DISTRICT SURVEY REPORT For AHMEDNAGAR DISTRICT PART -A FOR SAND MINING OR RIVER BED MINING 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1. LOCATION & GEOGRAPHICAL DATA: Ahmednagar is the largest district of Maharashtra State in respect of area, popularly known as “Nagar”. It is situated in the central part of the State in upper Godavari basin and partly in the Bhima basin and lies between north latitudes 18°19’ and 19°59’ and east longitudes 73°37’ and 75°32’ and falls in parts of Survey of India degree sheets 47 E, 47 I, 47 M, 47 J and 47 N. It is bounded by Nashik district in the north, Aurangabad and Beed districts to the east, Osmanabad and Solapur districts to the south and Pune and Thane districts to the west. The district has a geographical area of 17114 sq. km., which is 5.54% of the total State area. The district is well connected with capital City Mumbai & major cities in Maharashtra by Road and Railway. As per the land use details (2011), the district has an area of 134 sq. km. occupied by forest. The gross cultivable area of district is 15097 sq.km,whereas net area sown is 11463 sq.km. Figure 1 :Ahmednagar District Location Map 2 Table 1.1 – Geographical Data SSNo Geographical Data Unit Statistics . 18°19’ N and 19°59’N 1. Latitude and Longitude Degree To 73°37’E and 75°32’E 2. Geographical Area Sq. Km 17114 1.2. ADMINISTRATIVE SET UP: It is divided in to 14 talukas namely Ahmednagar, Rahuri, Shrirampur, Nevasa, Shevgaon, Pathardi, Jamkhed, Karjat, Srigonda, Parner, Akole, Sangamner, Kopargaon and Rahata. The district has 14 Panchayat Samitis, 9 Nagar Parishads, and 1 Municipal Corporation, 19 cities, 1600 villages and 1311 Gram Panchayats. The population of the district is 4,543,159 as per 2011 census with density of 265 persons per sq. km. There are 18 towns and 1600 villages in the district, out of which 2 villages are not habited. The Ahmednagar district has 7 Sub-divisions as mentioned below: Table No. 1.2 - Ahmednagar Subdivision S.No. Subdivision Tehsil 1 Ahmednagar 1. Ahmednagar 2. Newasa 2 Karjat 1.Karjat 2. Jamkhed 3 Shrirampur 1. Shrirampur 2. Rahuri 4 Sangamner 1.Sangamner 2. Akole 5 Pathardi 1.Pathardi 2. Shevgaon 6. Shirdi 1.Kopargaon 2. Rahata 7. Shrigonda - Parner 1. Shrigonda 2. Parner 3 Figure 2.0 Teshil Map in Ahmednagar District 1.3. POPULATION: The District has an area of 17,048 sq.kms.and a population of 45,43,159 persons as per 2011 Census. While the area of the District accounts for 5.54 percent of the total area of the State, the Districts population constitutes 4.04 percent of the total population of the State. The density of population is 266 persons per sq. km. Among the 35 Districts of the State, the District ranks 1st in terms of area, 6th in terms of population and 22nd in terms of density; its urban / metropolitan population is 379,845 of which 195,467 are males and 184,378 are females. According to data released by Census India 2011, the average density is 266 density per Sq.km. Average literacy of Ahmednagar in 2011 were 79.05% compared to 75% in 2001. The male and female literacy were 86.82% and 70.89% respectively. With regards to Sex Ratio, it stood at 939 per 1000 male compared to 2001 census figure of 940. The average national sex ratio in India is 852 as per Census 2011. In 2011 census, child sex ratio is 852 girls per 1000 boys compared to figure of 884 girls per 1000 boys of 2001 census data. 4 Table 1.3 - Population Data Sr. No. Particulars 2015-2016 1. Population 4543159 2. Male 2342825 3. Female 2200334 4. No. of Villages 1600 Table No. 1.4 Tehsil wise Number of villages and Geographical Area Sr. No. Name of Tehsil No. of Villages Geographical Area (km2) 1 Akole 190 1505.08 2 Sangamner 170 1705.06 3 Kopargaon 80 725.16 4 Rahata 58 759.19 5 Shrirampur 56 569.87 6 Newasa 129 1343.43 7 Shevgaon 112 1031.85 8 Pathardi 134 1214.10 9 Nagar 108 1605.74 10 Rahuri 96 1035.11 11 Parner 131 1930.28 12 Shrigonda 114 1603.81 13 Karjat 120 1503.61 14 Jamkhed 86 878.62 Total 1584 17410.91 Source- Socio- Economic Abstract of Ahmednagar district 2013 Figure 2.0 Tehsil wise Number of villages and Geographical Area 5 1.4. CONNECTIVITY: The Ahmednagar District map fig No.1.4 A below provides information about various routes to reach Ahmednagar. Ahmednagar is well connected by roads with major cities of Maharashtra and other states. Ahmednagar has 4 lane road connectivity to Aurangabad, Parbhani, Pune, Nashik, Beed, Solapur, and Osmanabad. National Highway 222 from Kalyan to Nirmal near Adilabad in Telangana passes through the city. The Maharashtra State Road Corporation (MSRTC) and different private transport operators provide bus service connecting the city to all parts of the state. Ahmednagar city