DISTRICT SURVEY REPORT OF VIRUDHUNAGAR PREFACE In Compliance to the Notification Issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change Dated 15.01.2016, the preparation of District survey report of minor minerals is in accordance appendix 10 of the notification. It is also mentioned here that the procedure of preparation of District Survey Report is as per notification guidelines. Every effort have been made to cover mining locations, areas & overview of Mining activity in the district with all its relevant features pertaining to geology & mineral wealth in replenishable and non-replenishable areas. This report will be a model and guiding document which is a compendium of available mineral resources, geographical set up, environmental and ecological set up of the District and is based on data of various departments, published reports and websites. The data may vary due to flood, heavy rains and other natural cliamities. Therefore, it is recommended that Sub Divisional Level Committee may take into consideration all its relevant aspects / data while scrutinizing and recommending the application for EC to the concerned Authority. SURVEY REPORT OF VIRUDHUNAGAR DISTRICT As per Gazette notification of 15th January 2016 of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change a Survey shall be carried out by the District Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA) with assistance of irrigation department, Drainage department, Forest department, Mining department and Revenue department in the district for preparation of District Survey Report as per the sustainable Miner mineral mining guidelines to ensure identification of areas of aggradations or deposition where mining can be allowed; and identification of areas of erosion and proximity to infrastructural structures and installations where mining should be prohibited and calculation of annual rate of replenishment and allowing time for replenishment after mining in that area. Every effort have been made to cover mining locations, areas & overview of Mining activity in the district with all its relevant features pertaining to geology & mineral wealth in replenish-able and non-replenish-able of particular areas. The mineral potential is calculated based on field investigation & geology of the catchment area. Also as per the site conditions and locations, depth of minable mineral is defined. The area for removal of the mineral in a particular area is decided depending on geo-morphology & other factors, it can be 10% to 40% of the area. Other constituents like clay soil and silt are excluded as waste while calculating the mineral potential of particular mining area. This District Survey Report shall form the basis for application for environment clearance, preparation of reports and appraisal of projects. The report shall be updated once every five years. INDRODUCTION: The district headquarters is Virudhunagar town. It covers an area of 4232 sq.km. And is divided into 8 taluks, namely Aruppukkottai, kariapatti, Rajapalayam, Sattur, Sivakasi, Srivilliputur, Tiruchuli and Virudhunagar. On 3rd march 1996, Sivakasi taluk was created separating the firkas of Sivakasi, Edirkottai and Salwarpatti from Sattur taluk and Mangalam firka from Virudhunagar taluk. It is located at on interactive map 11°00′N 77°28”′E / 12°N 78°50”′E. DISTRICT AT A GLANCE (VIRUDHUNAGAR DISTRICT): S.NO ITEMS STATISTICS GENERAL INFERMATION i) Geographical area(S.q.km) 4243.23 ii) Administrative divisions as 31.03.2007 on c) Number of Taluk 8 d) Number of Block 11 e) Number of villages 600 1 iii) Population (as on 2011Censes) Total - 1751301 Total population Male- 870376 Female-880925 iv) Average annual rainfall (mm) 799.8 GEOMORPHOLOGY Structural hills, Deep I. Major physiographic Burried Pediments, shallow 2 units Burried pediments, Bazada and Flood plain. Vaippar, Gundar, & Arjuna ii. Major Drainages Nadhi. Landuse (Sq.km) a) Forest area 264.66 Sq.km 3 b) Net area sown 1428.82 Sq.km c) Cultivable waste 96.63 Sq.km 1. Deep red loam, 2. Black 4 MAJOR SOIL TYPES soil, 3. Red sandy soil. Area under principal crops (Ha) 5. a) Paddy 30433 (50.6%) b) Groundnut 467 (0.78%) c) Pulses 467 (0.78%) d) Sugarcane 3209 (5.33%) Irrigation by different Area irrigated sources (Ha) Number of area irrigated (Ha) Number 6. i) dug wells 36087 33765 ii) Tube wells 0 0 iii)Tanks 997 26423 iv) Canals 0 0 v) Net irrigated area 55365 Ha vi) Gross irrigated area 60188 Ha 7. NUMBER OF GROUND WATER MONITORING WELLS OF CGWB (As on 31.03.2007) i. Number of dug wells 12 ii. Number of 11 piezometers PREDOMINANT GEOLOGICAL Recent Alluvium, Sandstone, 8. FORMATIONS Gneisses Complex, Basic metamorphic rocks, Granites and Charnockite. Hydrogeology Sandstone , weathered & i) Major water bearing fractured granitic gneisses formations etc. 9. ii)Pre-monsoon depth to 0.67 – 12.12 m bgl. water level iii) Post-monsoon depth