1 LOCATION-
The District Latur lies betwen 17 52 and 18 50 North latitudes and 76 12 and 77 18 East longitudes. It has an average elevation of 631 metres (2070 ft) above mean sea level. It is surrounded by Beed and Parbhani District in the north, Nanded District in the north east, Karnataka State in the South - East and Osmanabad District in the North West and West.
Latur District has an area of 7157sq.km. ( 2763 sq.mt. ) and population of 2455543 as per 2011 Census. Latur city is the headquarter of the District. Latur city is connected to Kurduwadi by narrow guage railway and has a population 299828 as per the 2001 census. It accounts for 2.39 percent of the area of the state and 2.15 per cent of the population.
Latur is the 16th largest city in the state of Maharashtra.
RELIEF :
Relief of the land influences economic activities particularly through the elevation ruggedness and slope. Relief also influences tourism activities by modifying the climate and scenic attraction. It plays important role in tourism. The relief varies markedly from place to place and the broad land
rerelief changes are seen in the West - East direction with local variations. These variations in land are due to the geological complexity of the region and varied geomorphological evolutions. Therefore, the relief of the District can be best appreciated against the background of its geology. It may be noted in general that over a major portion of the District. the Balaghat plateau and the North-Eastern region influence the landscape.
Relief Divisions :
With the variations of relief in North — West direction the District can be divided into two relief divisions viz.
1. The Balaghat Plateau
2. The North - Eastern Region.
1 The Balaghat Plateau :
A major part of the district lies on the Balaghat plateau, which is narrow and high in the North - West but broader and high in the South - East. The interfluves between the streams are rocky with poor stony soils while the valley have richer soils. The Balaghat plateau is drained by Manjra and its tributaries. The Tawarja, Tema and Ghami are the tributories of Manjra River. The barren rocky plateau surface, which is not dissected by many streams has enabled the construction of god roads in the District. The resulting greater accessibility has enabled to be more widespread.
2 The North - Eastern Region :
This region comprisesthe northern parts of Ahmadpur and Udgir tahils in the Manar, Tiru and Lendi drainage areas. This region slopes towards the East. The Terna is rugged and the soils are generally shallow with a depth of less than 9 inches. The Manar, the Tiru and the Lendi drain the North Eastern Region. It is observed from the map that, the eastern and some of the area towards south of Latur taluka, Central and south part of Shirur Anantpal Taluka, central and eastern part of Nilanga Taluka, Western part of Devni Taluka, some Western parts of Udgir & Chakur taluka, besides entire area of Ahmedpur & Jalkot comprises in the entire area of 500 to 600 mtr hight. The hight of Manyar river area in the north and central part of Ahmadpur is found less than 500 mtr.
DRAINAGE:
The drainage pattern of Latur District is not well developed and geared to the base level of the Manjra which has mastered all the river courses of the District. Except the southem and western parts of the District, which are drained by the tributaries of the Bhima system, the rest of the District is drained by the Manjara and its tributaries belonging to the Godavari drainage system. The Manjara itself alongwith its tributaries, the Terna, the Tawarja and the Gharni drains the Balaghat Plateau portion, while its three other tributaries, the Manar, the Tiru and the Lendi drain the area to the north of the plateau.
Manjara :
The Manjara river rises above Gaurwadi near the northern edge of the Balaghat Plateau in Beed District and flows in South easterly direction towards’Osmanabad District. It forms the District boundary for the greater part of its easterly course, barring a few deviations of the boundary some to the north and some to the south of the river. Wher the Rena riverjoins the Manjara, the later turns south continuing the direction of this tributary and after Halki flows in a south - easterly course as far as Chinchaundi within the District, after which it forms the State boundary as far as Aurad Shahjani. Here it turns, easterwards into the Karnataka State.
Tawarja :
- The chief right bank tributaries of Manjara are the Tawarja and the Terna. The Tawarja river, about 50 kilometres long, rises near Murud railway station and has a general easterly course till itjoins the Manjara near Seoni village.
Terna :
The Tema river, over 150 kilometres in length from the source to its confluence with the Manjara, has the longest course of all the rivers lying entirely within the District. The Tema project consists of an earthern dam on the riverTema about the village of Thail, South of Dhoki, with only one canal on the right bank on account of the low relief of the adjoining divides, the dam has to be very long and of low height giving rise to a storage covering a wide area but of shallow depth.
Gharni :
Apart from the Rena, which has only a small part of its lower most course within the District, the Ghami is the only river of some size flowing as a left blank tributary of the Manjara draining the Balaghat plateau. The Ghami rivewr about 40 kilometres long, rises three kilometres north of Wadval - Rajura and flows southwards passing by Wadval - Rajura, Ghami, Nalegaon all situated on the western bankto join the Manjara river near Jawalga.
The Ghami project consists of an earthen dam 2.135 metres long of a maximum height of 15 metres, across the Gharni river nearjogial village with both left and right bank csanals each of 24 kilometres in length irrigating about 2800 hectares.
Manar:
The Manar, the northern most rivewr of the District, rising on the North - Eastern slopes of the Balaghat plateau near Dharmapuri in Beed District flows in north - easterly courses of along 40 kilometres within this District. it continues in this direction into Nanded District as far as Kandhar, afterwhich it flows in an easterly or South - Easterly direction to join the Manjara.
