District disaster management

The occupational structure of Amritsar has been assessed by the number of workers engaged in the four categories namely cultivators, agricultural laborers, household industry and others as described in census 2001 is shown in the table below.

The table above shows that the main workers in Amritsar city, classified into 9 categories as per census 2001. It has been found that out of the total workers in Amritsar city, 26.96% of the workers are engaged in Wholesale and Retail Trade followed by 21.94% in manufacturing, processing &repairs industry and 20.67% in public administration and others since Amritsar is the district head quarter. The increase in number of workers have been observed in the construction, manufacturing processing and repair industry (household industry) and in the ninth category which includes financial intermediaries, real estate renting and business activities and public administration and defence services (J&K and L to Q).

Several economic drivers have been identified within the Amritsar. Recently, booming real estate activities have been observed with the coming up of several residential colonies such as Impact Gardens (a mega project), Garden Enclave, Shubham Enclave, Ansal City, Heritage City etc and has played a great role in both the physical and economic development of the city. Besides this, several shopping malls and multiplexes, like Celebration Mall, Alpha One, Trilium, etc. have come up or are under construction in the Amritsar city along with commercial retail chains like Bharti Walmart’s Best price on GT road near Manawala, Tata retail chain stores, reliance retail chain stores etc., which when operational will contribute towards the economic development. Further, there is proposal for establishment of World-Class Central University in the Amritsar, which will give employment to large number of people.

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  Amritsar is the second largest city of Punjab and a great centre of learning and literature. It has number of educational institutions of regional importance, such as Guru Nanak Dev University, Khalsa College, ten Degree Colleges, two B. Ed. colleges, two Engineering Colleges, nine Nursing Colleges, two Polytechnics/Industrial Training Institutes, one Medical College, one Ayurvedic College, two Dental Colleges and four distance education centers.
  
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  It has emerged as a magnificent centre of trade and industry. There are approximately 25,000 industrial units in the district Amritsar with major commodities of production and export being woolen blankets, shawls, carpets, food items, such as papad, pickles, etc.
  
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  At regional level, it has also emerged has a great centre of heritage and historical significance. The history of Amritsar is more than 400 years old and is intricately intertwined with the birth of Sikh religion.
  
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  Presence of Rajasansi International Airport has also helped in giving it due importance at regional level. At present, it handles approximately 150 commercial flights per week, both domestic and international.
  

Land Reclamation, Irrigation and Power Research Institute, Punjab, Amritsar was established in 1924 and was reorganized in 1947. This institute deals with research and design problems relating to irrigation and power projects. Extensive soils, water and ground water surveys form its regular feature. For devising suitable ante – water logging measure, a number of pilot schemes have been taken up by the institute. Besides there are two fruit nurseries in the district namely (1) The Khalsa College Nursery, Amritsar, (2) The Malak Nursery, Court road, Amritsar. These nurseries rendered valuable assistance in the propagation of horticulture in the district.

Allied activities such as dairying, animal husbandry, fisheries etc also form a strong economic base for the agriculture. Amritsar district has 2^nd highest number of livestock after Ludhiana in the state of Punjab. Amritsar district holds 1.44% of the total poultry in the state of Punjab. The details of livestock and poultry in the district are shown in the table no. 18.