CHAPTER II PHYSIOGRAPHIC PROFILE 2.1 Introductions 27
2.2 Topography 27
2.3 Slope 28
2.4 Drainage 29
2.5 Soils 30
2.5.1 Alluvial soils 30
2.5.2 Medium Black soils 31
2.5.3 Deep Black soils 31
2.5.4 Sandy soils 32
2.5.5 Yellow Red soils 33
2.6 Climate 33
2.6.1 Rainfall 33
2.6.2 Temperature 37
2.6.3 Wind Speed 38
2.6.4 Humidity 40
2.6.5 Cloudiness 41
2.6.6 Natural Vegetation 41
2.7 Population Settlement 47
2.8 Occupational Structure 48
2.9 Transportation 48
2.10 Introduction of the Study Area 49
2.11 History 50
2.12 Resume 50 CHAPTER II
PHYSIOGRAPHIC PROFILE
2.1. Introductions:
A brief introduction to the study area with respect to its location, physiography, population, settlements etc. has been given in the previous chapter. This chapter deals with physiographic set up of the study area. The physiographic study is necessary for understanding the problem of agriculture which is the vital part of human-nature interaction. It is also necessary to understand geographical feasibility of any suggested plan for the region. The present chapter attempts to discuss topography, climate, vegetation, soils etc.
2.2 Topography:
Agricultural characteristics are closely related to the physical factors of a study area. These factors directly or indirectly affect the distribution and quality of the agriculture. The physical factors like topography, drainage, soil, climate, vegetation and water resources are discussed in the following paragraphs.
Deccan trap is divided into two varieties viz. vesicular and non-vesicular. The vesicular types are soft friable and breaks easily. The non-vesicular type is hard, tough, compact and medium to fine-grained and breaks with a conchoidal fracture (Bande, 2002). The Survey of India (SOI) toposheets are used as the basic source of information for relief and drainage. The topography of the region may be understood with the help of contour map prepared with 4m contour intervals (Fig.No.2.1).
In the middle, one ridge from north to south is observed in the tahsil. It is the Raogaon-Veet range from Village Segudto Varkatane, it is water divider between Bhima and Sina river. The maximum altitude is 620 meter and minimum is 500 meter in Bhima and Sina river area. The tahsil is covered with plateaus and plains created by rivers. In the physiography, topography, drainage, soil, and vegetation these factors are considered.
27 The data of topography, drainage, soil, vegetation and water resources are collected from gazetteer of the Bombay presidency, Solapur district. The data like climate, temperature, rainy days, rainfall and humidity are collected from the Indian Metrological Department, Pune. and Census Handbook of the Solapur district.
K ;II III.II.I 1 IIIMI Relief Map Using GIS Legends *» 500 • 560 • 504 • 564 %~* \ | 508 562 | 512 572 m 516 576 1 520 580 ^ tf&k "% • 524 584 j 528 I 588 | 532 592 j 536 596 | 540 • 600 Tfe??*H Ktawtei n | 544 • 604 [MM •• 1 • 548 612 105 0 Ifl 20 30 [ 552 616 (Fig No 2 1: • ™ 1 620
2.3. Slope:
Slope is an important manifestation of landforms. It determines the agricultural activity and controls the amount run-off as well as soils erosion. The direction of the slope is from southeast to northwest in the northern parts, while it is northeast to southwest in the southern parts. Large boulders are released and accumulated at the base of the hills. Steep slope, terraces and benches are common in this region. The tors are commonly observed. The average slope in the study area varies from 0.1 ° to 1.0°.
28 2.4. Drainage: The study area has been divided into two physiographic regions by a central ridge that represents the tip of the water-divide between, Bhima and Sina rivers. The divide, which is a part of Balaghat range, is very low within the study area. The height of the range is about 560m to 620m. Easterly Khanora stream which is the tributary of Sina and Pondhra westerly stream which is tributary of Bhima.
The study area can be categorised morphologically in three morphometric units. The topmost unit is featured by rocky plains with tors and rock-fields. (Photo Plate No. 2.1). The lowermost unit represents the alluvial track along the rivers (Bhima and Sina) and the middle unit is dominant by steep slope connecting between upper and lower units.
