Figure 3.2: District Profile

● Infrastructure and smart agriculture strategies has the potential for improvement.

● Chilika lake offers excellent scope of eco tourism, along with fishing and

salt production in the coast.

● Scope for agro based industries, food production etc. to improve the industrial

conditions.

Inferences for environment

● Presence of various sources of water depicts good irrigation potential. The

inadequate irrigation facilities in the interiors needs to be improved.

● The varied ecological character of the district brings in the potential for

Wetland preservation and Natural resources conservation.

3.2 History and Regional Setting

3.2.1 Regional setting and District profile

Figure 3.2: District Profile

The Ganjam district lies in the southern part of Odisha, bounded by North latitude I9° 0' and 20° 17', and East longitude 84°09' and 85°11'. It is bordered on the north by the district of Nayagarh, on the south by Gajapati district of Odisha and Srikakulam district

of the state of Andhra Pradesh, on the west by Kandhamal district and on the east by Khurdha and Puri districts and the Bay of Bengal. In the year 1992, Paralakhemundi Sub-division was separated from Ganjam and became a new district. The Ganjam district with its 3 Sub-divisions i.e., Chatrapur, Berhampur and Bhanjanagar remained with an area of 8,206 sq.km. After bifurcation, the urban area of the district now spreads on 359.68.49 sq.km with 7,68,001 population. The rural area covers 7,846.32 sq.km with 27, 61,030 rural population as per 2011 census. The district stands at fifth position in respect of area and first in respect of population.

The district is broadly divided into two divisions, the Coastal plain area in the east and hill and table lands in the west. The Eastern Ghats run along the western side of the District. The climate of Ganjam is characterized by an equable temperature round the year, particularly in the coastal regions. The District‘s cold season from December to February is followed by hot season from March to May. The District experiences normal annual rainfall of 1444 mms.

The district is known for its rare earth minerals and diverse natural bio diversity domain. It has the major health care facility in MCKG medical college and hospital in Berhampur. It has the main educational centres – Parala Maharaj Engineering college and NIST in Berhampur. The major Tourist Attractions in the study area are; Taptapani, Chilika, Tara Tarini temple, Gopalpur, Tampara lake and Rushikulya River.

3.2.2 Connectivity The district is well connected with the major cities in the state along with the major cities of the country and also has the advantage of having a port within the district. The road, railway and air linkages are also well connected with all the major towns but lacks in proper communication for some villages and gram panchayats.

Road Communication in the district

Sl. Category Length in Kms

1 National Highway 396

2 State highway

3 Major district Roads 257 603

4 Other district Roads 876

5 Total 2132

National Highways

The National Highways are generally with a minimum width of 11.58 metres and are maintained by NHAI and NH Division, Berhampur. Details about the national highways passing through the district are given below.

National Highway number16: A portion of National highway number5 (CalcuttaMadras) after passing through Balugaon and Barkul in Puri district enters the border of Ganjam, renamed as National High way number16.It runs parallel to the Howrah Madras route of the East Coast railway, it passes through Chatrapur, the district head quarters and Berhampur, the chief town and some other important business and commercial centres like Khallikote, Rambha, Humma, Ganjam and Golanthara. The road passes close to the Chilka lake. The total length of the road in this district is about 85 kms. This is an all-weather and black-topped road which ends at Girisola unified check gate.

 National Highway number516: NH-516 connects Chatrapur to Arjipalli. It covers a distance of 5.35 Kms.  National Highway number57: NH-57 connects three towns of

Bhanjanagar,Aska and Berhampur.It covers a distance of 62 Kms.  National Highway number326: NH-326 connects Aska,Sheragada and

Taptapani.It covers a distance of 53 Kms.  National Highway number59: NH-59 connects Berhampur,Sorada and

Gajalbadi. It covers a distance of 191 Kms.

State Highways

State highway is maintained by the Works department (R and B wing) of the government of Odisha. These highways are mostly bridged and asphalted. The minimum width of a state highway is 9.76 metres. There are 12 State highways i.e. SH number7, 17, 21,22,26,29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37 passing through the district.

