CHAPTER 3 Profile of Ahmednagar District and Pravara Area 3 1 Profile of Ahmednagar District The District is named after Ahmednagar town. The town is famous since the medieval times. Ahmednagar district, popularly called Nagar came into existence in 1818. In 1822 its boundaries spread between Vani Dindory sub­ division of Nasik and Karmala in Solapur district. In 1830 Solapur sub- collectorate was inducted in the district and continued as such till it gained the status of an independent collectorate in 1838. Dunng 1837-38, Nasik sub- collectorate comprising of sub-division of Sinnar, Chandor, Dindori, Nasik, Igutpuri and Peint tahsil was under Ahmednagar district, subsequently this sub- collectorate of Nasik was abolished in 1856 and the area reverted to Ahmednagar district. 1869 witnessed the declaration of Solapur and Nasik as independent disthcts thus leading to the shaping and emergence of present Ahmednagar district. 1) Location Ahmednagar distnct is situated partly in the upper Gadhavari basin and partly in the Bhima basin occupying a somewhat central position in Maharashtra State. It extends between 18°. 2’ and 10°. 9’ North latitudes and 73°.9’ and 75°.5’ East longitudes. The district is irregular in shape and resembles a slanting cross with a length of 200 kms and a breadth of 210 kms. (It is surrounded by Nasik district to the North, Aurngabad distnct to the North East, Beed district to the 70 east, Osmanabad and Solapur districts to the South, Pune district to the West and Thane district to the North West) 2) Area Ahmednagar disthct covers an area of 17048.00 sq.km as per 1991 census and considered as the largest district of the state in area, occupying somewhat central position in Maharashtra. For administrative purpose the district is divided into 13 talukas, of them Parner is the largest thasil and Shrirampur is the small thasil. Since May 1999 Rahata is declared as a new thasils. So the number of thasil are now 14 in Ahmednagar district. The total number of villages in Ahmednagar district is 1556 at present. 3) Soils and minerals The soils of the district can broadly be classified into three groups viz black or kali, red or tambat and the gray or inferior quality locally known as barad. The soil is rich in plant nutrients such as lime, iron, magnesium and potash. The soil is relatively richer and deeper in North area of the district. The South area of Ahmednagar district shows red and gray soil. No minerals of economic importance are available in the district. The hard and compact basalts, however, are used extensively as building matehal and road metal. The pinkish colured verity is amenable to cutting into blocks of desired sizes. The calareous Kankar is burnt in lime kilns and there is a regular “ Lime industry around Ahmednagar town. 4) Hills The main Sahyadri ranges touches Akola thasil in the western areas of Ahmednagar disthct, from these main ranges three spurs viz, Kalsubai, Baleshwar and Harishchandrgad spurt out. ‘Kalsubai’ is the highest peak of 71 Sahyadri (1654 meters) and serves as the water shed between Darana, Pravara and Mula River. Harischandragad is 96 kms long and its branch run from Ratangad, serving the watershed between Pravara and Mula River. 5) Rivers The Godhavari and Bhima are the main rivers of this district, the Godavari in the North and Bhima in the South. The Godhavari is the most celebrated river of the whole of peninsular India. It originates in the Sahyadri ranges near Trimbak in Nashik district and enters the district as a considerable stream near village Wadgon in Kopergoan tahsil. It flows in a southeast direction through rich alluvial plains and forms an almost continuous boundary between Ahmednagar and Aurangabad distnct. The river has a length of about 200 kms., within the district. The Pravara is an important tributary of the Godhavari. It originates in Akola tahsil in the eastern slopes of the Sahyadries. It has a length of about 200 kms with in the district and meets the Godavari at village Toka in Newasa tahsil. The Pravara has immensely benefited the district with its irrigation system, which has converted a part of the district into one of the most prosperous and productive tracts in the state. The Mula, Adula and the Mahalungi are important tributaries of the Pravara rivers. The whole of the southern portion of the district lies in the Bhima basin. The Bhima however passes only on the boundary between Ahmednagar and Pune distnct for a distance of about 60 kms. The Bhima onginates close to Bhimashankar in Pune district and enters Ahmednagar distnct near village Sangavi Dumale in Shngonda tahsil and flows in a southeast direction. The banks of the river are generally low and the bed is generally sandy crossed at a 72 few places by rocky barriers. The chief tributaries of the Bhima are the Ghod and the Sina. The Ghod also flows in a southeast direction for about 80 kms. Within the disthct and forms the boundary between Ahmednagar and Pune district. The Sina rises north of Ahmednagar and after flowing through the city forms a part of the boundary between Ahmednagar and Beed district. It joins the Bhima River in Solapur district a few miles south of Solapur. 