Chapter- IV PROFILE OF RAIGAD DISTRICT 1) Historical Background. 2) Geographical Location. 3) Topography. 4) Water Resources. 5) Climate. 6) Soil and Agriculture. 7) Irrigation. 8) Industries and Transport. 9) Population. 10) Educational Facility. 11) Highlights. 147 Chapter IV Profile of Raiqad District The research study deals with the management of Secondary Education in Raigad District. Hence, it is necessary to make a brief review of the growth of secondary education in the district after independence and the present scenario. At the same time it is also necessary to know the socio-economic position of the district which directly or indirectly influences the educational growth. The review covers general information in respect of historical background, geographical location, population, literacy, agriculture, Industry, educational progress and other related aspects. 1. Historical background. The present Raigad district has been named due to the historical fort ' Raigad ' in Maharashtra state. ' The earlier name ' Kulaba ' was changed to ' Raigad ' on 1®' may 1981 by the Maharashtra government*. The fort Raigad was the capital of ' Raje Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji ' during the 17'" century. The original name of the Raigad fort was ' Rairi ' . The fort Rairi was very lofty and an almost inaccessible plateau. ' Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Raje Conquered Rairi fort from the More's of Jawali in 1656 '} He then repaired the fort and strengthened it. 'It was named Raigad and made the seat of his Kingdom in 1664'. ^ 148 It was believed that Kulaba port was one of the trading centers of Janjira State. At that time, probably the entire Kulaba coast was an important trading center of the Konkan region. The ' Pandavs ' are said to have passed through this Konkan region in the thirteenth year of their exile and had settled in this area for some time. 'Kulaba became of full fledged district in 1869' '^ . 'It was in the hands of Marathas up to 1817 '.^ Kanoji Angre II was the last Saradar of ' Maratha Sanstan '. After his death the Marathas transferred the Konkan including Kulaba to the British Government. Kulaba was made into a sub-district of the Thane district in1830 and in 1869 it was made into an independent district with six tahasil namely Alibag, Pen, Mahad, Mangoan and Roha. Panvel and Uran tahasils from Thane district were transferred to Kulaba in 1883. In 1891 Karjat tahasil from Thane district was included in Kulaba. Pali and Janjira tahasils were ruled by Santhas, joined to Kulaba in 1948 when the Indian government abolished Santhas. With the reorganization of the state in 1950, the Kulaba district was incorporated in to Bombay state. In 1960, it formed part of Maharashtra State. There are at present 14 Tahasils in the district. They are Alibag, Uran, Panvel, Mahad, Mahasala, Murud, Shrivardhan, Mangaon, Poladpur, Pali, Karjat, Roha , Pen 149 and Khalapur. The district is divided in to three sub-divisions with Alibag as a district head quarter for administrative purpose. 2. Geographical Location. Raigad district lies between 17 -51 and 19 -8' north latitude and between 73 -40 east longitude. The district has a length of about 160kms from North to South and the Breath varies between 24kms to 28kms. The district covers total area of 7152 sq. kms which is 2.4 percent of the state's geographical area. It ranks 27*^ in geographical area in the State of Maharashtra. (The location of Raigad district is given in map no.1) The district is one ©^ the costal districts of Maharashtra situated on the west coast with a coastal length of 240kms. It is bounded by Thane district to the north, Ratnagiri district to the south, Pune district lies to the east, Satara district to south-east and the Arabian sea to the west. The Mumbai harbor surrounded the district in the north-west. The Sahyadri hills pass through the district in the east and hence water flows originating from the Sahyadri flow to the Arabian sea. 150 r -T- -r '•) JAMMU« / INDIA r KASHMIR y 3«"- —3t« /POMJABIS/UTTARANCHAly* HIMACHTC.*" L 1 PRAOES»A Vrt TIBET NEPAL t.. ARJin^HAL ^L-L ^0ESH...<7 ";• ^HUTAN^;^ ^^,- ^ •"''•~^-t^-JKj^ J ASSAM yNA^ALAt /••« i-^ ^ '"i* <• MAI^PUR .<fftlJUF»-'' I r\ MItORAM 151 MADHYAPRADESH ^. DHULE w j-i AM '» • • JALQAON /• / AKOLA /BULDANA .„ AURANOABAb .... .••'•• ' \ JALNAi PARBHANI AHMEDt^AGAR ^Nl MUMBAI \p-^'^^, NANO ...•-•\ en .•••••••'.•' ! LATUR I «..» •-.. SHOUVPUR ••••••••. 