The Bhima river, forms the northwest to southeast boundary of the tahsil. This is the major perennial river of the region. The Sina river forms the northeast to southeast boundary of the tahsil. It has a narrow flood plain region. The source area of these
29 tributaries is mainly the lower tip of the Vadgaon Mangi tahsil range. The Pondhra stream runs along the western border of the study area. Khanora steam runs almost parallel to Sina in southeast direction, and meets Sina. The tributaries of Bhima are longer while streams those draining into the Bhima and Sina rivers originate in the dry zone and hence are highly seasonal. Thus, the scarcity of water is felt for a major part of the year.
2.5. Soils:
The study of soils in the study area is based and secondary information obtained from the government agencies and the fields study. According to number of scholars in the field of geography soil are the products of factors such as parent material climate, vegetarian, fluvial process, human activities etc., together with time. In the karmala tahsil, all these factors control the soil types.
There are five broad types of soils in the tahsil viz. 1. Alluvial soils, 2. Medium black soil, 3. Paddy soils, 4. Yellow brown soil and 5.Deep black soil
A brief description of these types of soils has been presented below. It is one of the important occupations of the area. It is beyond doubt that fertility of the soil in a village has affected the cropping pattern and there by the standard of living.
2.5.1. Alluvial Soils:
The most fertile track in the region is limited to the narrow belt along the river Bhima and Sina. This is a transported soil. There are high yields, high productivity and intensive agriculture but over irrigation and soil rization problems are observed in this region. It is about 10 to 20 KM in width in the Bhima while it is as narrow as just to 8 KM in the Sina basin. The occurrence of Saline soils is common both in Bhima and Sina Basin. The field observations show that kankar formation is mainly along the rivers and streams. The figure given in the table indicates that about 8.22 % area is under alluvial Soils in the tahsil. The village showing sufficient area under this type of soils are kandan, mangi, Kolgaon, Arjunnagar, Belewedi etc. The Sugarcane cultivation is dominant in this area.
30 2.5.2. Medium Black Soils: The second type of soil are observed in the region is medium deep black soils. These are found along the same streams and high platue region. These are mainly located in the northern and middle part of the tahsil. The colour is black i. e . locally known as 'Kali Mali. These soils are medium deep soils having about 1 to 2 meter in depth. They are rich in human and hence support traditional crops like javvar, bajara. maize and pulses etc. As a recent development the cash crops like Sugarcane. Sunflower and various types of vegetables, like lemon, guava, mango, papaya etc. are cultivated mainly after constructions of Parewadi dam. Mahsewadi dam, Bhose dam. etc. This soil type covers 8.35 % area of the tahsil.
2.5.3. Deep Black Soils:
These soils are observed in patches along the lower region and lower reaches of the streams and near percolation tanks covering 7.78% area. These soils are thick and
31 fertile. High proportion of organic matter is a favourable factor for agriculture. The areas of this type of soils show intensive agriculture. Pulses and oilseeds are the main crops in these soils. If irrigated are suitable for sugarcane, wheat, vegetable and other cash crops.
Table No 2.1
Soil Distribution
Sr. No. Type Area in Hect 0/ /o Alluvial soils 45606.31 28.22 1 i
Medium black soil 13494.43 08.35 2
Deep Black Soils 12573.25 07.78 3
Sandy Soils 6464.39 04 4
Yellowish Red Soils 83471.51 51.65 5
i Total 161609.89 100.00 1 1
Source: Soil Sur\c\ Department. Xagpitr.
2.5.4. Sandy soils:
The fourth zone of the soils in the region lie mainly in the upper part of the tahsil. These soils mainly observed in the waste land and culture able waste areas. Thickness is less than 5cm. These soils are not suitable for agricultural practices. These soils are calcareous and observed on vary gently sloping regions, plains as well as valleys with moderate erosion. These type soils cover 4 % in the tahsil.
