Pudukkottai – General Information
Pudukkottai District is a district of Tamil
Nadu state in southern India. The city of Pudukkottai is the district headquarters. It is also known
colloquially as Pudhugai. Pudukkottai district is one of the least
urbanized districts in Tamil Nadu.
Pudukkottai district is bounded on the northeast and
east by Thanjavur District, on the southeast by the Palk
Strait, on the southwest
by Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts, and on the west and northwest by Tiruchirapalli
District. As of 2011, the district
had a population of 1,618,345 with a sex-ratio of 1,015 females for every 1,000
males.
The district has an area of 4663 km² with a
coastline of 42 km. The district lies between 78° 25' and 79° 15' east
longitude and between 9° 50' and 10° 40' of the north latitude.
Pudukkottai is the administrative headquarters
of Pudukkottai District in the South
Indian state of Tamil
Nadu. Located on the banks of River Vellar, it has been ruled, at different times, by the Early Pandyas, Thondaimans, and the British. It is situated about 395 kilometers (245 mi) southwest
of the state capital Chennai and about 55 kilometers (34 mi) southwest of Tiruchirappalli. The people in the city are employed majorly in tertiary
sector activities. Tamil Nadu's first women Asiad Santhi Soundarajan is from Pudukkottai.
Being the district headquarters, Pudukkottai
accommodates the district administration offices, government educational
institutes, colleges and schools. Pudukkottai is a part of Pudukkottai constituency and elects its member of legislative assembly
every five years, and a part of the Tiruchirappalli constituency that elects its member of parliament.
The city is administered by a selection-grade
municipality established in 1912 as per the Municipal Corporation Act. The city
covers an area of 21.25 km2 and had a population of 143745 in 2011. Roadways
are the major mode of transport to the city, while it has also got rail
connectivity. The nearest airport is Tiruchirappalli International
Airport, located at a distance of
45 km from the city.
History
For brief details, please refer;
Geography
Pudukkottai is located at 10.38°N
78.82°E in the valley of
river Vellar. The city has a semi-arid climate with high temperatures
throughout the year, and relatively low rainfall. The city is located in
Pudukkottai district of the South Indian state, Tamil Nadu, at a distance of
390 km (240 mi) from Chennai. Pudukkottai has a plain terrain with a few rocky hills
intersped in the outskirts. Urugumalai, Athimalai, Chennaimalai are the hills
that surround the city.
The rivers that flow in Pudukkottai are Amaravathy,
Noyal, Bhavani, and Cauvery. There are no notable mineral resources available
in and around the city. Red loam and red sandy are the types of soil found in
the town. Paddy, groundnut and sugarcane are the major crops in the
region.
Pudukkottai experiences hot and dry weather throughout
the year. The temperature ranges from a maximum of 38.7 °C (101.7 °F)
to a minimum of 19.6 °C (67.3 °F). Like the rest of the state, April
to June is the hottest months and December to January are the coldest.
Pudukkottai receives an average of 919.4 mm (36.20 in) of rainfall
yearly. The South west monsoon, with an onset in June and lasting up to August,
brings scanty rainfall. Bulk of the rainfall is received during the North East
monsoon in the months of October, November and December. The municipality
covers an area of 21.25 km2 (21,250,000 m2).
Demographics
According to 2011 census, Pudukkottai district had a population of 1,618,345
with a sex-ratio of 1,015 females for every 1,000 males, much above the
national average of 929. A total of 179,688 were under the age of six,
constituting 91,696 males and 87,992 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes accounted for 17.6%
and .08% of the population respectively.
The average literacy of the district was 68.62%,
compared to the national average of 72.99%. The district had a total of
387,679 households. There were a total of 761,693 workers, comprising 192,462
cultivators, 234,344 main agricultural labourers, 10,170 in house hold
industries, 203,272 other workers, 121,445 marginal workers, 16,808 marginal
cultivators, 70,805 marginal agricultural labourers, 3,771 marginal workers in
household industries and 30,061 other marginal workers.
District Administration
Pudukkottai district is divided into two revenue
divisions and eleven taluks consisting of 757 revenue villages. District
Collector is the administrator of the district. He controls the Revenue
and Rural Development units of the district administration through his Personal
Assistants and Panchayat Development officers.
District Revenue Officer, is assisting the District
Collector in all his responsibilities. He is the authority for the land matters
of the district. Revenue Collection in the district is regulated by the
District Revenue Officer. The DRO grants various licenses, in the capacity of
Additional District Magistrate.
The Project Officer, District Rural Development Agency, is
implementing the various schemes of the Government for the rural welfare in the
district. The District Collector has authorized the Project Officer to extend
the basic needs such as drinking water, street light. Rural Housing Scheme to
the people.
