DISTRICT SURVEY REPORT COIMBATORE DISTRICT Aadhi Boomi Mining and Enviro Tech (P) Ltd., (QCI/NABET Accredited EIA Consultant Organization) No.3/216, IIIrd Cross, K.S.V.Nagar, Narasothipatti, Salem-636004. Phone (0427) 2440446, Cell: 09842729655 [email protected], www.abmenvirotech.com DISTRICT SURVEY REPORT OF COIMBATORE DISTRICT Introduction Coimbatore District is one of the districts of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The headquarters of the district is Coimbatore city. It is located in the western part of the state in the Kongu region. Coimbatore lies at 11°1′6″N 76°58′21″E in at 411 meters (1349 ft) above sea level. It is bounded by Palakkad district of Kerala on the west and by Idukki district of Kerala in the South. Coimbatore shares its borders with Tirupur in the East and Nilgiris in the North. A small portion of Erode district shares the border near Puliampatti in the North East. It is about 500Kms away from Chennai and 335Kms from IT City, Bangalore. As of 2011, Coimbatore district had a population of 3,458,045 with a sex-ratio of 1,000 and literacy rate of 84%. The district has spread over 4,723 km2 (1,824 sq mi). The entire western and northern part of the district borders the Western Ghats with the Nilgiri biosphere as well as the Anaimalai and Munnar ranges. The Noyyal River runs through Coimbatore and forms the southern boundary of the old city limits. The city sits amidst Noyyal's basin area and has an extensive tank system fed by the river and rainwater. The eight major tanks / wetland areas of Coimbatore are Singanallur, Valankulam, Ukkadam Periyakulam, Selvampathy, Narasampathi, Krishnampathi, Selvachinthamani, and Kumaraswami tanks. Sanganur pallam, Kovilmedu pallam, Vilankurichi-Singanallur Pallam, Karperayan Koil pallam, Railway feeder roadside drain, Tiruchy-Singanallur Check drain and Ganapathy pallam are some of the streams that drain the city. The eastern side of the Coimbatore district, including the city, is predominantly dry the district was part of the historical Kongu Nadu and was ruled by the Cheras as it served as the eastern entrance to the Palakkad Gap, the principal trade route between the west coast and Tamil Nadu. In 1804, Coimbatore was established as the capital of the newly formed Coimbatore district. The district experienced a textile boom in the early 19th century due to the decline of the cotton industry in Mumbai. Post independence, the district has seen rapid growth due to industrialization. Coimbatore district is well connected by roads and highways; there are five National Highways that connects the district to other 2 A.B.M.ENVIRO TECH PVT LTD parts of the states District Map of Coimbatore District Administrative Details: Coimbatore district is divided into 9 taluks. The taluks are further divided into 19 blocks, which further divided into 481 villages. 3 A.B.M.ENVIRO TECH PVT LTD Demographics According to 2011 census, Coimbatore district had a population of 3,458,045 with a sex-ratio of 1,000 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[32] A total of 319,332 were under the age of six, constituting 163,230 males and 156,102 females. The average literacy of the district was 83.98%.The district had a total of 958,035 households. There were a total of 1,567,950 workers: 75,411 cultivators, 201,351 main agricultural laborers, 44,582 in house hold industries, 1,121,908 other workers, 124,698 marginal workers, 4,806 marginal cultivators, 28,675 marginal agricultural laborers, 5,503 marginal workers in household industries and 85,714 other marginal workers. Tamil is the principal official language and Kongu Tamil, a variant of Tamil and English are widely spoken with a small proportion speaking Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada. Hindus formed the majority of the population at 90.08% followed by Muslims at 5.33%, Christians at 4.35% and others at 0.24% 4 A.B.M.ENVIRO TECH PVT LTD Transport Air The district is served by the Coimbatore International Airport at Coimbatore. The Coimbatore International Airport caters to domestic flights to major Indian cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and international flights to Sharjah and Singapore. Its runway is 9,760 feet (2,970 m) in length and is capable of handling wide-bodied and "fat-bellied" aircraft used for international flights. Sulur Air Force Station, located at Kangayampalayam near the periphery of the city, is an air base of the Indian Air Force. Rail Train service in Coimbatore district started in 1863, upon construction of the Podanur – Madras line connecting Kerala and the west coast with the rest of India. Broad gauge trains connect Coimbatore to all parts of India and Tamil Nadu. Meter gauge line existed between Podanur and Dindigul got closed in May 2009 and is under gauge conversion. Coimbatore Junction is well connected to all the major Indian cities and the district comes under the Jurisdiction of the Salem Division. Coimbatore North, Podanur, Pollachi and