27 CHAPTER -II RESIQNAt SETTING AND THE ECONOMY The settintji Shirpur Tehsil is one of the ten Tehsils of Dhule districtj, occupying a strategic position on the North Eastern i boundary of the Maharashtra StateI It is bounded by the Satpuda hills in the North, the Titipi River in the South, Chopda Taluka of Jalgaon district in the East and Shahada Taluka of Dhule district in the west, situated near the border areas of Maharashtra, C-jujr^ith, and Madhya Pradesh, it is regarded as an important iGhsil from the point of view of inter-state trade, cofnmerce and industry. Shirpur Tehsil is the fiart of Dhule district, which I lies in the upper Tap>i basin between and 2 2 ”"03' North Longitude and 47' and East longitude. It covers a area of 200.3 sq. kms. which forms 15,,23 percent of the total area of Dhule district (131143 sq. kms) which accounts for 4.27 percent of the Maharashtra state. Its population is 2.75 lakhs which is about 10.39 percent of the total population of the district, which ranks 14th in the state. It is spread over in 149 villages and one town of Shirpur. The average height above sea level is 600-700 feet, which varies upto 3000 feet in the Satpuda ranges. Out of the 952 03rampanchayatas in the district, Shirpur Tehsil accounts for 105, with one municipal council at Shirpur and a agricultural produce Market committee also at Shirpur, the Taluka headquarters. Dhule district is a distinct typographical unit drained by the Tapi and its tributaries. A small area in the Extreme North-West 2 8 drains into the Narmada river. TheI Tapi river passes through the center of the district frofii east to West with deep cut­ up and black fertile, plains along its banks. parallel with the Tapi, there are well marked belts as following s irSy*....lYAnfl._Elg,ins aVgng the Tapi ; | This middle-rich soil tretct of Tapi Valley comprises of Nandurbar, Shahadfi, Shirpur;, parts of Akkalkuwa, Taloda and Sindkheda talukas. Hilly Region in North ; occupied by Batpuda hills, covers Akrani and Akkalkuwa, Taloda and the hilly parts of Shahada and Shirpur Tehsils, rich in forest;produce like Teak Sag and others. Southern Region of Scattered Rocky Ijiills ; It covers Dhule, Sakri, Nava pur ^ind parts of Sindkheda and Nandurbar Tehsil, consisting of bare ridges and well 5 watered valleys flanked by the Sahyadri ranges in the south. There are large forests in Dhule and Sakri talukas w i t l -i s o m e pass e s 1 i k e L a 1 i n g a n d k o n d a i, b a r i . Derived from the Deccan 'Trap, the soils in the district can be broadly classified into three categories, light, medium, black and deep black. About 5B percent of the soil is of the light type, 30 percent medium bl<ack, and 20 percent is deep black soil., Shirpur Tehsil along with Akkalkuwa, Nandurbar, Shahada and Taloda Tehsil have mostly deep black soil on bc>th the banks of the Tapi river. 29 R iy ^ r a Tapi, the main river of the district, on it=. way to Gujrath fronri east to West, enteres Dhule district at Thalner in Bhirpur taluka. Having about 36 kms. court in this district, it runji through the northern boundry of Shirpur and Shahada talukats. Due to the silt deposited by the Tapi and its tuibutaries, construction of wells in this region is very difficult. The high banks of the tapi do not enable the use of its water for- irrigation also. The Tapi river belt is very fertile?. Though causing a lot of damage during floods, this river has been aptly called the life giving river of this district„ Other important rivers in the district £ire Narmada, Pansara, Anerj Arunawati, Bori, E<urai, G^emai and kfitn. Out of these rivEvrs, aner, arunawati, Gemai have their courses through the Shirpur Tehsil. The Southern Tributaries of the Tapi river, as compared to the northern ones drain much wider tracts and are useful to some extent f o r .i. r r i g a t i o n Forest The forest area in Dhule district is 3919.7 sq. kms. i.e. about 29.32 percent of thte total geographical area of the district, which is optimum from the national standard of forest cover. Shirpur along with Akrani, Dhule and Sakri Tehsil have very large areas under forest. MOre than 6G types of trees are found in these forests which are commercially very importisnt. The most valuable species found is Teak along with khi^ir, Palas, Sadoda, Shism, Tiwas, 30 Haldu, kalam, Ain, Biva, Dhavda Shaman, Sal , Ber, Hiver, Anjan etc. other important forest products are Tendu and Apta leaves, Mohwa flowers and fruits, kadhari, Bamboo, Charoli and Roisha grass,. Out of the total area of the district under forest ?