District Supply officer, manages the Public Distribution
System in co-ordination with the Joint Registrar of Co-operatives, while
the Special Deputy Collector for Public Grievance Redressed Cell, attends to
the grievances submitted to the Collector and the grievances submitted to the
Chief Minister regarding the district. District Collector is having two
district level officers, one for the welfare of the Adi Dravidar and another
for the Backward Classes and Minorities.
The Public Health system in the district and the
maintenance of Government Hospitals are supervised by the District Collector
through the Joint Director of Public Health, Pudukkottai.
The Deputy Director of Public Health, Pudukkottai is
maintaining the rural health system and Primary Health Centres available at the
villages under the supervision of the District Collector. The District
Collector monitors the Agricultural and Animal Husbandry activities in this
district through the Joint Director of Agriculture and Assistant Director of
Animal Husbandry respectively at Pudukkottai.
District Collector also commands the works of the Chief
Educational Officer, District Educational Officer and District Elementary
Educational Officer who are managing the Educational Institutions upto Higher
Secondary level. District Collector executing works relating to irrigation
through the PWD authorities and road management through the Divisional
Engineer-Highways, Pudukkottai. District Collector monitors the welfare actions
of the Banking units in the district. In the capacity of the District Magistrate,
the Collector grants various licenses.
The Superintendent of Police is responsible for
maintaining Law and Order and exercises the prohibition in the district.
Economy
The SIPCOT Industrial Complex is located on Trichy - Rameswaram National Highways
(NH
210). This Industrial complex is well connected by Road,
Rail and Air. It was established in 1980. The allotment of land commenced in
1982 to accommodate Engineering and General Industries. The total extent of
complex area is 421.10 acres (1.7041 km2).
Pudukkottai district is predominantly an agricultural
oriented district. Generally a dry and hot climate prevails in this district and this district's
agricultural production depends mainly on the rainfall. The normal annual rainfall of Pudukkottai district is
922.8 mm. Out of which 52.2 mm is received in winter, 124.6 mm
is received in hot weather period, 351.9 mm is received during South West
Monsoon and 394.1 mm is received in North East Monsoon. Recently Tamil
Nadu Agricultural University started Diploma College in agriculture at Kudumiyanmalai
with strength of approximately 50 students including girls.
There are 5,385 irrigation tanks available in this district, of which 172
tanks are system tanks fed by Grand Anaikat Channel and the remaining are rain
fed tanks. There are about 55,137 wells in the district catering an area of
7791 Ha. Paddy is the major crop of this district. 90000 Hectares of area is
covered under paddy, out of which 135000 Hectares of area is fed with Cauvery Mettur Project through G.A. canal. The remaining
area is well and tank fed. The present productivity level is 4.985 Mt. of Paddy /Hectare.
Other than Paddy, Groundnut is the major crop in this district which is mainly
cultivated under rain fed condition. Groundnut is being cultivated in 36000
Hectares as rain fed crop and 8000 Hectares under irrigated
condition Millet, Pulse, Cotton, Sugarcane, Gingelly are the other
crops cultivated in this district.
Education and utility services
As of 2011, there were 33 schools in Pudukkottai: nine
primary schools, seven middle schools and 17 high and higher secondary schools.
There were three arts and science colleges, namely, H.H.The Rajah’s College for
men, Govt. Arts College for Women and Govt. College of Education. There were
five industrial training institute ITI in
the town, namely, DIET, Govt. Industrial Technical Institute, Advanced I.T.I.,
Central ITI, Little flower ITI and Sri Brahadambal ITI .
Electricity supply to Pudukkottai is regulated and
distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). A Chief Distribution engineer is stationed
at the regional headquarters. Water supply is provided by the Pudukkottai
Municipality from the Cauvery River through Jeyapuram head water works located
86 km (53 mi) away and Ammaiyappatti water works located 9.06 km
(5.63 mi).
In the period 2000–2001, a total of 7 million litres of
water was supplied everyday for households in the town. As per the
municipal data for 2011, about 30-35 metric tonnes of solid waste were
collected from Pudukkottai every day by door-to-door collection and
subsequently the source segregation and dumping was carried out by the sanitary
department of the Pudukkottai municipality. The coverage of solid waste
management in the town by the municipality had an efficiency of 100% as of
2001. There is no underground drainage system in the town and the sewerage
system for disposal of sullage is through septic tanks, open drains and public
conveniences.
The municipality maintained a total of 191 km
(119 mi) of storm water drains in 2011: 55 km (34 mi) pucca
drains and 136 km (85 mi) open drains. As of 2011, there were a
total of 31 hospitals, municipal dispensary, private dispensaries and private
general clinics and five clinical labs that take care of the health care needs
of the citizens. As of 2011, the municipality maintained a total of 4,039
street lamps: 631 sodium lamps, 3,407 tube lights and one high mast beam lamp. The
municipality operates one weekly market, two daily vegetable markets and one
daily fish market that cater to the needs of the town and the rural areas
around it.