32 2.5.5. Yellowish Red Soils: These types of soils formed by weathered basalt rock Geographically, these type soils cover 71.65 % area in the Karmala tahsil. This type of soils are medium fertile, so have some limitations of agricultural production. These areas population density and agricultural density in these area are medium, also these are a shallow, shallow well drained, soils and slightly deep, moderately well drained soils
2.6. Climate:
Many workers like Husain, (1999), Singh, (1992), Saptarshi, (1993), Gadgil, (1994), Gadgil and Vojdani, (1996) and Bhagat, (2002) have explained that climatic factors are very significant to determine the agricultural landuse and agricultural pattern of the region. The climate of the area is studied on the basis of information gathered from IMD Pune related to the rainguage station like Jeur, Karjat, Shrigonda, Madha, Jamkhed, Indapur etc. of these only one rainguage i.e. Jeur is located in the tahsil while others are located outside the area. The data regarding temperature and humidity at may be applicable to the region under study.
For the present investigation climatic study has necessary as the basic tool for agricultural planning. The climate of the tahsil is on the whole agreeable and characterized by general dryness in the major part of the year. The cold season from December to middle of February is followed by the hot season, which lasts up to the end of May. June to September is the southwest monsoon. October to December constitute the post-monsoon or retreating monsoon season. The parameters selected for the study are rainfall, temperature, wind and other weather phenomena.
2.6.1. Rainfall:
The main intention of present study is to investigate and evaluate the water resources and hence it is necessary to assess climatic conditions. The climatological investigation of drought-prone characters have been carried out by many scholars like Subramanyam (1972), Rao et al (1976), Reddy and Reddy (1981), Ghosh (1985), Mooley and Parthasarathy (1985), Chanada (1986), Gadgil and Gupte (1986), Gregory (1989), Deosathali (2000) etc. The monthly distribution of rainfall for the five rain gauge
33 stations has been given in the table. This is essential to understand the distribution of rainfall in the study area and around area. Spatial distribution of monthly rainfall is presented in table (Table No. 2.2) to understand the spatial variations of rainfall, the for some rain gauge stations out side the study area have also been considered. The climate of the study area is characterized as a hot summer and dryness during all seasons, except few weeks of the southwest monsoon period. For the present investigation, climate data of Jeur station have been analyzed for a period of (1978 to 2003), e.g. monthly average rainfall, standard deviation and coefficient of variability of rainfall etc. Similarly, available records for the Jeur, Madha, Karja, Mirjagaon, Indapur, Jamkhed, and Barsi stations, which are located outside the study area, have been also analyzed. The analysis the data has been depicted in the table (Table No. 2.2)
The average annual rainfall at Jeur, Karjath, Shrigonda,, Indapur, Jamkhed is 613.2mm, 586.5mm, 522.3 mm, 503.8mm, 707.00mm respectively. The rainfall has shown a decreasing trend from the southwest to northeast direction in the tahsil itself and around. In monsoon season from June to October, the annual coefficient of variability of rainfall is much higher, about 31.1 % at Jeur, 30.9 % at Jamkhed and 36.6 % at karjat. It means that probability of assured rainfall in the tahsil is very low. The annual average rainfall has shown its decreasing trend from Northeast to Southwest direction. (Fig. No. No. 2.5)
The average annual rainfall in the tahsil is 613.2 mm (Table No. 2.2). The rainfall increases from southwest to northeast direction. The eastern part of the tahsil has gained about 580 mm to 600mm. There are 60 % villages in the tahsil. About 500 to 600 mm rainfall is observed in the study area. Haif of the tahsil has got less than 550mm rainfall. The monthly maximum rainfall (124.20mm) and maximum average number of rainy days (41 days) are observed in the month of September according to the data for the Jeur rainfall station.
According to the IMD, Pune, days with rainfall of 2.5 mm or more are considered as the rainy days. The rainfall is mainly received in the period from June to October.
