Figure 5.1: Administration

5 Settlement Hierarchy & Demography

5.1 Introduction

Ganjam District was established on April 1, 1936. The district was named after Ganjam, a historic township and European fort on the northern bank of the river Rushikulya, which served as the area's headquarters. The Ganjam area was a part of ancient Kalinga which was occupied by Ashok in 261 B.C. The period of 1757 was ruled by the French Commander Bussy. The English overthrew the French ruler in 1759, and the District was acquired by them. The District Collector's office was established in 1794. With effect from 1.4.1936, the district was detached from the Madras Presidency and became part of the newly formed State of Odisha province.

Spatially, Ganjam District is located on the south eastern coast of Odisha with Bay of Bengal forming the eastern boundary of the district. The geographical location of the district accrues special advantage having accessibility within the state and nation. Ganjam District is on 19.4-to-20.17-degree North Latitude and 84.7-to-85.12-degree East Longitude. It covers an area of 8070.60 sq km.

5.1.1 Settlement Pattern

Ganjam is one of Odisha's 30 administrative districts, having its administrative headquarters in Chatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. However, the principal city is Brahmapur. The Collector and District Magistrate are the administrative heads of Ganjam District, as they are in all other districts across the country.The district consists of 3212 Villages, 473 Gram Panchayats, 22 Figure 5.1: Administration Blocks and 23 Tehsils, 2 Police Districts and 35 Police Stations. For better

administration, there is a Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) functioning from Brahmapur.

The 23 Tahasils and 22 Blocks, in Ganjam district under three sub-divisionsare listed in the following table.

Table 7: Administrative Division of Ganjam District

5.1.2 Urban settlement

According to the 2011 census, urban areas account for 21.76 percent (or 7.68 lakh) of the district's total population. The population of the city is divided into 39 towns: 1 municipality, 17 Notified Area Councils, and 21 Census Towns. Only one of these towns has a population of more than one lakh, while the majority of the towns have populations of less than 20,000. It is broadly observed that out of 39 towns, only 4