Garrison town
Also called: Cantonment town · Topic: Human Settlements and Urbanisation in India · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Human Settlements"
Meaning
A garrison town is a town whose main job is to house soldiers. It grew up around a military station. Most garrison towns began as British cantonments, which were separate, planned areas for troops. Today cantonment boards run them under the Cantonments Act 2006. Their layout, jobs and services centre on defence needs.
Example
Mhow, near Indore in Madhya Pradesh, is a classic garrison town. Other examples are Ambala, Jalandhar, Babina and Udhampur.
Don't confuse with
- Administrative town: a town that runs civil government, such as a state capital. A garrison town serves the armed forces.
- Civil lines: the colonial area where British officials lived and worked. It sat beside the cantonment but was a civil area, not a military one.