34 Table No: 2.2 Monthly Distribution of Rainfall (mm) Month Jeur Karjat Shrigonda Indapur Jamkhed
January 3.30 1.85 4.1 02.94 05.80
February 2.11 1.48 1.0 00.47 01.70
Mar 11.73 3.45 2.8 00.93 03.30
April 9.04 4.60 8.7 00.46 10.90
May 108.25 23.15 21.7 27.09 19.80
June 91.54 102.28 96.1 65.31 124.80
July 89.95 104.30 70.7 87.14 132.50
August 124.20 15.25 56.4 78.14 114.80
September 119.95 154.42 148.1 128.28 194.70
October 83.73 94.7 77.3 103.65 59.20
November 5.65 1.50 30.0 20.22 29.70
December 7.65 09.00 5.4 06.23 10.00
Total 613.2 586.5 522.3 503.8 707.00
Source: IMD Pune (2003)
Gadgil (1986), Saptarshi (1993) have stated that a hot summer and general dryness feature the climate of the drought-prone zone of Maharashtra during all season. Monthly rainfall data for the Jeur station (1960 to 2003) has been analyzed to calculate of variability of rainfall. The average annual rainfall at Jeur, Karjath, Shrigonda,, Indapur, Jamkhed \s 613.2mm, 586.5mm, 522.3 mm, 503.8mm, 707.00mm respectively. The rainfall shows a decreasing trend from west to east.
35 Monthly Rainfall Distribution
140
120
1 100 I f = 80 P re
2 60
40
20 0 a D D I I I L n d * s # / ^ / # / / / / /
Kannala Tahsil Distribution of Rainfall
•510-520 D 520-5* Kilometers Q 540-560 • '•o0-5S0 10 5 0 10 20 H5S0-590 • 590-600 (FigHo 2.5)
36 Agriculture in the tahsil is mainly dependent upon rainfall. In this tahsil 92.3 per cent of the total cultivated area is under dry farming. There are no major irrigation schemes. (Except the Bhima Irrigation Project and Mangi Irrigation Project). The rainfall, therefore, determines the pattern of crops, rotation of crops and the productivity of the land in the tahsil. Broadly the tahsil can be divided into three natural zones.
Rainfall all over the tahsil is uncertain and scanty with an annual average of 613.2 mm. The tahsil gets rain from south-west as well as from north-east monsoon. The rain starts in June and continues upto October throughout the tahsil. Constituting about 85 per cent of the total rainfall. Thus, the main precipitation during June to August is rather precarious. The showers in September and October are heavy and more assured. Winter rains brought by the north-east monsoon are of small in magnitude. The normal rainfall for the monsoon period, i.e. June-September is 425.9 mm. which is 85 per cent of the total annual rainfall.
2.6.2. Temperature:
Edmond (1977) explained that the temperature fluctuations influence the crop growth and development. However, in the study area problem of low temperature or frost days is not seen. In the semiarid regions like this the temperature plays important role in terms of evapotranspiration and hence data regarding temperature at have been discussed. The temperature record for Jeur is shown in the (Table No. 2.3). It is clear from the table there is micro variation in the mean monthly minimum and maximum temperature. Jeur is the only one meteorological station in the region. It is lowest in November (12.6°C) and highest in May (39.4°C). Mean monthly minimum temperature in November is 12.6°C and the same in May is 39.4°C. The hottest month is May, while the coldest month is November in the study area.
The cold weather starts from November to February especially night temperatures, begin to fall rapidly. The hot summer season is observed from March to June. In this period mean monthly May temperature is near about 40 °C and the minimum 19 °C to 24 °C. In the monsoon season temperature is slightly less from 31 °C to 33 °C. Monthly mean minimum temperature declines to 23 °C to 25 °C, with a slight increase in mean May temperature maximum temperature in October 31.8 °C. The
37 highest maximum temperature ever recorded at Jeur was 43.6 °C on 1 IMay 2006 and the lowest minimum 12.1 °C was observed on 5 January 1964.
Table No 2.3
Normal Temperature at Jeur (Karmala)
Mean Mean Sr. No. Month Maximum Minimum TemperatureO°C. Temperature 0°C 1 January 29.3 13.5 2 February 32.2 14.5 3 March 35.4 18.1 4 April 38.6 21.6 5 May 39.4 23.2 6 June 33.2 22.8 7 July 29.8 21.9 8 August 29.4 20.4 9 September 29.9 19.6 10 October 31.8 15.5 11 November 29.5 12.6 12 December 28.8 18.1 Total 32.27 18.48 Source: IMD Pune (2003)
2.6.3. Wind Speed:
The Table No 2.4 illustrated the monthly mean wind speed. It is observed from the table that the minimum wind speed is more that 2.3 km/hr through the year. Maximum wind speed is observed in the south-west monsoon period. It is about 7 km/hr in the 18th to 22nd week. Almost calm conditions are observed in the period from October to November. After March the wind speed increase.