have air connectivity by Seaplane service. The port for Seaplane is located at Mula Dam water reservoir, 30 min away from Ahmednagar City. The service offered by Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd. (MEHAIR) from 22 September 2014. Ongoing Flight is available from Juhu, Mumbai to Mula Dam. The service will now enable the large number of pilgrims traveling to the holy sites of Meherabad, Shirdi and Shani Shingnapur to travel quickly and conveniently to their destinations. Recently, new airport have started at Shirdi which is 80 km from Ahmednagar and the only airport in the district. Regular flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad fly to Shirdi. Figure3.0: Ahmednagar District Connectivity Map 6 Table No. 1.5 Details of Road Transportation Network in the District Length of Routes in km Percentage Sr.No. Types of Routes to State Nagar District Maharashtra Total 1 National Highway 210.70 4509.09 4.67 2 Major Stale Highway 347.58 7035.04 4.94 3 State Highway 1899.27 35754.68 5.31 4 Main District Road 2606.98 51993.71 5.01 5 Other District Roads 5395.25 61158.56 8.82 6 Rural Routes 10282.68 175731.48 5.85 Total Routes 20742.76 336994.40 6.15 Table No.1.6 Classiffication of Roads in Ahmednagar District (As on 31/03/1997) Category/particulars Length (in k.m.) National Highway 60 (0.45) State Highway 1706 (12.55) Major District Roads 2629 (19.34) Other District Roads 3320 (24.42) Village Roads 5879 (43.24) Total 13,594 (100.00) Railway Network : Ahmednagar railway station belongs to Solapur Division of Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Ahmednagar has rail connectivity with Pune, Manmad, Kopargaon, Shirdi, Daund, Goa, Nashik and other metro-cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Banglore, and Ahmedabad. Ahmednagar is well connected by roads with major cities of Maharashtra and other states. Ahmednagar has 4 lane road connectivity to Aurangabad, Parbhani, Pune, Nashik, Beed, Solapur, Osmanabad. National Highway 222 from Kalyan to Nirmal near Adilabad in Telangana passes through the city. The Maharashtra State Road Corporation (MSRTC) and different private transport operators provides bus service connecting the city to all parts of the state. 7 2.0 OVERVIEW of MINING ACTIVITY IN THE DISTRICT: The District as a whole is monotonously covered by Deccan-Trap basaltic lava flows. The lava flows are almost horizontal in disposition but local gentle tilting, undulations and minor flexures are sometimes seen. But for these, no major faulting or folding is seen in the area. The basalts are generally, covered by a thin mantle of black soil of recent origin. Other recent deposits such as river alluvium, sands, gravels, silts and calcareous known as kankar are also found in the river basins. Trap rocks are generally barren of any economically useful and important minerals. However, being hard, dense and durable, they are extensively used as building material and road metal. The pinkish coloured vesicular variety is amenable to cutting into blocks of desired sizes. Kankar, on burning yields good lime, is locally used for the manufacture of lime especially around Ahmednagar city. Minerals of economic value are not found in the district. Mud used for making bricks, sand and metal stone used for construction purpose are the only important minerals found in Ahmednagar district. 2.1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Minerals are classified into two groups as Major minerals and Minor minerals. Minor mineral has been defined under section 3 (e) of Mines and Minerals (Regulation and development) Act, 1957. They include building stones, gravel, ordinary sand, limestone lime burning, boulders, kankar, murum, brick earth ordinary clay used for, bentonite, road metal, slate, marble, stones used for making household utensils etc. Therefore, all other minerals not defined as minor minerals in the said Act are treated as major minerals. They include coal, manganese ore, iron ore, bauxite, limestone, kyanite, silliman ite, barites, chromite, silica sand, fluorite, quartz, sand used for stowing purposes in coal mines and many other minerals used for industrial purposes. 8 2.2 GUIDELINES FOR MINING OF MINOR MINERALS: The mining operations for minor minerals were carried out in unscientific manner in Maharashtra since there were no guidelines for extraction of minor mineral. Identifying this fact in exercise of powers conferred by Section 15 of Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957) and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Revenue & Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra framed the Maharashtra Minor Mineral Extraction (Development and Regulation) Rules, 2013.