DISTRICT SURVEY REPORT KRISHNAGIRI DISTRICT Aadhi Boomi Mining and Enviro Tech (P) Ltd., 3/216, K.S.V.Nagar, Narasothipatti, Salem-636 004. Phone (0427) 2444297, Cell: 09842729655 [email protected], [email protected] DISTRICT SURVEY REPORT OF KRISHNAGIRI DISTRICT INDRODUCTION Krishnagiri is a municipal town and administrative headquarters of Krishnagiri District.It is located 90 Km from Bangalore and 45 Km from Hosur and Dharmapuri.The krishnagiri district has a prehistoric importance.Archeological sources confirm the presence of habitats of man kind during Paleolithic, Neolithic and Mesolithic Ages.Krishnagiri District was bifurcated from the erstwhile Dharmapuri District and Krishnagiri District came into existence from 9th February 2004, consisting of Hosur and Krishnagiri Divisions. After the bifurcation of Krishnagiri District from Dharmapuri, the present Krishnagiri is located approximately between 11°12’N and 12°49’N of the north latitude and between 77°27’E and 78°38’E of east longitude. The total geographical area of the district is 5143 Sq. Km. This District is elevated from 300 m to 1400 m above the mean sea level. The total Geographical extent of Krishnagiri District is 5,14,326 hectares. It had 2, 02,409 hectares of forest land which constituted nearly 40 percent of the total geographical area of the district. Krishnagiri District has two Municipalities, 10 Panchayat Unions, seven Town Panchayats, 352 Village Panchayats and 636 Revenue Villages. Shoolagiri, Thally and Veppanapalli blocks have vast stretches of forest area with large tribal population. 2. ADMINISTRATION A district collector heads the district administration. Krishnagiri district is divided into two divisions and five taluks for the purpose of revenue administration. Revenue Divisional Officer heads the divisions and Tahsildar is the head of taluk level administration. Development administration in this district is coordinated by the panchayats (also called as blocks) for the rural areas. There are about ten panchayat unions, seven town panchayats, 352 village Panchayats and 874 revenue villages in this district. Krishnagiri district comprises two revenue divisions Krishnagiri and Hosur. There are seven taluks: Krishnagiri, Hosur, Pochampalli, Uthangarai, Shoolagiri, Bargur and Denkanikottai. There are 12 panchayat unions: Kelamangalam, Thalli, Anchetti, Krishnagiri, Shoolagiri, Vepanapalli, Hosur, Kaveripattinam, Pochampalli, Mathur and Uthangarai. 3. PHYSIOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE Krishnagiri district forms parts of Cauvery and East Coast Minor Rivers basins. Cauvery River forms the southwestern boundary of the district. Dodda Halla is the most important tributary of Cauvery draining the rugged terrain in the northwestern part of the district.Ponnaiyar is the major river draining the district and is ephemeral in nature. It originates from Nandhi hills in Karnataka, enters Tamil Nadu west of Bagalur and flows almost in a southeasterly direction till it reaches Manjamedu from where it flows along the district boundary before entering the district, again near Hanuman Tirtham. After flowing for a short distance in an easterly direction, it again follows the district boundary before entering the neighboring Dharmapuri district. Pambar and Burgur Ar., are among the important tributaries of Ponnaiyar draining part of the district. 4. TRANSPORTATION This district is connected by Prime Minister's Golden Rectangle Project executed by National Highways Authority of India. This district has a network of National Highways converging. NH-7 (Kanyakumari-Kashmir) NH-46 (Chennai-Bangalore) NH-66 (Pondicherry-Bangalore) NH-207 (Sarjapur-Bagalur-Hosur) NH-219 (Krishnagiri-Kuppam) Apart from this state highways and district highways are linking almost all the towns and villages of the district. Four National highways converge at the Head Quarters of this district is unique. People of Krishnagiri District belong to various racial groups. People from Kashmir, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andra have settled in this District. Hence it can be rightly called a Cosmopolitan society. Ancient Art & Culture is preserved and maintained by inhabitants. The major entertainment for rural folk form the 'Street Play' (theru koothu) and 'Sevai Attam'. 5. RAIN FALL The district receives the rain under the influence of both southwest and northeast monsoons. The normal annual rainfall over the district varies from about 750 to about 900 mm. It is the minimum around Hosur (767.7 mm) and Rayakottai (768.0 mm) in the northern and central parts of the district. It gradually increases towards west and east and is the maximum around Denkanikotai (910.7 mm) in the western part. 6. CLIMATE The climate of Krishnagiri district is comparatively more pleasant than that of the Surrounding districts due to general dryness of atmosphere and appreciable drop in Temperature in the monsoon season. The year may be divided into four season namely dry season from January to March, summer season April and May, southwest monsoon Season from June to Sept. and northeast