 State Highway number7: (Berhampur-Phulbani) starts from Berhampur and proceeds in north-western direction to Phulbani viz. Hinjilicut, Aska and

Bhanjanagar. This all-weather road, 105 Km in length, is black-topped throughout. This is an important road as it connects the district of Ganjam with

Western Odisha.  StateHighway number17: The state highway number17(Berhampur-

Digapahandi-Gobindpur-Luhagudi-Raipanga) starts from the state highway number7 near Berhampur passes through Digapahandi,Taptapani (hot-spring) and Mohana.The road leaves for Rayagada and Koraputdistrictafter

Raipanga.The length of this all weather and black-topped road in this district is about 51 Kms.  State Highway number21: SH-21 starts from Nayagarh and passes through

Jagannath Prasad and Bhanjanagar covers a length of 44 Kms.  State Highway number22:SH-22 starts from Berhampur and passes through

Tamana,Chikiti,Surangi and Mandarada covers a length of 48 Kms.  State Highway number26: SH-32 connects Chatrapur and Ganjam covers a distance 11 Kms which is old abandoned NH-5.  State highway number29: SH-29 starts from Chikit passes through

Digapahandi and Aska covers a length of 57.80 Kms.  State Highway number30:SH-30 starts from Khallikote passes through

Kabisurya Nagar, Aska,Balipadar and Bellaguntha covering a distance 54 Kms.  State Highway number31:SH-31 connects Huma and Kabisurya Nagar covers a distance 39.2 Kms.Previously this road had been declared as a Major district road number66.  State Highway number32:SH-32 connects Jagannathpur and Purushottampur covers a distance 24.7 Kms. Previously this road had been declared as Major district road number67.  State Highway number33:SH-33 Extends from Balipadar to Karasingi covers a length of 32.6 Kms.  State highway number36: SH-36 starts from Badasankha and passes through

Tarini,Hinjilicut,Sheragada and Sorada covers a length of 96 Kms.  State Highway number37:SH-37 starts from Bhanjanagar passes through

Tilisingi,Tarasingi and Dasapalla covers a distance 48.846. Previously thisroad had been declared as Major district road number18.

Major district Roads (MDR)

The minimum width of a major district road is 7.32 metres. They connect important trade centres with railways and state highways. These roads are built and maintained by the R and B department of government of Odisha. By the year 1988-89 the total

length of Major district Roads in the district was 721 kms.It has been reduced to 257 kms after many portions of MDR declared as state highway and national highway.

 Major district road 18: MDR-18 connects Tilisingi and Gallery covers a length of 12 Kms.  Major district road 18-A: MDR-18-A (Balipadar-Bellaguntha-Bhanjanagar) starts from the MDR-68 at Balipadar and touching the MDR-69 at Bellaguntha, proceeds further to join the state highway number7 at Bhanjanagar.The length of this all-weather and black topped road is 27 Kms.  Major district road 62: The MDR-62(Khallikote-Kabisurya Nagar-Aska –Sorada-

Pipalpank-Gajalbadi) 105 km in length starts from the National highway number16 near Khallikote and passing through important places like Kodala,

Kabisuryanagar, Aska,Sorada, Pipalpank, reaches Gajalbadi. From that place the road leaves towards Daringibadi of Kandhamal district as a classified village road.The road meets the MDR-71 at Khallikote and MDR-72 at Budhamba and

MDR-66 at Kabisuryanagar.  Major district road 65: The MDR-65(Brahmapur-Gopalpur) 12 km in length connects Brahmapur and Gopalpur Road.Through small distance,this is an important road as it connects the charming sea beach town of Gopalpur. The road has been widened and improved to 2 x Intermediate lane.  Major district road 71: The MDR-71(Khallikote-Rambha) 7 km in length connects Khallikote and Rambha. The road has been improved and widened to 2-lane road under State Plan (Road development Programme-RDP)  Major district road 72: The major district road number 72 (Budhamba-Buguda) starts from major district road number62 at Budhamba and connects the Major district road number68 at Buguda.The length of this road is 26 kms.This road passes through Polasara.  Major district road 95: The MDR-95 (Sidheswar-Goutami) 10.50 km in length connects Sidheswar to Goutami.  Major district road 96: The MDR-96 (Ballipadar-Khalingi)12.00 km in length connects Ballipadar and Khalingi.  Major district road 97: The MDR-97 (Polashpur-Dengaosta)11.720 km in length connects Polashpur and Dengaosta. Besides this another MDR connects Digapahandi to Ghodahada covering a distance 30.553.

Other district Roads

By 1985-86, the total length of other district roads (ODR) in the district was 304 kms. It increased to 878.50 kms by the end of 2014-15. The number of Roads also increased to 129. These are maintained by Works department (R andB wing) under government of Odisha.

Municipal Corporation and Notified Area Council Roads

The Municipal Corporation and notified Area Councils of the district maintained a total of 718kms of roads during the year 1988-89. Consequently this has been extended to 1182.918 kms.

R.D Roads and Village Roads

R.D roads and Village roads are maintained by Rural works department. Out of total bridge roads taken up by RW department of Ganjam district 2,278.93 kms have been completed and 1,822.53 kms is under progress. Out of the total other road 577.661 km is motorable and 26.98 KM is non motorable. Further the road coming under PMGSY 684.818 is motorable and 175.902 km is non motorable. The total length of village roads is 1,106.251 kms out of which 747.613 km is motorable and 358.638 is non motorable. Major villages or Panchayat headquarters are connected under PMGSY.

