About District
Parvathipuram Manyam District
Introduction
Parvathipuram Manyam District has been newly formed on 04.04.2022 with the head quarters at Parvathipuram which is the main town of the District of North Eastern Andhra Pradesh in Southern India. The district was formed with some parts carved from the neighbouring districts of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram.
It is one among the north circars in Coastal Andhra with 16 Revenue Mandals, 3 Towns, 993 Villages and 9,72,135 population. The name of the District itself suggests primarily inhabitance of Schedule Tribes in the District. The Tribal population mainly predominant in Kurupam, G.L.Puram, Parvathipuram, Komarada, Paachipenta , Salur, Makkuva Seethampeta, Mentada and some part in Jiyyammavalasa Mandals.
General Physical Aspects::
Parvathipuram Manyam District was formed on 04.04.2022 with Headquarters at Parvathipuram Town as per G.O.Ms.No. with portions carved from Srikakulam and Vizianagaram Districts consequent on restructuring of Districts in residuary Andhra Pradesh State after bifurcation of the composite state as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 02.06.2014 . The district is a part of the Northern Coastal plains of Andhra Pradesh and lies between 170-15’ and 190 -15’ of the Northern Latitude and 830 – 0’ to 830 – 45’ of the Eastern Longitude. It is bounded on the East by Srikakulam district, South by Vizianagaram district, on the South-West by Visakhapatnam District and North-West by Odisha State. For administrative convenience, the district is divided into 2 Revenue Divisions viz., Parvathipuram and Palakonda as already existing on the formation of District.
Hills ::
The district can be divided into two distinct natural physical divisions i.e., plain and hilly regions. The hilly region is mostly covered with densely wooded forests and comes under Agency tract of the district. Since it is hilly tract its elevation is also uneven. The plain portion of the district is a well cultivated tract. The Agency tract mostly consists of the hilly regions covered by the Eastern Ghats which run parallel to the Coast from the North-East to the South-West. The hilly region consists, parts of the former Parvathipuram and Saluru taluks and they are known as Agency tracts. The main hill ranges are Dumakonda, Antikonda, Palakonda, Kodagandi and Gamatikonda. All these individual ranges form part of the Eastern Ghats. These ranges with their detached hills show a distinct North-West-South-East trend. In the Parvathipuram division the hills are lower than elsewhere and consists of steep and rugged lines devoid of plateau and hedging in the too broad and almost parallel.
Rivers::
The district is drained by the rivers of Nagavali, Suvarnamukhi, Vegavathi and Gomukhi which pass through plain and hilly regions. A brief description of these rivers is given below:
Nagavali
The Nagavali also known as the Langulya in the lower reaches, is the main river in the district. It takes its birth in the steep hills of Rayagada taluk in Orissa State and enters the district in Komarada mandal. It passes through Komarada, Jiyyammavalasa and Garugubilli mandals and enters Srikakulam district, which finally disembogues the Bay of Bengal at Mofuzbander, near Srikakulam. Its total length is 200 KM and flows for about 112 KM in Vizianagaram district. The total catchment area of this river is 8,964 Sq. K.Ms. The annual flow of water in this river is about 1.21 million hects. The main tributories of this river are Vegavathi, Suvarnamukhi, Janjhavathi and Vottigedda.
Suvarnamukhi
The river takes its birth in the hills of Saluru and takes eastern direction and finally joins the Nagavali river in Palakonda mandal of Srikakulam district. It flows mostly in Bobbili area.
Vegavathi
It originates in Pachipenta hills of Pachipenta mandal and flows in the same direction, almost parallel to the Suvarnamukhi and finally joins Nagavali.
Gomukhi
The river Gomukhi originates from the Eastern Ghats and flows North-West of Saluru. After serving a few villages it joins the Suvarnamukhi.
