CHAPTER IV PROFILE OF SOLAPUR AND OSMANABAD DISTRICT 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Historical Importance of Solapur District 4.3 Geographical Information 4.4 Administrative Structure 4.5 Educational Progress 4.6 Economy of Solapur District 4.7 Banking Services 4.8 Co-operatives Societies 4.9 Transportation 4.10 Tourist Places 4.11 Historical Importance of Osmanabad District 4.12 Geographical Information 4.13 Administrative Structure 4.14 Educational Progress 4.15 Banking Services 4.16 Industrial Progress 4.17 Transportation 4.18 Tourist Places Conclusion References 74 CHAPTER IV PROFILE OF SOLAPUR AND OSMANABAD DISTRICT 4.1 INTRODUCATION The major aim of this chapter is to provide background of study area. Solapur and Osmanabad Districts has been selected for this study. A socio-economic characteristic of the study area are described in this chapter. Solapur and Osmanabad districts are come under administrative division of Pune and Aurangabad. In this chapter, there are two sections. Section I-Profile of Solapur District Section II-Profile of Osmanabad District The additional information above two sections is as follows: SECTION I PROFILE OF SOLAPUR DISTRICT Solapur is a beautiful city in Maharashtra. The city of Solapur is the district Head quarts. It is located on the south east edge of the state and lies entirely in the Bh īma and Sina basins. During the Indian Independence movement the people of Solapur enjoyed full freedom on 9 th , 10 and 11 May 1930. However, this resulted in the executions of Shri Jagannath Shinde and Shri Kisan Sarada who were hanged on 12 January 1931 in the prison at Pune. This resulted in the city becoming recognized as “The city of Hutatmas”. The entire district is drained by the Bh īma river. It lies on the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka. It is the fourth largest district in Maharashtra in terms of population. Solapur is one of the urbanized district in the state having about one third population in urban areas where as about two fifth of states population lives in urban areas. It is situated at a distance of 410 kms. from the Maharashtra state Capital of Mumbai. Solapur district famous for its Chadder, Handloom, Power loom and Beedi Industries. Solapur is well known for its textile industries often referred as Manchester of Maharashtra. Solapur Chadars and Towels are world famous. It has 75 been a leading Centre for cotton mills and power looms however they have been fast disappearing. 1 This Section is deals with the Socio-economic profile in Solapur district. This section is related with the historical and geographical information about Solapur district. The industrial development and educational status are also included in in this section. The detail information is as follow: 4.2 HISTIORICAL IMPORTANCE OF SOLAPUR DISTRICT: The Solapur District was ruled by various such as Andhrabhratyas, Chalukyas, Yadavas and Bahamanis. 'SOLAPUR’ is believed to be derived from two words 'SOLA' meaning sixteen and PUR meaning village. The present city Solapur was considered to be spread over sixteen villages viz. Aadilpur, Ahmedpur, Chapaldev, Fatehpur, Jamdarwadi, Kalajapur, Khanderv Kiwadi, Muhammadpur, Ranapur, Sandalpur, Shaikpur, Solapur, Sonapur and Vaidakwadi. The present Solapur district was previously part of Ahemednagar, Pune and Satara districts. In 1838 it became the Sub-district of Ahmednagar. It includes Barshi, Mohol, Madha, Karmala, Indi, Hippargi, and Muddebihal Sub divisions. In 1864 this Sub-district was abolished. In 1871 this district was reformed joining the Sub- division’s vizs. Pandharpur, Sangola, and in 1875 Malshiras Sub-division was also attached. After the State reorganization in 1956 Solapur was included in Mumbai State and it became a full-fledged district of Maharashtra State in 1960.The importance of Solapur is unique in the history of India in the sense that this district enjoyed the freedom even before independence. The citizens of Solapur enjoyed the independence for three days from 9 th to 11 th May 1930.The Solapur Municipal Council was the first Municipal Council of India to host the National Flag on the Municipal Council building (now Municipal Corporation) Solapur in 1930. The present Solapur district was previous part of Ahemednagar, Pune and Satara districts. In 1838 it became the Sub-divisions. In 1864 this Sub- district was abolished. In 1871 this district was reformed joining the Sub-divisions viz. Solapur, 1 www.en.wikipedia.org 76 Barshi, Mohol, Madha, and Karmala, and two sub-division of Satara district viz. Pandharpur, Sangola and in 1875 Malshiras Sub-division was also attached. After the state reorganization in 1956 Solapur was included in Mumbai state and it became a full-fledged district of the state of Maharashtra in 1960. 