GIRIDIH

town, Bihar state, northeastern India. It lies 72 miles (115 km) northeast of Hazaribagh town, on both banks of the Usri River. In 1871 a branch line of the Eastern Railway was built to the town, increasing its importance as a transport centre for coal mined at nearby Kuharbarie, Serampore, and Banaidih. It is the headquarters of the country's major mica-producing firms and has a degree-granting college. The locality in which Giridih is situated forms part of the Chota Nagpur region and consists of a series of plateaus that are forested with sal (Shorea) and drumstick trees mixed with thickets of bamboo and acacia. The region's red soils are drained by the Barakar River and the tributaries of the Damodar River. Agriculture is the basis of the local economy; cultivated lands are confined to the flat tops of the plateaus and the valley plains. Crops include rice, corn (maize), ragi (a millet), gram (chick-pea), and vegetables. Industries in the area produce metal products, chemicals, foodstuffs, furniture, household fixtures, and electric cables and wires. Copper, apatite, kyanite, coal, mica, and other minerals are mined. The towns in the locality owe their origin and growth to mining and industrial activities; railways were built primarily to exploit the mineral resources. Pop. (1981) 65,444.