NAGAPATTINAM DISTRICT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT NAGAPATTINAM DISTRICT District Profile
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NAGAPATTINAM DISTRICT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT NAGAPATTINAM DISTRICT District Profile Geography The geographical extent of the district is 2569 Sq km and covers 1.97 % of the total area of Tamil Nadu. The district lies on the shores of the Bay of Bengal between northern latitude 10.10' and 11.20' and eastern longitude 79.15' and 79.50'. It has a 187.9 km long coastline, stretching from a Kodiyampalayam in the north to Kodiyakarai in the south, which constitutes about 15 per cent of the coastline of Tamil Nadu. Topography Part of Nagapattinam district lies on the east coast to the south of Cuddalore district and another part of the district lies to the south of Karaikkal and Tiruvarur districts. This peninsular delta district is bounded by the Bay of Bengal on the east, Palk Strait on the south, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts on the west, and Cuddalore district on the north. The district is underlined by sedimentary formations as one of the major land forms 1 that occur, and there are natural levees near Mayiladuthurai coastal plain, covering almost the entire district with beaches, beach ridges, mud flats, swamps, and back waters along the coastal stretch. The deltaic plains are found near the confluence of River Coleroon with sea in the east and also in the south. Flood plain deposits are observed along the river courses. The present geomorphic set up of the district is the result of the action of the major rivers with their distinct tributaries, oscillations in the sea level, tidal effects of Bay of Bengal, and forces of wind. The entire area is a plain terrain with a gentle slope towards the east and the southeast. The maximum elevation is about 21m above mean sea level in the west. The coastline of Nagapattinam is straightened by south the bound long shore currents from the Kollidam river mouth to point Calimere. From Point Calimere to further south, the coastline forms a bay. Soil The district is covered by very dark grey brown to dark grey brown soils derived from the alluvial deposits. The soils are very deep, moderately drained, clay to sandy clay loam in texture with deposits of sand in intermittent layers. 2 The soils are somewhat saline in nature due to the influence of tidal waves. Some patches of Aenacious soils are also found along the coastal line. In Nagapattinam district, 15 soil series excluding sand (2.03%), swamp (1.28%), and reserve forest (2.00%) have been identified. The major soil series are Kolathur, Adhanur, Kilvelur, and Meelkadu. Kilvelur soil series consist of dark yellow-brown, very deep, heavy textured, slightly saline alluvial soils. Melkadu soil series are dark brown, very deep, sandy, calcareous coastal alluvial soils. Climate The district enjoys humid and tropical climate with hot summers, mild winters, and moderate to heavy rainfall. The relative humidity ranges from 70–77% and the temperature varies from 40.6 to 19.3°C with sharp fall in night temperatures the during monsoon period. The district receives rainfall almost throughout the year. The normal annual rainfall of the district is 1230mm. The district receives major portion of its annual rainfall during the north eastern monsoon period, and a moderate amount of rainfall is received during the south west monsoon period. A good part of the rainfall occurs as very intensive storms resulting mainly from cyclones generated in the Bay of Bengal, especially during northeast monsoon. 3 Vedaranyam which is at the southeast corner of the district receives an annual rainfall of 1500mm and rapidly decreases to about 1100mm towards the west of the district. STATUS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT The HDI reveals that the top three blocks are Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam and Thirumarugal. Among the 11 blocks of the district, the minimum value and the maximum value of the GII index was recorded in Vedaranyam and Thirumarugal blocks (0.044), and Kilvelur block (0.144). The Vedaranyam block scored 1st rank in GII and worked out index value was 0.044. The Thirumarugal block scored 2ndrank in GII and worked out index values was 0.044.The performance of bottom three blocks in GII were Nagapattinam, Keelaiyur and Kilvelur. The Nagapattinam block scores 9th rank in GII and worked out index values is 0.091. In the context of child development index, the lowest value was recorded in Thalainayar block (0.366), and the highest value was recorded in Mayiladuthurai block (0.727). Thalaiyanar, Kollidam and Sirkali were three blocks which had low CDIs. Nagapattinam block had performed well with low MDPI and earned the score of 1st and the index