Flora ::
The district receives rains from both the monsoons and the climate is tropical. The forest exhibit a variety of local changes in quality, composition and density depending upon the soil moisture, climate, altitude, slope and distance from the sea. Thus it is seen a wide spectral of vegetation from the sea to the Sheltered spurs, high ridges and the valleys bordering the state. These forests range from Xerophytic in the dry and inhospitable conditions to less Xerophytic and Mesophytic species at higher regions with more moisture, cooler climate and better soils in the valleys. The floristic diversity is noticed in the quality and density of forests which range from 6 metres in poorer areas to over 20 metres in better areas. Forests vary in density from vast extents of full density seen in the inner remote areas to sparce open forests due to biotic abuses around habitation.
The forest types found in the district are:
- Southern Tropical Moist Mixed Deciduous forests
- Northern Tropical Dry Deciduous forests – Sal type
- Southern Tropical Dry – Mixed Deciduous forests
- Dry Deciduous Green forests; and 5. Dry Ever Green forests.
Fauna::
Fauna in the district is fairly high in the interior hill regions, but it is heavily threatened with extinction. The reasons for the depletion are mainly due to shrinkage of habitat and un-controlled poaching. The principal animals and birds found from along the sea-coast to the high plateau are Yellow Bat, Sloth Bear, Wild buffaloes, Fox, Hare Hyena, Jackal, Mongoose and birds of blue rock Pigeon, House crow, House sparrow, Common Myna etc., Consequent on the enactment of the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972, it is hoped that wild life would improve and attain the past glory.
Climate ::
The climate of the District is Characterized by high humidity, all the year round with oppressive summer and good seasonal rainfall. The summer season is from March to the middle of June. This is followed by the South-West monsoon season, which lasts up to about the 2nd week of October. The period from Mid October to the end of November constitutes the post monsoon or retreating monsoon season. December to February is the season of generally fine weather. The Climate of the hill parts of the district is different from that of the plains. Since hilly regions receive heavier rainfall they are cooler than the plains. The maximum temperature will be recorded during May and the minimum temperature will be during December.
Temperature::
In the interior low level area of the district, the temperatures in summer are about 2 to 3 degrees higher than in the coastal region. In the hilly tracks, the temperature in general may be lower than in the coastal region by about a couple of degrees or so, depending on elevation. From about the middle of February, the temperatures rise rapidly till May which is the hottest month with the mean daily maximum temperature at about 35oC and the mean minimum at about 27oC. The weather is very oppressive particularly in the coastal region where humidity is also generally high. Thunder showers and sea breezes in the afternoons bring some relief from the heat in the coastal region. With the on set of the south-west monsoon by about mid June the day temperatures drop by a couple of degrees. But, the decrease in the night temperature is only slight. After the withdrawal of the South-West monsoon, early in October, temperature begins to decrease progressively. December and January are the coldest months with the mean daily maximum temperature at about 280C and the mean daily minimum at about 180C. During the fine weather season, the night temperature may some times drop down to about 110 C.
Soils::
The main soils in the District are Red soils, Sandy Loams and Sandy Clay and they constitute 96% of the total area. The soils in the District are predominantly loamy with medium fertility. There are mostly red loamy soils, as far as dry lands are concerned and clay loamy in case of wet lands. The soils at some places are as thick as 4 Metres. It is likely that the thick soil cover might represent alluvium along the valleys. Different types of rocks are in abundance in the District.
Water Resource Projects::
The principal Rivers flowing in the District are Nagavali, Vegavathi, Gomukhi, Suvarnamukhi, Champavathi and Gosthani. Thatipudi Reservoir, Vegavathi Project, Vattigedda Project, Nagavali right and left side channels, Pedankalam Anicut, Seethanagaram Anicut, Denkada Anicut, Paradhi Anicut, Surapadu Anicut, Vengalarayasagar Project and Andra Project are the medium irrigation projects in the District, irrigating about 43,984 Hectares in the District. The Nagavali is the main River which flows in about 112 Kms in Vizianagaram District covering an Ayacut of 2,832 Hectares. The River Gostani has its origin in Anantagiri forest area and flows through S.Kota and Jami Mandals. The Suvarnamukhi river takes its birth in the hills of Salur Mandals and takes an eastern direction and finally join the Nagavali at Sangam Village, in Palakonda Mandal of Srikakulam District and the Vegavathi originates in Pachipenta Hill of Pachipenta Mandal and flows almost parallel to Suvarnamukhi covering an Ayacut of 2,428 Hectares.