Forest Road

Total 61 forest roads in 3 divisions such as Berhampur division (9), Ghumusar South (28), Ghumusar North (24) are maintained by Forest department. The total length of such roads is 494.3 km.

Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayat Roads

PanchayatSamitis in the district maintained 492.8 km of roads during 1989-90. Now, it has been increased to 5684 km. The total length of roads under different GramPanchayat was 10933.55 km during 1989-90. Now it is reduced to 7429 kms by 2014-15. This is due many GP roads transferred to the PSs.

Rail Transport

The largest railway station is the Berhampur railway station. The East Coast railway passes through the district of Ganjam. It begins at Khallikotestation on the north and Sorla Road station in the south. The total railway route length is 79 kms.

Air Link

The nearest airport is the Biju Patnaik international airport in Bhubaneswar about 150 kms away from Ganjam. There is one small airstrip of 900 m length at Rangeilunda. There is a proposal to increase the length to 1800 meter to achieve better air connectivity to the district. Now it is mostly used by the Ministry of Defence for air transport purpose.

3.2.3 History and Culture The name of the district “Ganjam” is derived from the old port-township which is situated on the northern bank and near the mouth of river Rushikulya. It was also the headquarters of the district during early British administration up to 1815. The name of the town Ganjam or locally pronounced Ganja has probably been derived from the word ‘Gunj’ of Iranian (Persian) origin which means the granary. There is also another meaning of this word i.e. ‘the market’. As an important port of bygone days, Ganjam must be handling paddy, rice and other food grains of the region. It was also a great trade centre. The culture in mostly influenced by Shakti and Jagannath faith.

Pre-History

The evidence of early culture in Odisha has been reported by V. Ball since 1876. Further studies have brought to light the large amount of artefactual evidence of the different phases of prehistoric cultural developments in Odisha. In spite of the above fact it should be mentioned that the southern part of Odisha has remained com¬pletely unexplored. Dr. K. C. Tripathy launched a project to study the prehistory of south Odisha in 1967 and has collected a few prehistoric evidences which provided some information.

Ancient Period

The district of Ganjam which originally covered an area of 12,237-277 sq. km. formed a conspicuous part of the ancient Kalinga. In the Drona-Parva of the Mahabharata, there is mention of a Kalinga king named Sritayu, who took an active part in the Mahabharata war along with his sons and a large army consisting of sixty thousand chariots and ten thousand elephants. In the ‘Vana Parva’, there is a description of Kalinga where ascetics used to practice penance as well as the sacred river Baitarani flows throught it. We also found in the ‘Sabha Parva’ that how Sahadeva had defeated a king of Kalinga and compelled his submission.

Medieval Period

The Kushan rule ended towards the beginning of the 4th century A. D. when the Mahendra region was invaded by emperor Samudra¬gupta in the course of his southern expedition. The small states which covered this territory were called Kurala, Devarastra, Pistapura, Erandapalli, Kottura, Kustalapura, etc. They were sub¬jugated by him, as is described in his Allahabad Pillar Inscription.

Mughal period

In the beginning of the 17th century A. D„ the whole of Kalinga Dandapata was annexed to the territory of Golconda. But, the Qutb Shahi power in the south was terminated when Baquri Khan marched against their territory in 1630 through Odisha. He attacked Chhattadwar, a narrow strip of land between the Mughal Odisha and Chicacole Circar. Then, he proceeded to the south after being assisted by the zamindars of Khallikot, Athagad, Kodala and Aul. A battle was fought between his troops and the troops of Golconda near that fort. The latter were defeated and their commander was imprisoned. After this, Baquri left a garrison at Kheraparah near Mansurgada and returned. The Qutb Shahis attempted to regain their position but in vain. The news of this victory reached Shah Jahan on the 23rd of April, 1631. After this, the revenue collected from the territory of Golconda was received by a Subedar at Cuttack appointed by the Mughal emperor.

In 1641, a Faujdar named Shir Muhammed Khan was appointed in Srikakulam for the first time by Abdulla Qutab Shah, the ruler of Golconda. He constructed some fine mosques at Srikakulam and Ichhapur. The old Kalinga Dandapata was then divided into two divisions, namely Chicacole (Srikakulam) and Ichhapur, the Mahendra Mountain being at the center.

In 1687, Aurangzeb expanded his empire in the south when the Qutab Shahi power declined soon after the death of Abdul Hussain. But, Aurangzeb's death in 1707 weakened the Mughal power in the center. So,the rising Marathas advanced through Central India towards Odisha via Ganjam without any effective opposition.

British Period