Tiru :
The Tiru river on the eastern edge of the plateau near Chakurand has
a course of about 56 kilometres within the District flowing generally eastwards to join the Lendi at Kharaka in Nanded District.
Lendi :
The Lendi river rises similarly on the edge of the plateau near Udgir further east and has only a small course within the District. It isjoined by the Tiru at Kharka in Nanded District and flows past Deglur also in Nanded District before itjoins the Manjara river.
Devni :
Among the smaller left bank tributaries of the Manjara may be mentioned the Devni with a course of about 20 kilometres with in the District on the south bank of this river is situated the Devni village, famous for its breed of cattle bearing its name.
CLIMATE
Except during the monsoon season the climate of the District is dry. The year may be divided into four season. The cold season is from Decembewr to about the middle of February and is followed by the hot season which lasts upto the end of May. The South - West monsoon season is from June to September and October and November constitute the post monson or retreating mansoon season.
TEMPERATURE :
The cold season commences towards the end of November when temperatures begin to fall rapidly. December is the coldest month of the year and mean minimum temperature is about 21 .6 c (2001) occassionally the minimum temperature may fall to about 11.9 c (2001 ). The period from about the middle of February to the onset of the South - West monson is one of cominuous rise in the temperature may is generally hottest month of the year with the mean daily maximum temperature at about 39.9 c (2001). Some times the maximum temperature may rise to about 45 o C. Thunderstorms which occur in summer bring welcome relief from the intense
heat but only temporarily. Latur District - temperature in C (2001)
Max Min Mean
Cold 31.30 11.90 21.60
Hot 38.90 21.80 30.35
Rainy 31.10 17.10 24.10
Source : Socio-economic Statistical Abstract 2002.
Above table shows that, the mean maximum temperature is 31.30 C in cold, 38.90 c in hot and 31.10 c in rainy season. The mean minimum temperature is 11.90 c in cold, 21.80 c in hot and 17.10 c in rainy season.The average temperature is 21.60 c in cold, 30.35 0c in hot and 24.10 c in rainy season. With the onset of the South West mansoon there is an appreciable fall in temperature with the withdrawal of the mansoon there is a slight increase in days temperature while night temperatures progressively decrease.
RAINFALL:
The average annual rainfall in the District is about 748.68 mm. which is unevenly distributed. About 84 per cent of the annual rainfall in the District is received during the South West Mansoon season, the rainiest month being July. The variation in the annual rainfall from year to year is large in the District.
Table No. 2.2 : Latur District - Rainfall (2001)
Taluka Average Rainfall in mm
Latur 714.00
Ahmedpur 846.70
Udgir 902.80
Nilanga 711.70
Ausa 813.90
Renapur 713.70
Chakur 780.80
Jalkot 902.80
Shirur (A) 711.70
Devni 908.90
Source : Socio-economic Statistical Abstract 2002.
From the above table we come to know that there is a great variation in amouht of rainfall. It varies from tahsil to tahsil in Latur District. It is observed from the map that in Jalkot, Udgir & Devni taluka, the proportion of rainfall is above 950 mm, however in Ahmedpur, Chakur & Ausa taluka, the proportion of rain fall is in between 750 to 850 mm. However in the remaining Latur, Renapur, Nilanga and Shirur Anantpal Talukas, the proportion of rainfall is found below 750 mm.
HUMIDITY :
During the South West Mansoon season the air is humid and the skies are generally heavily clouded to overcast. During the rest of the year, the air is generally dry and skies are clear or lightly clouded. Winds are light but increase in force during the latter half of summer and in the mansoon season. Thunderstorms occur in the summer and mansoon seasons while
dust storms occurs in summer.
FOREST AREA:
The total forest area in District is distributed in 84 villages accounting for 8.88 percent of the villages in the District. The total area under forests in the District is about 3462 hectares. Among the 10 tahsils of the Districts in four tahsil viz. Ahmadpur, Chakur, Shirur (A) and Ausa, there is no forest area. Remainig 6 tahsils have very small forest area. The area under forest is just 0.48 percent of the total area of the District.
Latur District - Forest Area (2000)
Tahsil Atea in Hect Forest area Percentage
Latur
Renapur
Ahmedpur
Jalkot
Chakur
Shirur (A)
Ausa
Nilanga
Devni
Udgir Source : Socio-economic Statistical Abstract 2002.
Table No. 2.3 shows the tahsil wise distribution of forest area in Latur District. It shows that Renapurtahsil with 1624 hector forest area tops the list,
while Laturtahsil with 88 hector forest area stands of the bottom. Map shows
that Renapur tahsil has highest forest area (above 400 hect.) Nilanga & Deoni tahsil have medium forest area (200 to 400 Hect.) and Latur, Udgir, Jalkot tahsils have very low forest area (below 200 Hect.).
Trees are scattered (spread) every wher in the District. The common forest produce in the District are Khair, Hiwar, Hankal, Aroni, Apta, Babhul, Bor, Neem, Mango, Chinch, Jambul, Bel, Ghevda, Gaipath, Kektar, Shevri, Subhabhul, Ombar, Shevga etc. sale of tendu leaves and grass in plantation area are the items of income to forest department.