38 Table No 2.4 Wind Speed
Sr.No Year WS (Knots/hr.) Average 1 1960 605.7 2 1962 464.1 3 1963 494.5 4 1965 388.1 5 1967 734.6 6 1968 466.7 7 1969 464.6 8 1970 307.4 9 1973 708.4 10 1976 412.5 11 1977 802.1 12 1979 363.1 13 1980 454.5 14 1982 474.7 15 1987 605.9 16 1988 949.9 17 1989 499.5 18 1991 488.7 19 1992 423.8 20 1993 399.8 21 1997 117.5 22 1999 504.7 23 2000 713.3 24 2002 328.9 25 2003 159.6 12332.6 474.33 Source 1MD Pune (2003)
39 j3 o Wind Speed c
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2122 23 24 25
Source: IMD Pune (2003) TV. JUtf
The direction in the study area is normally south-west in the monsoon period. The retreating monsoon wind is not effective in the study area. (According the IMD; 2003). The occurrence of special weather phenomena like thunderstorms is observed during the months from March to June in September and in September to October. The wind conditions affects significantly on kharip and rabi seasons of agricultural productivity through evaporation of water resources.
2.6.4 Humidity: The air is highly humid during the south-west monsoon months and mostly dry during the rest of the year. The driest part of the year is the summer season when the humidity is between about 20 to 25 percent on the average in the afternoons. As the tahsil lies on the eastern side of the Western Ghats, it is the rain shadow zone. Therefore, dryness is dominant in the summer and winter season. It is revealed in the field study that
40 pre-monsoon showers are quite critical for paddy cultivation. Such showers because recharging of soil moisture due to which germination of paddy can be possible in second and fifth weeks of June. This ensures proper use of rainfall resource for the paddy. If monsoon arrives late the paddy crop is affected negatively.
Fig No 2.T Distribution of Humiditv
1"l*i
*- | MM - 13 ,^~"v^. —i.vsrage £ — /.eel- [Jo 3 50 - "^Y^ ____—
TTTTIIi ii ii 11 M M 11 ii i ii ii ii i T r n i' 11 r u 11 n i 11 111 r 11 1 5 9 13 1" 21 25 29 33 3" 41 45 49 Weeks
2.6.5. Cloudiness:
During the south-west monsoon season the skies are heavy clouded. Skies are generally clear or lightly clouded during the period November to March. Cloudiness increased progressively from May and the afternoons are comparatively more clouded than the mornings.
2.6.6. Natural Vegetation:
Saptarshi (1993) explained that the actual vegetation cover is functionally related to the biophysical environment and the land use. The vegetation of the study area is 6145.16 hectare about 3.8 percent of TGA. According to 2001 census. The factors lice topography, soil and rainfall affect upon the vegetation cover. Due to variation rainfall
41 within the tahsil various type of plants are observed. The distribution of vegetation area in the tahsil is studied on the basis of village level data. Table No 2.4 shows the list of villages having vegetation cover. The 118 villages in the tahsil, only 54 villages have area under forest. Further, it has been observed in the field study that the area under forest has very low quality forest. Most of the areas under vegetation have either thin grass cover or barren.