monsoon season from October to December . During summer season (April to May) the maximum temperature is about 37°C, and the mean daily minimum temperature of about 25°C in the plains. There is a gradual decrease of both day and night temperatures from June onwards till December, when the mean daily maximum temperature is about 30°C and the mean daily min. is about 19°C in plains. The day temperature increases gradually from January onwards. The lowest temperature is reached in January when the mean daily minimum is about 19°C. However, in higher areas i.e., Hosur, Thally and Krishnagiri taluks day and night temperature is lower by about 2 to 3°C. In these areas weather is comparatively pleasant round the year. 7. GEOLOGY Granite, Charnockite, Pegmatite, Gneissic Rocks are found largly found in KrishnaGiri area. Sedimentary rocks namely charnockite, Granitoid gneiss, feldspar gneiss, calcareous gritty (sand stone mixed clay), and quartz vein. Granitoid gneiss is a composition of primary lateritic capping, basement crystalline complex, and conglomerate, which are found along the middle part of the river valley. The younger alluvium formations are seen predominantly in the northern part of the area and are considered as highly permeable. The northwest and middleeast part of the area consist of fluvial–deltaic sediment deposits, which are laid on Granitoid gneiss and are considered as good zone for groundwater potential. However, the hard rock materials composed of crystalline charnockite, conglomerate, and quartzite vein present in the southern part of the area are not suitable for groundwater potential zones. 8. GEOMORPHOLOGY The prominent geomorphic units identified in the district through interpretation of satellite imagery are structural hills in the southwestern part of the district, denudational land forms like buried pediments in the plains and inselbergs and plateaus represented by conical hills aligned with major lineaments. Krishnagiri district forms part of the upland plateau region with many hill ranges and undulating plains. The western part of the district has hill ranges of Mysore plateau with a chain of undulating hills and deep valleys extending in NNE-SSW direction. The plains of the district have an average elevation of 488 m amsl. The plateau region along the western boundary and the northwestern part of the district has an average elevation of 914 m amsl. The Guthrayan Durg with an elevation of 1395 m amsl is the highest peak in the district. 9. SOILS Different types of the soils such as black or mixed loamy, red and gravel are found in the district. The Black of rigor loam is very fertile due to its moisture absorbing character. Red soils are seen in Hosur, Shoolagiri, Thally and Kelamangalam. In general, the soil in the district is quite loose and fresh with its colour from red to dark brown. The soil has low nitrogen and phosphate content with marked variation between different taluks. Coarse textured red sandy loam (Typic Ustorthent) 80 % Laterite 10 % Black and other soil types 10 % 10. HYDROGEOLOGY Krishnagiri district is underlained by Archaean crystalline formations with recent alluvial deposits of limited areal extent and thickness along the courses of major rivers. The occurrence and movement of ground water are controlled by various factors such as physiography, climate, geology and structural features. Weathered and Fractured crystalline rocks constitute the important aquifer systems in the district. Ground water generally occurs under phreatic conditions in the weathered mantle and Under semi-confined conditions in the fractured zones at deeper levels. The thickness of Weathered zones in the district ranges from less than a meter to more than 15 m. The Yield of large diameter dug wells in the district, tapping the weathered mantle of Crystalline rocks ranges from 100 to 500 lpm. These wells normally sustain pumping for 2 to 6 hours per day, depending upon the local topography and characteristics of the Weathered mantle. 11. GROUND WATER LEVEL: The depth to water level (DTW) during pre monsoon (May 2006) ranged between 0.5 and 9.9 m bgl in the district. In major part of the district the DTW is more than 5 mbgl. Whereas it ranged between 2 and 9.9 m bgl (Plate-IV) during post monsoon, in the district and the DTW is in the range of 5 – 10 m bgl in the entire district except a few isolated pockets. The yield of successful exploratory wells drilled in the district ranged from 0.78 lps to 26 lps. As per the studies the wells drilled in granitic gneiss have higher yields than the wells drilled in charnockites. The specific capacity of the wells ranged from 1.2 to 118.0 lpm/m/dd.The piezometric head of fracture zones varied between 0.50 and 18.45 m bgl. Fig.no.1 showing Ground water level of the Krishnagiri district Flora and Fauna The major wild animals include Elephants, Sambar, Spotted Deer, Gaur, Wild boar, Panther etc. The forest area of Denkanikottai Taluk forms the prime elephant habitat with lot of bamboos and this area constitutes the Cauvery elephant reserve, which is constituted over and area of about 450 Sq.