value was 0.092. Mayiladuthurai block has performed well in MDPI (0.266) and 4 earned the rank of 2nd. Kollidam, Kelvelur are block with high MDPI. EMPLOYMENT, INCOME AND POVERTY The district‘s work participation rate has marginally increased between 2001 and 2011. A similar picture is obtained both in rural and urban areas of the district. In the context of composition of workers, the number of cultivators has drastically come down in the district. This has been offset in agricultural labourers, household industry workers, and other workers. It reveals that there is a transition from agriculture to non- agricultural activities due to vagaries of monsoon and to avoid risk in agriculture. The decadal growth rate of total workers is 14.53 in the district. The same performance could not be seen in all the blocks of the district. Per Capita income of the district is low when compared to that of the State average. Majority of the people of the district are dependent on agriculture and fishing for their living. Further, the district is vulnerable to devastations by natural calamities such as cyclones and storms which hamper growth. Over the years, the district had recorded a decreasing trend in agricultural yield even in the absence of disasters. This could be attributed to the salinity and lower fertility of the soil. 5 As farm ponds were the main source of irrigation followed by canal irrigation in the district, during droughts, water scarcity emerged as a major problem adding to the woes of the farmers. During 2001, the proportion of rural and urban workers of Nagapattinam district was 41.51 per cent and 32.05 per cent respectively. These proportions have marginally changed as 43.58 per cent in rural areas and 34.69 per cent in urban areas during the year 2011. The percentage of the total workforce of the district has marginally increased during 2001 and 2011 and it stood at 39.41and 41.57 respectively. However, there is a marginal decline in the male workforce from 55.49 (2001) to 57.78 (2011). This may be attributed to the migration of labourers from rural to urban area. The growth rate of household industrial workers of the district is 0.82%. During 2011- 12, the PCI of the district had increased to Rs.41,208, and the State PCI had also increased to Rs.63,996. The Compound Annual Growth Rate of per capita income of the district for the last eight years (2004 -05 to 2011-12) was 6.66, which was lower than State (8.23). Overall, 35.02% of the households live below the poverty line. Across the eleven blocks of the district, 40.58% of the BPL households 6 live in Vedaranyam block. More than 35% is recorded in the blocks of Kuthalam (40.48%), Kilvelur (36.18%), Thirumarugal (36.00%), and Sembanarkoil (35.78%). 4,37124 households are provided with Family cards. DEMOGRAPHY, HEALTH AND NUTRITION The district‘s decennial population growth rate was 8.57 (2011). This has been reflected in the density of population. There is a little change in sex ratio, SC population, and ST population. In general, the sex ratio of SC population is high compared to other classes. Though the sex ratio of Nagapattinam is 1025, the child sex ratio is only 959. It was also noted that the proportion of 0-6 male population was greater in all the eleven blocks of the district. Across the blocks, the crude birth rate varied marginally, 15.2 was registered in Vedaranyam block and 19.1 was reported in Sirkali block. The average CDR of the district is 4.7 in 2012 and 5.0 in 2014. Out of the 11 blocks, the Vedaranyam block witnessed the highest IMR among blocks with 21.43 followed by the Sembanarkoil block (17.40) and the Thalainayar block (17.10). The district IMR is 14 in 2014. The Kilvelur 7 and the Thirumarugal blocks recorded the lowest IMR in Nagapattinam district. The block that witnessed the highest MMR during 2014 is Kilvelur (347) and the lowest was recorded in Thirumarugal and Vedaranyam. The block wise incidents of still births data show that the Mayiladuthurai, Kuthalam and Nagapattinam blocks recorded the lowest still birth rate of (5.4, 7.2, and 7.4) and the highest still birth rate was observed at the Kilvelur block with 22.1 during 2014. The percentage of immunization coverage varies from 100 per cent in Kollidam and Kuthalam blocks, 85 per cent in Sirkali block. Of the total 1,03,421 children reported during 2014, 20.2% were treated as malnourished children. Out of 11 blocks in Nagapattinam, nine blocks recorded the highest supply of IFA tablets to the women (Mayiladuthurai and Thalainayar (100%), Nagapattinam 99.3%, Sirkali 98.9%, Thirumarugal 96.1%, Kuthalam 99.3%, Vedaranyam 98.8%, Keelaiyur 98.5%, Kilvelur 96.3%, Kollidam 98.1% and Sembanarkoil 77.7%). The district average also shows a satisfactory level towards supply of safe drinking water to their district population (100 per cent).