Table No. 2.5 Vegetation Villages in the Karmala Tahsil
SrNo Village Name TGA AUF %ofFA to TGA 1 Ramwadi 620.75 70.83 11.41 2 Jinti 2645.72 525.53 19.87 3 Goyegaon 692.57 59.98 8.66 4 Wash i be 1947.06 16.19 0.83 5 Savadi 2442.56 45.18 1.15 6 Gorewadi 689.24 309.23 44.86 7 Hulgewadi 1017.63 512.92 50.40 8 Korti 1763.41 99.20 5.62 9 Morwad 1092.56 167.66 15.35 10 Limbewadi 745.49 367.99 49.36 11 Veet 3874.09 126.88 3.27 12 Vihal 1330.61 48.31 3.63 13 Punwar 1088.33 30.16 2.77 14 khadaki 1581.45 393.55 24.88 15 Aljapur 1030.28 200.88 19.50 16 Kamone 1200.62 148.62 12.38 17 Wadgaon Kh 522.54 32.91 6.30 18 Pothare 2117.54 148.34 7.00 19 Nilaj 221.99 38.31 17.26 20 Khambewadi 586.42 18.14 3.09 21 Bhose 424.53 19.85 4.68 22 Pimpalwadi 1017.64 87.87 8.63 23 Rosewadi 528.83 220.60 41.71 24 Karmala(Rural) 2089.39 213.19 10.20 25 Pande 2821.36 161.47 5.72 26 Deolali 2242.33 185.63 8.28 27 Karanje 1005.15 10.09 1.00 28 Bhalewadi 597.62 18.95 3.17 29 Mirgavhan 995.47 77.65 7.80 30 Arjunnagar 1060.68 88.79 8.37 31 Nimgaon (H) 941.55 87.35 9.28 32 Awati 1188.10 130.47 7.01 33 Salse 1861.68 127.52 6.85 34 Sade 3266.00 96.67 2.96 35 Nerle 2870.50 397.92 13.86 36 Zare 2855.62 95.02 3.33 37 Gulsadi 1864.32 31.05 1.67 38 Pophalaj 1386.41 30.82 2.22 39 Kedgaon 1578.74 2.54 0.16 40 Shetphal 1699.57 144.90 8.53 41 Warkatne 1532.15 33.43 2.18 42 Nimbhore 2182.68 26.34 1.21 43 Shelgaon(Wangi) 1706.96 11.99 00.70 44 Jeur 3109.29 1.29 0.04 45 Ghoti 1982.72 16.42 0.83 46 Warkute 1805.57 33.87 1.88 47 Pathardi 1139.52 5.37 0.47 48 Bhalavni 955.63 49.18 5.15 49 Wangi 4989.11 58.90 1.18 50 Vadshivane 1490.24 7.05 0.47 51 Kem 5125.78 32.01 0.62 52 Satoli 683.36 38.00 5.56 53 Bitergaon(Wangi) 2053.77 219.20 10.67 54 | Dhokari 930.99 22.95 2.47 Total 161609.89 6145.16 3.80 Source: District Census 2001
The villages have been classified according to the hectare under forest. The frequency distribution has been presented in the Table No 2.6. It reveals that of the 54 villages having forest area maximum frequency is observed in the lowest class i.e. area under forest from 0 to 20 hectare and less than 3 percent TGA. The frequency has decreased in the upper classes. Only 24 Villages show hectarage under forest more than 80 hectares on only 10 villages have forested area more than 12 percent TGA. The field observations of number of places in the tahsil have revealed that such areas cannot be the shows barren lands categorized as the forest of hence has a very ecological status due to lack of sufficient biomass support.
43 Reserve Forest For Bustard at Village Deolali
#>-
M
Photo Plate No 2.1
Karmala Talisil Distribution of Vegetation
BOUNDARY ( Fkld : Forest) D 0.00 To 5.00(21.19%) • 5.00 To 10.00(11.86%) Kilometers • 10.00 To 15.00(5.08%) • 15.00 To 51.00 (7.63 %) 105 0 10 20 30 \2\ Karmala Town (Fig No 2.8)
44 Table No 2.6
Classifying of villages according to Area under Forest
Group (hect.) No of Villages %of AUFto TGA No of villages
0-20 11 0to3 18
21-40 11 3 to 6 10
41-60 05 6 to 9 11
61-80 01 9 to 12 03
81-100 05 12 to 15 02
100 + 21 15 + 10 Source: District Census 2001.