6) C lim ate The climate of the distnct is characterized by a hot summer and general dryness except during the South West monsoon season. The year can be divided into four seasons. Cold season from December to February followed by summer season from March to the first week of June. The south west monsoon season is from the second week of June till the end of September, while October and November constitute the post monsoon or retreating monsoon season. The summer begins in February and lasts till May. There is a meteorological observation centre at the district head quarters and the meteorological data regarding temperature, humidity, rainfall etc. is recorded at this station. The data recorded at this station may be taken as representative of the climatic conditions of the whole district. The maximum temperature recorded during the summer crosses 46.2°C and the minimum temperature of 9.8°C is recorded in cool-dry season in 1992-93 7) Population:- According to 1991 census the population of the district was 33.73 lakhs. The total population of district has increased steadily since 1951. Table 3.1 shows the total population and decade grov^h rates of population since 1951 73 Table No. 3:1 Population and decade Growth Rates of Population in Ahmednagar District during 1951 to 1991 Year Population in lakhs Decade growth Rate (percentage) 1951 14.11 25.60 1961 17.76 25.88 1971 22.69 27.75 1981 27.08 19.36 1991 33.73 24.54 Source ; Socio Economic Review of A hmednagar District 1997-98 in 1951, the total population of Ahmednagar district was 14.11 lakhs it increased to 33.73 lakhs in 1991, resulting in the net increase of 19.62 lakhs. The percentage of the decade growth rate of population has increased continuously since 1951 with the exception of the period 1961-91. The growth rates of population shows that there has been spectacular rise during the period. Despite the national policy of population control, there has been a steep rise in the population. There are several factors responsible for this such as ignorance, poverty, desire for male babies and the poor implementation of the birth control policy in the distnct. 8) Rural and Urban Population Ahmednagar distnct is having predominantly agranan economy and is industrially backward distnct. Hence most of the population lives in rural area. The industrial development promotes the transfer of population from rural to urban area. The distnbution of population between rural and urban areas for the district dunng the pehod of 1951 to 1991 is presented in the table 3.2 74 Table 3.2 Rural and Urban Population in Ahmednagar district. Year Rural Urban Total population 1951 11.96 2.15 14.11 (84.76) (15.24) (100) 1961 15.89 1.87 17.76 (89.47) (10.53) (100) 1971 20.18 2.51 22.69 (88.93) (11.07) (100) 1981 23.57 3.51 27.08 (87.03) (12.97) (100) 1991 28.39 5.34 33.73 (84.16) (15.84) (100) Note: Bracketed figures indicate percentage to total. Source:- Socio - Economic Review of A. Nagar district 1997-98. In 1951, the proportion of rural population in Ahmednagar district was 84.76 percent (11.96 lakhs) and urban population was only 15.24 percent (2.15 lakhs). The proportion of rural population in the district is 84.16 percent (28.39 lakes) and urban population is 15.84 percent (5.34 lakhs) in 1991. The proportion of urban population has increased slowly in the last forty years. On the contrary the rural population has been decreased during the period of 1950 to 1991 i.e. from 89.47 percent to 84.16 percent. The increase of urbanization is a good indication for the economic development of the district. 9) Sex - Ratio In Ahmednagar district as a whole there are 949 females for every Thousands males. This is much higher than that of the state average of 934. 75 When the districts are arranged in the descending order of sex ratio, Ahmednagar occupies the place in the state. It is well known that, if there is imbalance in the sex ratio, of the district, this can create numerous social problems. Table 3.3 clearly shows that the sex ratio has very widely during the period of 1951 to 1991.