to 0.49 – 8.78 m bgl. water level Annual Rise Long term water level trend in Fall (m/year) (m/year) 10 years(1998 – 2007 )in m/yr Min:0.0009 Min:0.0635 Max:0.3944 Max:0.2693 Ground water exploration by CGWB (As on 31-03-2007) a) Number of Exploratory 26 wells b) Number of observation 5 wells 10. c) Number of Piezometers 11 under Hydrology project d) Depth of range(m) 120 - 200 e) Discharge(lps) 0.004 – 1.142 f) Storativity (S) 3.41 x 10-5 to 0.7X10-2 g) Transmissivity (m2/day) 1 – 518.3 GROUND WATER QUALITY (As on MAY 2006) i) Presence of chemical 11. constituents more than CL , F & TH as CaCO3 & NO3 permissible limit ii) Type of water Ca – Cl, NaCl & Ca – HCO3 DYNAMIC GROUND WATER RESOURCES ( As ON 31.03.2004) in MCM a) Annual Geplenishable 469.78 Ground Water Resources b) Total Annual ground water 312.51 12. draft for all purposes. c) Projected demand for domestic and industrial 217 uses up to 2029 d) Stage of ground water 67% development 13. AWARENESS AND TRAINING ACTIVITY Mass Awareness programmes Organized Year 2002- 03 Place Rajapalayam Number of Participants 300 iii. Water Management Training Organized Year 2002-03 Place Rajapalayam Number of Participants 30 EFFORTS OF ARTIFICIAL Technical Guidance were 14. RECHARGE & RAINWATER provided as when sought HARVESTING i. Project completed by CGWB Number of Vadapatti in Sivakasi Block. structures Rs 6.510 ( Lakhs) ii. Amount spent 15. GROUND WATER CONTROL AND REGULATION I. Number of OE Block 1 ii. Number of Critical 1 Blocks iii. Number of Blocks Nil Notified I) Virudhunagar district is characterised by relatively high level of ground water development in both hard rock and sedimentary aquifers. II) Presence of Black Clayey Soils has MAJOR GROUND WATER 16. resulted in reduced PROBLEMS AND ISSUES natural recharge to groundwater system. III) It has also resulted in water quality problem IV) Water scarcity in part of the district due to unfavorable hydro geological set up. REVENUE DIVISION: S.No. Details Numbers 1. Revenue Divisions 2 2. Revenue Taluks 8 3. Revenue Firkas 36 4. Revenue Villages 600 Administrative Details Virudhunagar district is divided into 8 taluks. The taluks are further divided into 11 blocks, which further divided into 600 villages. S.No Taluk No.of Block No.of Villages Villages 1 Srivilliputtur 54 Srivalliputtur 31 2 Rajapalayam 35 Rajapalayam 23 3 Virudhunagar 59 Virudhunagar 59 4 Sathur 47 Sathur 47 5 Aruppukottai 40 Aruppukottai 40 6 Thiruchuli 192 Thiruchuli 192 7 Kariyapatti 108 Kariyapatti 108 8 Sivakasi 65 Sivakasi 29 Vembakottai 36 Total 600 600 ROADS, RAILWAYS, EDUCATION: ROADS: The district is well served by road networks. Three National Highways run through the district. NH 208 – Thenkasi, Rajapalayam, Sriviliputur, Tirumangalam – 49.8 kms. NH 45B – Tirchy, Viralimalai, Thuvarankuruchi, Madurai, Aruppukottai, Tuticorin - 32.6 km, - 12 – NH 7 – Madurai to Kanyakumari – 50.40. In addition to the National highways there are 162.13 km, of state Highways, 122.20 kms of major District Roads and 1378.48 kms of other District roads. There are 256 government owned and 175 private stage carriers operating in the district. Buses serve about 4 lakhs people and cover a distance of 61,523 kms per day. Other towns and most of the villages are connected by motor able roads. Length of Roads (in Kilometers) Item Cement Surfaced Roads Unsure- Grand concrete faced Total Bituminous Water Total Roads Macadam Bound macadam NH-7, NH --- 147.600 --- 147.600 --- 147.600 45B, NH 208 State --- 163.763 --- 163.763 ---- 163.763 Highways Municipal 175.393 266.237 19.470 461.100 20.348 481.448 Roads Major ---- 122.200 ---- 122.200 ---- 122.200 District Roads Other 0.120 1382.855 ---- 1382.975 1.600 1384.575 District Roads Panchayat 0.500 950.220 246.630 1197.350 625.560 1817.910 Union Road Town 48.753 45.785 14.045 108.583 49.304 157.887 panchayat Roads Railways: Both Broad and Meter Gauge section of the Southern Railway serve Virudhunagar. The newly laid Broad Gauge line links Tuticorin with Chennai. In the District, the Broad Gauge route line covers 43.16 km, and the Meter Gauge 125.17 km. At present, gauge conversion takes place from Virudhunagar to Rajapalayam and once this project is over, the entire district will be ready for Broad gauge railway tranportaion. Education: According to the 2001 census the percentage of literate population in the District is 62.91. The percentage of male literacy is 75.67 percent and female literacy is 50.17 percent. Educational Infrastructure Available in Virudhunagar District Category No.of Institutions 1. Primary Schools 1426 2. Middle Schools 171 3. High Schools 76 4. Higher secondary Schools 107 5. Colleges for Arts & Science 12 6. Teacher Training Institution 4 7. Engineering Colleges 5 8. Polytechnics 8 9. No.of Industrial Training 15 Institute TOPOGRAPHY: The climate is generally hot and dry with a low degree of humidity.