Bengal. There are many shops for buying clothes, electronic goods, sports accessories etc. Some prominent shops are: Mohan (Raha Lane-Hutton Road market) Bazaar Kolkata (Raha Lane) B.N.Ghanty (Raha Lane-Hutton Road market)
Eat
Buy
It is one of the big markets in West Bengal. There are many shops for buying clothes, electronic goods, sports accessories etc. Some prominent shops are: Mohan (Raha Lane-Hutton Road market) Bazaar Kolkata (Raha Lane) B.N.Ghanty (Raha Lane-Hutton Road market)
Reproduced from Wikipedia