Table No 2.7
Social Forest Area (in hectares)
SrNo Name of Villages Area (hect)
1 Washibe 12
2 Korti 20
3 Pondhavadi 5
4 Rajuri 5
5 Khadaki 15
6 Potegaon 5
7 Mirgavhan 4
8 Dahigaon 5
9 Kern 24
Source: District Census 2001
45 Maldhok Bird
Photo Plate No. 2.2 The Great Indian Bustard {Maldhok) breed between March and September and usually dwell on grasslands. "They are around five feet tall and have a wing span of around 2.5 meters. The bird prefers to run before taking off. Thus, they become easy targets for poachers," The Great Indian Bustard is one of the rarest birds of Indian subcontinent. It is a large ground dwelling bird with a long neck and long bare legs and some what similar to a young Ostrich. Its standing height is more than a meter; wing span is 2.5 meters, and weighs about 18 kg. It is inhabitant of the open country having thorny bushes and tall grass inter passed with cultivation. It is omnivorous in diet mainly relying on grass, small shrubs, insects, rats, gram, groundnut, bajara etc. depending on the season.
The male is deep sandy buff coloured. The crown of the head is black and crested. In the female which is smaller than the male, the head and neck are not pure white and the breast band is either rudimentary or absent. The male is polygamous. The female lays only single egg once in a year and incubates it for about two days. Since these birds do not live in nests, the eggs are at risk of destruction from other animals. Due to this, the increase in the numbers of these birds is at a very slow rate
40 2.7. Population Settlement: The nature and distribution of rural settlement of any area is largely influence by the environmental conditions. The study area has shown the settlement pattern closely associated with the agriculture. There are 118 villages in the area 5 served by weekly bazaar centres and only one is urban centre (Karmala Urban) has nodal position as far as marketing of grains, vegetables and onions are concentrated.
All the 118 inhabited settlements are thus classified as rural settlements. The size of settlements according to their population ranges from 165 (persons) Dilmeshawar to 7155 Kem villages. The case of this variation is partly the unsystematic classification of the village by the Revenue Department and party by geographical conditions. The size of settlement is given in table (Table No. 2.8).
Table No 2.8
Population Settlement
No. of Sr. Size of % of total in Total %of No Population habited villages Population Population Villages
1 <500 12 10.17 10881 06.21
2 500-1000 38 32.20 49752 28.42
3 1000-1500 25 21.19 28521 16.29
4 1500-2000 21 17.80 36486 20.84
5 2000-2500 09 07.63 20571 11.75
6 2500-3000 07 05.93 14498 08.28
7 3000-3500 03 02.54 9648 05.51
8 3500-4000 01 00.85 3361 01.92
9 > 4000 02 01.70 1361 00.78
Total 118 118 175079 100.00
Source: The Solapur District Census 2001
47 About 81.36 percent villages in the category of population size less than 2000 have only 57.52 percent population. The other set of villages with population above 2000 consists of 42.48 percent population. The villages having size less than 1000 are 48 villages and 18.58 percent of total population.
2.8. Occupational Structures:
The Study area has shown that dependence population mainly on agricultural activities. Out of the total working population 80.79 % are cultivators and agricultural workers. The household industry, livestock, forestry, manufacturing, processing, servicing and repairing etc. provide employment to only 1.1 % of the total workers. The construction, trade and commerce, transport, storage and communications engage 18 .11 % of the main workers.
2.9. Transport:
It is an effective means of interaction between villages central places and agricultural market centres. According to view of development of transport of network in the study area may be considered as the development region.
Most of the roads are milted in the study area. Ahamadnagar- Solapur state Highway No. 141, and Baramati- Kurdawadi state Highway No. 67 and Jamkhed - Karmala state Highway No. 143 also passes though the study area. These three state highways play an important role for the transporting agricultural goods. The central railway line has also added the strength of transportations network. Parewadi, Pophalaj, Shetphal, Jeur, Bhalwani Kem etc are the railway stations in the study area. Jeur is the main station in this study area.