(573700 hq.) Shirpur Tehsil accounted for : I 89100 hectare?5 (15.53 percent). Climate ■% As the district is far removed from coastal tracts, the climate is generally extreme and dry, resulting in large veiriation in day and night temperature except in rainy se£ison. The year may be divided into four seasons. The cold season from, December to February is followed by the hot season from March to May, The Southwest monsoon season which follows there after last till September, October and November, constitute the post-mansoon season. The records of the meteorological observatory at Nandurbar may be fairly taken as representative of the Meteorological conditions in. the district . From about F’c7?bruary to May, temperatures increase steadily. The mean daily maximum temperature is 40-- 7 c(105.3 F) and the minimum is 23,S c (78,4 F ), Hot dry winds below, with the onset of the monsoon by June, There is an appreciable drop in day temperatures and the weather is pleasant. When the Mansoon withdre^ws by October, dry temperatures begin to rise. The night temperatures, however, steadily decreases. From November, both day and night temperatures drop rapidly till January, which is the coldest month at 30,3 c(96,5 f) and 16,2 c (61„2 f) respectively. 31 Cold waves sometimes affect. thcT; district. The highest maximum temperature recorded at Nandurbar was 46.1 c on May, 19, 1955. The lowest minimum was 8.9 c on January 10,1954. (in April ) and 7.3 c( in December). Except during the mansoon season the air is rather dry over the district during the rest of the year. Except during rainy season, dctys are mostly clear or highly clouded. Winds are generally light to mansoon seasons. In association with the ;special weather phenomena the district gets wide-spread, heavy ;rains and strong winds and Thunder storms during Summer and post monsoon seasons. Within the district, there are local variations. In the Satpuda rangei the heat is some what temper and Western parts of Tapi valley though hot in summer, area little coller. The valleys of Panzara and other, streams in the West have cool and bracing nights even in the 1 hottcsst season. they are hardly ever visited by hot winds. Rainfall In this district rains start about the middle of June and lasts till the middle of October. Local rains occur in May and scantly rains in November. Records of rainfall in the district are available for nine raingage stations for periods ranging from 5S to 93 years. The average rainfall is 674.0 mm.(26,53 ). The rain fall during the South West monsoon constitutes about 88 percent of the annual rainfall. July is the rainiest month. Some rainfall is received mostly as thunder-showers in the 32 post-cfionsoon season. On an average, there are about 42 rainy days (.i.e., days with rainfall of 2,5 .. 10 cents or more) in I a year in the district. This number varies from 31 art Sakri to 58 at. Navapur. There are variations in the rainfall from place to place and year to year,, the rainfall is heavier in the hilly regions of the Satpudas and the Western ghats. Nava pur near the Western border receives maxiiTium annual reiinfall of 1116.00 mm. while Sakri gets the minimum of 486,3 mm „ in. the district. The remaining parts -- especially the tapi valley get lesser rain fall. They are comparatively dry. Dependability of Rainfall and Scarcity Area Mean rainfall at Nandurbar is 644 mm (26,36") and the standard deviation is 224 mm (S.82"). The co-efficient of variability workout to 34.76, percent. The rainfall re 1 iabi 1 ity as recor ded by cjbservator■ y at Nandi.irbar may thesrefore be said to be slightly 1ov*j. Certain villages in thivi district are occasionally affected by scracity. But there exists no large tract frequently affected by total failure of rains. The fact finding committee appointed by the Government of Bombay in 1960 concluded that the entire Dhulia District msiy be regarded as free from Scarcity. However, the history of scarcity after 1960,does not fully support this , ' I conclusion. During 1967-68, 194 villages in Dhulia., Nandurbar, Sakri and Shindkheda Tahsile, during 1963--69,26 villages from Nandurbar and Sindkh^'da Tehsil, during 1969-- 70,30 villages from Nandurbar and S^kri Talukas, during 1970-- 33 "71, 443, villages in Dhulia, N^ndurbar ,Sakri, Shahada, Shirpur and Sindkheda Taluka during ; 1971--72, 384, villages in D|-iu 1 ia , Nandur-bar , 3ak r i., Shiirpu.r arhd Sindk heda Tahsi 1 e wet-"e affected by scarcity condi tioriS-, Areas with precarious rainfall and scarcity are rnainj.y observed in Dhulia, i 2 Nandurbar, Shirpur and Shindkheda Tehsil of this district.