Quick Answer: Roorkee, formerly also anglicized as Rurki, is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 31 km from Haridwar, the district headquarters. It is spread over a flat terrain under the Sivalik Hills of the Himalayas. The city is developed on the banks of the Ganges Canal, its dominant feature, which flows from north–south through the middle of the city. Roorkee is home to Asia's Second engineering college the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, formerly known as Thomson College of Civil Engineering. Roorkee is also known for the Roorkee Cantonment, one of the country's oldest military establishments and the headquarters of Bengal Engineer Group since 1853.