Roorkee
Roorkee (Rūṛkī) is a city and a municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 31 km (19 mi) from Haridwar city, the district headquarter. It is spread over a flat terrain under Sivalik Hills of Himalayas. The city is developed on the banks of Ganges Canal, its dominant feature, which flows from north–south through middle of the city. Roorkee is home to Asia's first engineering college Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, formerly known as Thomson College of Civil Engineering. Roorkee is also known for the Roorkee Cantonment, one of the country's oldest military establishments and the headquarters of Bengal Engineer Group since 1853. A freight train ran in between Roorkee and Piran Kaliyar on 22 December 1851, this was two years before first passenger trains were started between Bombay and Thana in 1853 and 14 years after first freight trains ran in Chennai in 1837.
Roorkee City | |
|---|---|
City | |
| Roorkee City | |
From top: Main Administrative Building of IIT Roorkee, The East India Company-era (1854) Ganeshpur Bridge over the Ganges Canal and St. John's Church. | |
Roorkee City Location in Uttarakhand, India | |
| Coordinates: 29°52′29.49″N 77°53′23.74″E | |
| Country | India |
| State | Uttarakhand |
| District | Haridwar |
| Founded | 1842 |
| Municipality | 1868 |
| Founded by | Proby Cautley |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–council |
| • Body | Roorkee Municipal Corporation |
| • Mayor | Gaurav Goel, Independent |
| • Municipal Commissioner | Vijay Nath Shukl, PCS |
| Elevation | 268 m (879 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Metro | 238,422 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Hindi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 247667 |
| Telephone code | +91-1332 |
| Vehicle registration | UK-17 |
| Sex ratio | 1.12 ♂/♀ |