Mettupalayam are other important railway stations in the district. The other stations include Peelamedu, Singanallur, Irugur, Perianaikanpalayam, Madukkarai, Somanur and Sulur Road Road Coimbatore district is well connected by roads and highways. There are seven regional transport offices namely: Coimbatore South (Peelamedu), Coimbatore North (Thudiyalur), Coimbatore West (Kovaipudur), Mettupalayam, Pollachi and Sulur. There are five National Highways that connects the district to other parts of the states 5 A.B.M.ENVIRO TECH PVT LTD Geomorphology Coimbatore district forms part of the upland plateau region of Tamil Nadu with many hill ranges, hillocks and undulating topography with a gentle slope towards east except for the hilly terrain in the west. The undulating topography with innumerable depressions, are used as tanks for storage of rainwater for agriculture. The prominent geomorphic units identified in the district through interpretation of Satellite imagery are 1) Structural hills, 2) Ridges, 3) Inselbergs, 4) Bazada, 5) Valley fill, 6) Pediment, 7) Shallow Pediments and 8) Deep Pediments. The Nilgiris on the northwest and Anamalai on the south are the important ranges, which attain a heights of over 2513m above mean sea level (MSL) and the highest elevation in the valleys adjoining the hills is 600 M above MSL. The ‘Palghat Gap’, which is an east-west trending mountain pass, is an important physiographic feature is located in the western part of the district. Geomorphologically, three major units are recognised from west to east. The western part comprises the Western Ghats roughly trending N-S and marked by a continuous range of Hills, extending from Nagercoil in the south upto Nilgiri -Bilgirirangan Hills in the north and further northwards through Karnataka. The elevation of these Hills ranges between 1275m and 2637m. The prominent Hills are Mahendragiri, Agasthiarmalai, Anaimalai, Palani andNilgiris. Doddabetta with an elevation of 2637 m is the highest peak in the Nilgiri Hills. The east-west trending Palghat Gap is a prominent physiographic break in the Western Ghats. The central part of the state is a vast track of dissected pediments and pediplains. Residual Hills in this part viz., Shevaroy, Kalrayan, Chitteri, Kollimalai, Pachchaimalai and Javadi demarcate the extensions of Eastern Ghats, while Karandamalai, Sirumalai andKodaikanal Hills form another set of residual Hills, further south.The eastern part of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and Karaikkal are marked by a coastal plain with associated landforms like vast tidal flats, continuous beach ridges, estuaries and lagoons and a narrow but fairly continuous beach. The area is drained by a number of Rivers such as Palar, Cheyyar, Ponnaiyar, Cauvery, Moyar, Bhavani, Amaravathi, Vaigai, Tambraparani etc. flowing ESE from the Western Ghats. Pondicherry and its surrounding lie in the drainage basin of the Gingee River. 6 A.B.M.ENVIRO TECH PVT LTD Karaikkal is located in the fertile Cauvery Delta and is fed by the waters of Arasalar, Nattar, Vanjiyar and Nandalar. The coastline of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry comprises a number of cusps, spits and wave cut platforms and several palaeo-shorelines. Some of the palaeo-shorelines extend inland suggesting periods of transgression and regression. The ongoing geodynamic process is generally progradation along the coast, which is modified at several places by erosion and deposition by Aeolian and fluvial agents. The eastern areas of the central part of the state are marked by the depositional regime of many Rivers manifested by typical fluvial features like levees, channel bars and palaeo channels, back swamps and vast flood plains.. Rainfall and Climate The district receives the rain under the influence of both southwest and northeast monsoons. The northeast monsoon chiefly contributes to the rainfall in the district and summer rains are negligible. Rainfall data from six stations over the period 1901-2000 were utilized and a perusal of the analysis shows that the normal annual rainfall over the district varies from about 550mm to 900mm. It is the minimum around Sulur (550 mm) in the eastern part of the district. It gradually increases towards south and attains a maximum around Anamalai hills. The district enjoys a tropical climate. The weather is pleasant during the period from November to January. Mornings in general are more humid than the afternoons, with the humidity exceeding 78% on an average. In the period June to November the afternoon humidity exceeds 66% on an average. In the rest of the year the afternoons are drier, the summer afternoons being the driest. The period from April to June is generally hot and dry. The temperature recorded varies from 11.7°C to 42.6°C. Soils The soils of Coimbatore district can be broadly classified into 6 major soils types’ viz., Red calcareous Soil, Black Soil, Red non-calcareous, Alluvial and Colluvial Soil, Brown Soil, and Forest Soil.