LOCATION:
The District of Latur lies betwen 17 52 and 18 50 North latitudes and 76 12 and 77 18 East longitudes. 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 7372 (7371-9) sq km and population of 2078237 as per 2001 Census. Latur is the headquarter of the District to which it gives its name. 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
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 relief 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.
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 has richer soils. The Balaghat plateau is drained by Manjra and its tributaries. The Tawarja, Tema and Ghari are the tributaries of the Manjra River. The barren rocky plateau surface, which is not dissected by many streams has enabled the construction of good roads in the District. The resulting greater accessibility has enabled it to be more widespread.
The North-Eastern Region:
This region comprises the 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 areas south of Latur Taluka, the Central and south part of Shirur Anantpal Taluka, the central and eastern parts of Nilanga Taluka, the Western part of Devni Taluka, some Western parts of Udgir & Chakur taluka, besides the entire area of Ahmedpur & Jalkot, comprises in the entire area of 500 to 600mtr. height. The height of the Manyar river area in the north and central parts of Ahmedpur is less than 500 meters.
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 southern 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 along with its tributaries, the Terna, the Tawarja and the Ghami 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 a Southeasterly 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 river joins 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, eastwards 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 generally easterly course till it joins the Manjara near Seoni village
Terna:
The Terna 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 earthen dam on the river Tema 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 lowermost 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 River 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 bank to join the Manjara river near Jawalga
The Gharni project consists of an earthen dam 2 135 metres long with a maximum height of 15 metres, across the Gharni river near Jogial village with both left and right bank canals each of 24 kilometres in length irrigating about 2800 hectares
Manar
The Manar the northernmost river of the District, rising on the North -Eastern slopes of the Balaghat plateau near Dharmapuri in Beed District flows in north-easterly courses of 40 kilometres within this District. It continues in this direction into Nanded District as far as Kandahar, after which 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 is joined by the Tiru at Kharka in Nanded District and flows past Deglur in Nanded District before joining 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 within the District on the south bank of this river is situated the Devni village, famous for its breed of cattle bearing its name