2 4.3 GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION : The Geographical information includes, Climate, Area, Location, Soil, Crops, Temperature, Rivers, Rainfall, Irrigation, Demographic features, Literacy etc. A) LOCATION : Geographically, Solapur district is lies between 17o.10 to18 o.32 degree North Latitudes and 74 o.42 to 76 o.15 degree East Longitudes. It is basically found on the South-eastern border of Maharashtra state and touches the border of Karnataka state. Solapur lies in the Seena and Bh īma basins where the entire district is drained either by the river Bh īma or by its tributaries. 3 B) BOUNDARIES: It is surrounded by Ahemednagar and Osmanabad districts in the north, Osmanabad and Andhra Pradesh in the east, Sangli district and the Karnataka state to the South and Satara and Pune districts towards the west. C) AREA : The total geographical area of Solapur district is 14895 sq. km. This is 4.84%of the total area of Maharashtra state. Out of the total area of the district 170.79 sq. kms. (1.15 %) is urban area where as remaining 14724.21 sq. kms. (98.25%) is rural area. There is no important hill system in the district. There are only a few spurs of Balaghat range in the north of Barshi taluka that pass through the south of Solapur for a few kilometers. Areas wise Malshiras taluka is biggest covering an area of 4 1604.80 sq. kms and North Solapur is smallest covering an area of 736.3 sq., kms. 2 http://www.indianetzone.com/46/histroysolapurdistrict.htm . 3 Solapur.gov.in/htmldocs/geo/Pdf 4 Socio-economic Abstract of Solapur district page no.1 77 Map No.4.1 Map of Solapur District Source: www.mapsofindia.com D) CLIMATE: The climate of this district is on the whole agreeable and is characterized by general dryness in the major part of the year. The cold season from December to about the middle of February is followed by the hot season which lasts up to the end of May. June to September is the south-west monsoon season. October and November 5 constitute the post-monsoon or retreating monsoon season. 5 Solapurgov.in/htmlocs/1977/gen-climate.html. 78 The Solapur district Gazetteer, the maximum temperature is 44.10 oc in summer and minimum temperature is 4.4 c in Winter Season. 6 E) RIVERS : The chief rivers of the district are the Bh īma, its right-bank feeders the Nira and the Man and its left-bank feeder the Sina. Besides, a good number of lesser streams form the tributaries of the Bh īma and serve as its local feeders. The Bh īma and the Sina flow with a roughly south-easterly trend while the Nira runs east and the Man north-easterly. During the dry season, all these rivers are fordable. However, during the peak of south-west monsoon season, not only the main streams but also the seasonal feeder streams are flooded, though for a short span of time; they bring huge volumes of coarse material inclusive of gravels and cobbles from the barren uplands and cover the shallow beds of the streams quite extensively. 7 The length of Bh īma River in Solapur district is 289 kms. F) RAINFALL : Agricultural in the district is mainly dependent upon rainfall. The rainfall, therefore, determines the pattern of crops, rotation of crops and the productivity of the land in the district. Broadly speaking, the district can be divided into three natural zones. The eastern zone comprising Barshi, North Sholapur, South Sholapur and Akkalkot talukas has assured rainfall; the central or the traditional zone comprising Mohol, Mangalwedha, eastern part of Pandharpur and Madha talukas has uncertain rainfall and the western zone which comprises the scarcity areas of Karmala, Sangola and Malshiras talukas and the western parts of the Madha and Pandharpur talukas has also uncertain rainfall. 8 Rainfall is uncertain and scanty in Solapur district. The monsoon period is from second fortnight of June to end September bringing rains from South-west monsoon. The average rainfall for the district is 561.47 mms. 6 www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/solapurdistrict . 7 Sholapur District Gazetteer published in 1884 8 Solapur gov.in/html.docs/1977/Agri-rainfall.html. 79 Table No. 4.1 Average Rainfall in Solapur District Sr.No. Taluka Average Rainfall 1 Karmala 541 2 Madha 534.4 3 Barshi 596.5 4 North Solapur 617.3 5 Mohol 573.9 6 Pandharpur 573.7 7 Malshiras 463.4 8 Sangola 462.6 9 Mangalvedha 519.8 10 South Solapur 617.3 11 Akkalkoat 676.3 Total District 561.47 Source: Socio-economic Abstract of Solapur District, 2010 page no.70 G) SOIL : Solapur district has different types of soil which are classified into, 1) Black soil 2) Coarse gray Soil 3) Reddish Soil It is also divided into three natural zones. i] The Eastern Zone : The Eastern Zone covers North Solapur, Barshi, Akkalkoat and South Solapur and has medium to deep black soli of rich quality.