Agricultural Resources::
Parvathipuram Manyam District is predominantly an agricultural district as 68.4% of the workers are engaged in Agriculture and about 82% of the population of the District is living in Rural area s and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Rainfed farming is the characteristic of Agriculture in the District as about 80% of its area is cultivated purely under Rain fed conditions. Even the rest of the area which is termed as irrigated area is mostly dependent on the rainfall received in the District. In view of the unassured irrigation conditions in the district majority of crops grown are dry crops. Paddy crop is irrigation conditions in the district majority of crops grown are dry crops. Paddy crop is cultivated mainly during Kharif season with 80% of its area under tankfed conditions which is turn depend on the local rainfall. The major crops grown in the District are Paddy, Ragi, Bajra, Sugarcane, Pulses, Mestha, Cotton, Maize, Korre Chillies, Seasonal Tobbaco and Groundnut. The average yields obtained in the district are low due to the erratic rainfall generally received in the district.
Live Stock Resources::
The Live stock maintained by the inhabitants are non-descriptive type in majority and mostly less productive. Cross breeding program was taken up in the district. The sheep in the district are non-descriptive type. According to 2017 live stock census, the Live stock population is 7.45 lakhs of which 2.65 lakhs are cattle, 0.50 lakhs are buffaloes and 2.41 lakhs are sheep and 1.90 lakhs are Goats. The Poultry population of the District is 9.36 Lakhs. 83 veterinary institutions including hospitals are functioning and there are 319 RBKs are available out of which 258 are functioning with regular Animal Husbandry Assistants in the District as on 02.04.2022.
Forest::
The total Forest area in the district is 1,02,784 Hectares which constitute 38.7% of the total Geographical area of the district. Cashew, Timber, Bamboo, Beedi leaves and fuel plantations are being raised in large extents to increase the forest wealth and to provide gainful employment to the tribal’s.
Minerals::
The important Mineral that occur in the district Quartz is Granite (Column) in Parvathipuram and Makkuva Mandals. In Palakonda and Veeraghattam mandals, quartzite occurs in three prominent hillocks, which are as follows : between Tudi and Vangara in survey no.530 of Tudi covering an area of 43 DMG, GoAP about 6 ha.. between Bejji and Patapuram in survey no.211 (P) 10 of Attali, Patapuram, covering an area of 20 ha and north of Regulapadu. Among the three quartzite deposit , the one exposed between Tudi and Vangara is the most prominent one. The height of the hill is 262 m and extends over a length of 2 km. The quartzite exposed between Bejji and Patapuram has a strike length 1.5 km and the hill has a height of 282 m and the other quartzite deposit is situated to the north of Regulapadu village, and extends in NWSE directon for a length of about 2.5 km. The quarzites are interbedded with Khondalite. The interbedded nature of Khondalite and quartzite and their persistence in the strike direction are suggestive of the sedimentary nature of the rock types. The quartzites are massive and greyish white in colour.
In Palakonda mandal, the manganese ore is found in association with gametiferous quartzite near Tudi and the ore is of low grade.
In Bhamini mandal, lime kankar is reported 1.2 km northeast of Puttigam. It is in nodular form and hard.
The Vamsadhara river rises in the Eastern Ghats of Orissa State and enters Srikakulam District in Bhamini Mandal and finally falls into the Bay of Bengal near Kalingapatnam.