Nineteen-eleven was the year that got Delhi back in the race with Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. The arrival of George V and his Durbar gave the languishing Mughal capital its first shot at modernity. So, 2011 is not just the centenary of Delhi as capital of India but also marks 100 years of telephony in the city.
Delhi's first phone service started with the Central Telephone Exchange in the Coronation Durbar telegraph office. Common people could make calls from all post offices, barring the three at Wazirabad, the Mall and Prince's Road. Talking of post offices, they certainly were more businesslike 100 years ago. Most of them worked 10 hours a day (8am to 6pm) but stamps were available for 13 hours (7am to 8pm) and telegrams could be sent from 7am to 9pm (14 hours).
Telephones, though, were only one of the many improvements the city experienced in the run-up to the Coronation Durbar. For the common man, the new railway lines, a large power generation unit and water treatment facilities made a more significant difference.
The city got a new suburban railway for the Durbar - aptly called the Durbar Railway - but even the old broad gauge and 2'6" narrow gauge lines were upgraded. The old Delhi-Ambala-Kalka line, for instance, was doubled from Sabzi Mandi station to Wazirpur junction, where it linked with the new Durbar lines. Likewise, the old Southern Punjab Railway line was doubled from Brewery Cabin to Shakurpur. A new terminal station - Hamilton Road - was also built to decongest the other main stations. Trains ran at 15-minute intervals on both broad gauge and narrow gauge lines but while the bigger trains carried 1100 passengers, the 'light' trains had a capacity of only 230.
Augmentation of electricity supply was another Durbar milestone. Until before the Durbar, the city was powered by a lone 2MW diesel generator installed at Lahori Gate. But the installed power capacity more than doubled when a coal-fired steam turbine became operational at the Central Power House on Alipur Road. The 3200-horse power turbine generated 2.4 MW of electricity, good enough to light up 72,000 bulbs. During the Durbar , 100 miles of road length was lit up using 10,000 poles and 900 miles of copper wire.
Arrangements were also made to supply potable water to the entire camp population. A filtering plant with a capacity of 5 million gallons a day was installed solely for the use of the Durbar camps. Laid end to end, the mains measured 51 miles while the branch lines added up to another 50 miles.
Delhi's first phone service started with the Central Telephone Exchange in the Coronation Durbar telegraph office. Common people could make calls from all post offices, barring the three at Wazirabad, the Mall and Prince's Road. Talking of post offices, they certainly were more businesslike 100 years ago. Most of them worked 10 hours a day (8am to 6pm) but stamps were available for 13 hours (7am to 8pm) and telegrams could be sent from 7am to 9pm (14 hours).
Telephones, though, were only one of the many improvements the city experienced in the run-up to the Coronation Durbar. For the common man, the new railway lines, a large power generation unit and water treatment facilities made a more significant difference.
The city got a new suburban railway for the Durbar - aptly called the Durbar Railway - but even the old broad gauge and 2'6" narrow gauge lines were upgraded. The old Delhi-Ambala-Kalka line, for instance, was doubled from Sabzi Mandi station to Wazirpur junction, where it linked with the new Durbar lines. Likewise, the old Southern Punjab Railway line was doubled from Brewery Cabin to Shakurpur. A new terminal station - Hamilton Road - was also built to decongest the other main stations. Trains ran at 15-minute intervals on both broad gauge and narrow gauge lines but while the bigger trains carried 1100 passengers, the 'light' trains had a capacity of only 230.
Augmentation of electricity supply was another Durbar milestone. Until before the Durbar, the city was powered by a lone 2MW diesel generator installed at Lahori Gate. But the installed power capacity more than doubled when a coal-fired steam turbine became operational at the Central Power House on Alipur Road. The 3200-horse power turbine generated 2.4 MW of electricity, good enough to light up 72,000 bulbs. During the Durbar , 100 miles of road length was lit up using 10,000 poles and 900 miles of copper wire.
Arrangements were also made to supply potable water to the entire camp population. A filtering plant with a capacity of 5 million gallons a day was installed solely for the use of the Durbar camps. Laid end to end, the mains measured 51 miles while the branch lines added up to another 50 miles.
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