Barog

Barog is a small town in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

History

Barog was settled in the early 20th century during the building of the narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway. It is named after Barog, an engineer involved in building the railway track in 1903.

Barog, the engineer, was responsible for designing a tunnel near the railway station. He commenced digging the tunnel from both sides of the mountain. He, however made mistakes in his calculation and while constructing the tunnel, it was found that the two ends of the tunnel did not meet. Barog was fined an amount of 1 Rupee by the British government. Unable to withstand the humiliation, Barog committed suicide. He was buried near the incomplete tunnel. The area came to be known as Barog after him.

Soon, however, another tunnel was built by H.S. Harrington, Chief Engineer in Railways at that time. This tunnel, currently, is the longest of the 102 operational tunnels on the route of the Shimla-Kalka Railway. Trains take about 2.5 minutes to cross this tunnel, running at 25 kilometre per hour.

Geography

Barog is located at at a distance of 60 km from Chandigarh. Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh is another 65 km from Barog.

Till 2003, National Highway 22 connecting Chandigarh with Shimla passed through Barog. On 6 December, 2003, the new section of the highway was inaugurated that would connect the village of Kumarhatti directly to Solan, thus bypassing Barog. This was done to avoid the steep incline to Barog from Kumarhatti.

Barog is located at a height of 1560 metres above the mean sea level. Due to its height, temperatures here range between 23 to 10 °C during summers and between 15 to 5 °C during winters. The summers last from April to July. Winters set in during December and typically last up to February.

Economy

The economy of Barog is primarily dependent upon tourists, who come here due to its cool climate and close vicinity from Chandigarh. Many hotels including a Himachal tourism resort operate in Barog.

Barog also serves as a fitness camp for the Indian National Hockey and other athletic teams.