08MANABA0 ARABIAN SEA C'***'V''' J KARNATAK SANGU T PUR 100 MOka iui RAIGAD DISTRI TAHSILWISE SECONDARY SC THANE # ARABIAN ^mi SEA si, RATNAGIRI 3. Topography. An uneven topology Is an important feature of the district. The district can be divided into three,natural regions :- a) Coastal Region :- It consists of low areas of Alibag, Uran, Shrivardhan and Murud Tahasils. The region accounts for 18 to 20 percent of the district area. The main occupation in this coast region is agriculture and fishery. b) Central Region :- The region consists of flat and fertile land area. Panvel, Pen, Roha and western part of Mangoan Tahasils are included in this region. It accounts 33 percent of the total area of the district. Agriculture is the main occupation of this region. c) Hilly Region :- It consists of the eastern part of Karjat and Khalapur Tahasils, north-west corner of Mahad and Mangoan Tahasils and some parts of Pali ( Sudhagad ) and Poladpur Tahasils. This area accounts for around 48-50 percent of the total area of the district. The region has heavy rainfall and a large forest area. A large number of tribal populations known as Katkari, Thakur, Gawali ( Milk men), Dhangar (Shepherd) live in this area. The important hills of the district are Mahalmeera (1100 ft from the sea level), Sudhagad (1357 ft), Ratangad (1800 ft) and Raigad (2851 ft). 4. Water resources. The northern part of the district covering Panvel, Pen, Karjat, Uran and some part of Pali (Sudhagad) Tahasils 154 has three water streams namely, Ulhas, Patalganga and Amba. Uihas drainge receives the tail water of Bhivpuri Hydropower system and this regulated flow of water is used for agriculture and industrialization. The Patalganga river receives the tail water of Khopoli Hydropower system. This water is also used for agriculture and industry. Bhogawati and Amba flow seasonally through Khalapur, Sudhagad and Pen tahasils. Central Raigad including Roha, Murud southern part of Sudhagad is drained mainly by Kundalika and Mandal rivers. The southern part of the district covering Mahad, Mangoan, Poladpur, Mahasala and Shrivardhan tahasils are drained by the well developed system of Savitri, Gandhari, Kaal and Nageshwari rivers. Most of the rivers flow towards the east and join into the Arabian Sea. On few rivers, small dams have been constructed for irrigation and drinking water purpose. However, most of the rivers become dry soon after the winter and many villages face acute shortage of drinking water. Climate. Being a coastal district it is characterized by mild warm and humid climate. Daily and seasonal variation in temperature is not large. Summer is from March to May and the May is the hottest month of the year with a temperature of 40°c. Rains start in the month at June and continue till the beginning of October. July and August are the month of 155 heavy rainfall. ' The average rainfall of the district is 3029 mm'.^ Rainfall is not uniform all over the district, it increases from the coast towards the Sahyadri. 'Matheran is receives the highest rainfall which is around 5167 mm while Uran receives the lowest rainfall of 2072 mm'. ^ Matheran and Karnala are famous as hill stations and tourist spots, many tourists visit the places mainly in the monsoon and in summer. Both the places have government rest houses and private hotels. Pali (Sudhagad) and Mahad are the centers of Ashtavinayak. The place Unere near Pali ( Sudhagad) has hot water springs. 6. Soil and Agriculture. The soils of the district are essentially derived from the Deccan Trap which is pre-dominant rock formation. The main types of soils are Forest soil, Varkas ( Slope) soil, Rice soil and Khar (Salt) soil. The forest soil yields forest product like Plants (Trees). Varkas soil is found just below the forest soil along with steeper slopes, it gives mainly grass. The rice soils are formed from the trap rock under heavy rainfall and humid conditions. Khar soils are formed due to deposition of salts and salt is produced from this soil. Rice is the main crop of the monsoon season. Few places grow rice during rabi ( winter ) hangam (December to March) wherever irrigation facility is available. 90 percent of the cultivable land in the district is under rice crop. Nachani (Ragi) , 156 Warai, Til are some other crops which are grown in a very small quantity during rabi hangam. Around 28 percent of the total land of the district is cultivable . The percentage of cultivable land is going to be reduced in the coming few decades due to industrial development and urbanization. Few areas near towns and on the bank of rivers grow vegetables and water melon during winjter. The land under forest was about 1, 53, 391 hectors in 1991 distributed among 1162 villages. Forest land constitutes around 21 percent of the total land. Maximum forest falls in Roha tahasil accounting for around 14 percent of the total forest land. The main trees found in the forest are Ain, Devdor, Teak, Mango, Kinjal and Khair. 7. Irrigation. The total irrigated land is distributed among 195 villages constituting around 10 percent of the villages in the district.. The major source of irrigation is canals from dams constructed by the government under various projects. The Kaal project in Mangaon tahasil is one such project. Canal irrigation alone accounts around 54 percent of the total irrigated land.