Dhamtari is one of the oldest municipality region.The district was officially formed on 6 July 1998 dividing the Raipur district currently the capital of Chhattisgarh along with Mahasamund .District is situated in the fertile plains of Chhattisgarh Region.The total area of the district is 2029 km². and 305 Meter above the mean sea level.The District is surrounded by District Raipur in North & District Kanker as well as Bastar in South, part of Orissa state in East & District Durg and Kanker in West.Mahanadi is the principal river of this district.Its tributaries being Sendur, Pairy, Sondur, Joan, Kharun and Shivnath. The fertility of lands of Dhamtari district can be attributed to the presence of these rivers. The chief crop of this region is Paddy.

Dhamtari is located at 20.71°N 81.55°E. It has an average elevation of 317 metres (1040 feet).

History

Dhamtari, with a population of 17,278 in 1955, was an important town in the Raipur District, Madhya Pradesh, India. [It became part of the new Chhattisgarh state in 2000.] It was headquarters for the Dhamtari Tahsil, a political division comparing approximately to a county in the United States. Its importance lay also in the fact that it was the terminus of a narrow-gauge railway line from Raipur, 80 km (50 miles) to the north on the main Bombay-Calcutta line of the Bengal Nagpur railway. From here roads radiated to the south, east, and west, so that Dhamtari became the trading and shipping center for points 150 and more km distant. Among the goods shipped from Dhamtari were forest products such as timber, shellac, morabulum nuts and biri (cigarette) leaves, along with rice, hides, and other farm produce.

Dhamtari was the headquarters of the Mennonite Church (MC) in India (successor to the American Mennonite Mission), established in 1899 and merged with the church organization in 1952. There was in 1955 a congregation of 558 members, worshiping in a large brick church. The Dhamtari Christian Academy, Dhamtari Christian Hospital, Samuel Burkhard Memorial Boys' Orphanage, and a nursing school were church-mission institutions located here.

Demographics

In 2011, Dhamtari had population of 799,199 of which male and female were 397,250 and 401,949 respectively. There was change of 13.11 percent in the population compared to population as per 2001.Average literacy rate of Dhamtari in 2011 were 78.95 compared to 74.89 of 2001.male and female literacy were 88.84 and 69.24 respectively.With regards to Sex Ratio in Dhamtari, it stood at 1012 per 1000 male compared to 2001 census figure of 1004.Dhamtari District population constituted 3.13 percent of total Chhattisgarh population.

Economy

There are significant lead deposits in the area of Dhamtari. Most of the city's workforce is involved in the timber industry or in rice or flour milling. There is also some presence of a chemical industry. Unique feature of Dhamtari is the total number of Rice Mills that is more than 106.Ravishankar Sagar dam that irrigates almost 57000 Hectare of land and also acts as a main supply unit of safe drinking water resource for state capital Raipur as well as supply to Bhilai Steel Plant lies at almost 11 km from the District capital.Asia's first ever Siphon dam was built in the year 1914 at Madamsilli. Besides Madamsilli, Sondhur dam, Dudhawa dam are the major projects.

Transportation

The main transport here is through buses.Luxury buses run through capital and highways.There are tempos and autorickshaw for the town.The town is connected only with the raipur-dhamtari narrow gauge line(soon to be converted to broadgauge) in this area.

Education

Schools

• Mennonite senior secondary school
• Model English school
• Delhi public school
• St.Xaviers school
• Vidya Kunj
• Kendriya Vidyalaya

Colleges

• Govt.P.G. college
• Govt. polytechnic college
• Govt. girls college
• Genesis College

Healthcare

• Dhamtari Christian hospital(DCH)
• Dhamtari district hospital(DDH)

Dhamtari Christian hospital is one of the oldest serving hospital in the town and all the mjor surgeries casualties and operations are performed here.

Arts and culture

The town has valued arts and the temples called vindhyavasini and angarmoti are famous for their arts and cultural beliefs by the people of the town.Amidst the picturesque landscape of Dhamtari, the splendid architectural monuments stand tall with their over imposing giant structures that reflects the artistic caliber, engineering skills and creative imagination of the native population of Dhamtari.

Places of Interest

Blessed with an enchanting natural scenic beauty and a vast reserve of wild animals, Dhamtari is known for its traditional folk culture that adds to the uniqueness of the region. Dhamtari has numerous places of tourist interest.
Gangrel dam
The famous ravishankar water dam also called gangrel dam is famous for its sunset and many people come here every year for picnic.The place has number of tourist from all places of chhattisgarh and others especially during rainy season when the dam is full of water and tides are formed with water falling from dam.
Tribal villages- One can experience the colorful and attractive cultural and social life of the numerous indigenous tribes of the region in the exotic villages of Dhamtari

Madamsilli Dam- The giant construction of the Madamsilli dam is an engineering marvel of the state of Chhattisgarh

Dudhawa Dam- Surrounded by sprawling gardens, the huge Dudhawa Dam is an ideal place for the tourists

Media & entertainment

• PRAKHAR TV
• PRAKHAR Newspaper

• Amar talkies
• Devshri talkies
• Vimal talkies
• Prashant talkies