48 2.10. Introduction of the Study Area: About twelve miles to the north of the Jeur railway station and about 82 miles from the Solapuv railway station, Karmala is the head-quarters of the tahsil bearing the same name. The population, according to 2001 Census, was 213361. This municipal town, being the head-quarters of a tahsil, has the offices of the Mamledax and the Block Development Officer besides that of the Court of the Civil Judge, Junior Division. There is also a police station the jurisdiction of which extends over 118 villages. It has a post and telegraph office. The water-supply to the town is piped and protected. The town has been electrified. The educational facilities are provided by five primary schools conducted by the municipality, the Mahatma Gandhi Vidyalaya conducted by the Karmala tahsil Co-operative Education Society and Yashwantrao Chavan College of Arts and Commerce conducted by the Vidyavikas, Karmala. The Government basic training college is also located at Karmala. The Samaj Seva Mandal conducts the Annasaheb Jagtap Vidyalaya. A Government rest-
4') house is also located at Karmala. Swami Vivekanad Institute run by Girls High School in Karmala Town.
The town came to be known as Karmala after one Muhammedan maulavi named Karme-Maula who propagated the teaching of Islam when Karmala was under the Nizamshahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar.
2.11. History:
It may not be out of contest to give a brief historical background of the tahsil. It is mainly based on the sources like Solapur district gazetteer (i$^ Though no early history of Karmala is available it definitely formed part of the Bahamani empire. After the disintegration of the Bahamani rule into five sultanates of Golkonda, Bijapur, Bidar, Ahmadnagar and Berar, Karmala formed a part of the sultanate of Ahmadnagar. However, the town came to limelight only at the beginning of the 18th century after it was conferred upon Rao Rambha Nimbalkar as jagir and after Rao Rambha settled at Karmala in 1727.
Rambhaji Nimbalkar was a Maratha general and a sardar at the time of the cruel death of Chhatrapati Sambhaji at the hands of the Moghals in 1689. Taking the benefit of the uncertain conditions that prevailed in Maharashtra after the death of Chhatrapati Sambhaji and rift between Chhatrapati Shahu and Tarabai after the release of the former from the Moghal captivity, Rambhaji Nimbalkar following in the foot-steps of Chandrasen Jadhav, the son of Dhanaji Jadhav and once the commander-in-chief of Shahu, joined the Moghal camp at the beginning of the 18th century. In the battle of Purandar fought in the year 1707, Rambhaji Nimbalkar who had become a lieutenant of the Nizam-ul-mulk was instrumental in defeating Balaji Vishwanath and Haibatrao Nimbalkar. As a pleasing gesture, the Nizam-ul-mulk conferred upon Rambhaji Nimbalkar the title of Rao Rambha and a jagir in the province of Pune. Rao Rambha appointed one Baji Kadam to look after his jagir in the province of Pune. However, after a short while Balaji Vishwanath taking Baji Kadam into confidence made him change sides and brought the jagir of Rao Rambha in Pune province under his sway around 1720. Rao Rambha along with Chandrasen Jadhav assisted the Nizam-ul-mulk in the battle of Balapur fought in 1720.
50 It may here be stated that soon after Chhatrapati Shahu was released from the Moghal captivity in 1707, the Nizam-ul-mulk, shrewd as he was, with a view to pleasing Chhatrapati Shahu conferred upon him the jagir that was given to Rao Rambha, viz., Pune which formerly belonged to the Bhosale family and hence which was an ancestral right of Chhatrapat/ Shahu. At the same time the Nizam-ul-mulk conferred upon Rao Rambha a new jagir in Karmala and the present Karmala has developed from what was established by Rao Rambha in those days. The fort and the temple at Karmala and Madha were constructed by the Nimbalkars. After the defeat of the Nizam-ul-mulk Nizam Ali in the battle of Kharda in 1795 at the hands of the Marathas, Karmala came under the Maratha rule and subsequently under the British rule. In consequence, the Nizam-ul-mulk conferred upon the Nimbalkars a jagir at Bhum in Osmanabad district in Marathwada region under his sway. Rani Tararaje Nimbalkar of the same lineage was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly on behalf of the Congress in 1952.
2.12. Resume:
This chapter gives brief idea of physiographic set up of the tahsil so that it would be easy to identify difficulties of sustainable agricultural development. It explains topography, climate, drainage, soil etc. This undoubtedly reflects that the area is potentially useful resources. Therefore, in the next chapter an attempt has been made to evaluate the socio-economic profile of the area at the village level with this view in mind.
51