Daman (/dəˈmɑːn/) (Portuguese: Damão) is the capital city of the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is a municipal council situated in Daman district of the union territory.
Daman Ganga River divides Daman into two parts — Nani-Daman (nani meaning “small”) and Moti-Daman (Moti meaning “big”). Despite its name, Nani-Daman is the larger of the two parts, while the old city is mainly in Moti-Daman. This holds most of the important entities like the major hospitals, supermarkets and major residential areas. Vapi, Gujarat is the nearest city to Daman.
History
The Portuguese Diogo de Melo arrived at the spot by chance in 1523, when heading towards Ormuz. He was caught in a violent storm and had his boat blown towards the coast of Daman. Soon after, it was settled as a Portuguese colony which lasted for over 400 years. A larger fort was built in Moti Daman in the 16th century to guard against the Mughals who ruled the area until the Portuguese arrived. It stands today, most of it preserved in its original form. Today the majority of the municipal government offices are inside the fort.
Daman was incorporated into the Republic of India in December 1961 after a battle between the Portuguese and the Indians. The battle left four Indians dead and 14 wounded; Portuguese casualties were 10 dead and two wounded.
On 3 November 2019, Daman Collector Rakesh Minhas issued a Section 144 order banning peaceful assembly of four or more persons, slogan-shouting and the use of loudspeakers across the entire district and ordered the conversion of High School, Bhimpore and the Sarvottam High School, Moti Daman into ‘temporary jails’. This was in response to a land ownership dispute between the local indigenous fishing community and the local administration that had confiscated their land and bulldozed their homes. The ensuing 2019 Daman Indigenous Land Clearing Protests resulted with the detention of 70 protesters in the ‘temporary jails’ and another 8 arrests. Few of the adivasi fisherfolk were rehoused whilst most languished traumatised and homeless on the streets near the rubble of their razed homes. As of March 2021 the site is now billionaire Binod Chaudhary of CG Corp Global’s The Fern Seaside Luxurious Tent Resort offering tourist accommodation for $80US/£57GBP/6000 rupees for night in a tent.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Daman District, India has a population of 191,173. This gives it a ranking of 592nd in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 2,655 inhabitants per square kilometre (6,880/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 69.256%. Daman has a sex ratio of 533 females for every 1,000 males, and a literacy rate of 88.06%.
Climate
Daman has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) with two distinct seasons: a long sunny dry season from October to May and a hot, very humid and extremely wet monsoon season from June to September. Almost no rain falls during the dry season. With milder mornings and lower humidity especially up to the middle of March, this is by far the most comfortable time of the year.
The monsoon season, though relatively short, is extremely wet. Along with the very high humidity and heavy rain every afternoon, travel is difficult and uncomfortable.
| hideClimate data for Daman, Daman and Diu (1961 to 1990) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 29.1 (84.4) |
29.9 (85.8) |
32.8 (91.0) |
34.5 (94.1) |
34.9 (94.8) |
33.2 (91.8) |
30.3 (86.5) |
29.9 (85.8) |
30.7 (87.3) |
33 (91) |
32.6 (90.7) |
30.4 (86.7) |
31.8 (89.2) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 15.7 (60.3) |
16.6 (61.9) |
20.3 (68.5) |
20.7 (69.3) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.5 (79.7) |
25.3 (77.5) |
24.8 (76.6) |
24.3 (75.7) |
22.6 (72.7) |
19.2 (66.6) |
16.5 (61.7) |
21.6 (70.9) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.0) |
0 (0) |
5 (0.2) |
324 (12.8) |
766 (30.2) |
473 (18.6) |
288 (11.3) |
44 (1.7) |
6 (0.2) |
2 (0.1) |
1,909 (75.1) |
| Source: climate-data.org | |||||||||||||
Tourism
- Nani Daman Fort (Jeronimo fort)
- Jain Temple: This 18th century Jain temple is in the northern region of Nani Daman Fort and is dedicated to Mahavir Swami. It is built with white marble. The walls have glass cover with 18th century murals that represent the life of Mahavir Swami.
- Fort of Moti Daman
- Jampore Beach
- Devka Beach
- Church of Bom Jesus
- Daman Freedom Memorial
- Moti Daman Fort
Indian Coast Guard
Indian Coast Guard Air Station, Daman is the premier air station of the Coast Guard with all the airfield facilities, air traffic control and other allied air traffic services. It is equipped with state-of-the-art airport surveillance radar (ASR), precision approach path indicator (PAPI), Doppler very high frequency omnidirectional radio range (DVOR) – distance measuring equipment (DME) and nondirectional beacon (NDB), as navigational aids. This air station provides ATC and parking facilities to defence as well as civil aircraft.
Schools and colleges
- Institute of our lady of Fatima, Convent, Moti Daman
- swami vivekanad English & Hindi medium school, dalwada, daman
- Coast Guard Public School, Nani Daman
- Podar Jumbo Kids, Daman (preschool)
- Sunrise Champs school, Mashal Chowk, Nani Daman
- Vaidik Dental college campus, Salwaar, Nani Daman
- Shrinathji School, Varkund, Nani Daman
- Divya Jyoti English High & Higher Secondary School, Dabhel, Daman
- Divya Jyoti Hindi Medium School, Dabhel, Daman
- MGM High School, Nani-Daman (Sarvajanik High School)
- Government Higher Secondary School, Nani Daman
- Government Higher Secondary School, Moti Daman
- Government Polytechnic Daman
- Shree Machchi Mahajan English Medium School, Nani Daman
- Stella Maris English Medium High School, Daman
- AIM English School, Moti Daman
- Government College, Nani Daman
- Government Primary School, Devka Mangelwad, Nani Daman
- Holy Trinity English medium high school, Dunetha, Daman
- Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Daman