I SAILENT FEATURES OF KUMURAM BHEEM DISTRICT

1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

Kumuram Bheem District has been carved out in accordance to the ReOrganization of the District Act 2016 of the Bifurcation of Telangana State. Historically the district had a glorious past Kumuram Bheem was an important part in the scheme of things of its erstwhile rulers. Fossils of the pre-historic period excavated in and around Asifabad attach archeological importance to this place.

Kumurambheem Asifabad District comprises 15 Mandals and has 2 Revenue divisions- Asifabad and Kagaznagar, a predominantly tribal town. The railway line that connects south and the north of India passes through Kumuram Bheem District. Sirpur Kagaznagar is a major railway station in the district. It has One (1) RTC depot at Asifabad.

2. BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY:

District Head Quarter lies between 19° 20”15.604”N latitudes and 79°23’37.411”E longitude. It is 350 Km away from capital city Hyderabad.

The district is bounded on North by Maharastra State, on south Mancherial, on east by Pranahitha river, on south west Nirmal and North West Adilabad District. The District has a population of 515812 which accounts for 1.47% of the total population of the State. The area with an extent of 4878 Sq.kms, which accounts for 4.35% of the total area of the State. It is however, the 31th place of district in the Telangana region of the State, There are altogether 434 villages of which 403 are inhabited and 31 uninhabited villages and 01 Town.

3. GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES:

In the geological history of the peninsular India, the district of Kumuram Bheem has special significance in some of the areas. The Indian stratigraphy occurs in this district in addition to various types of geological formations. Important deposits of coal, limestone, clays are also found, besides several other minerals in the district. It is well endowed with rich reserves of coal, lime stone and clays.

4. CLIMATE:

Kumurambheem Asifabad District in general, experiences tropical climate and is geographically located in a semi-arid area and has predominantly hot and dry climate. Summer starts in March and peak in May with average high temperatures in the 42-44 degree Celsius range. The south west monsoon enters in the district in June and lasts until September. A dry, mild winter starts in late November and lasts until early February with little humidity and average temperature in the 22-24 degree Celsius range. There is also a likelihood of hailstorms in some areas in the month of April and May.

Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS) installed the twenty (20) automatic weather stations (AWS's) to ascertain the rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction and pressure day to day in the district. The cold weather comes towards the end of November when the temperature begins to fall rapidly. December is generally the coldest month, with the mean daily maximum temperature at about 30’ C and the mean daily minimum at about 13’ C. In district the lowest temperature recorded in Ginnedari village of Tiryani mandal in winter season.

The May Month is the hottest month with the mean daily maximum temperature about 40.70 C and a mean daily minimum of about 27.80 C. The days are intensely very hot and on individual days the temperature may go up to about 440 C. With the advance of south-west monsoon by about middle of June there is an appreciable drop in temperatures. By about 1st week of October’ when the monsoon withdraws, the due temperatures begins to increase slightly but the night temperatures steadily decrease. After November both, day and night temperatures decrease rapidly.

6. RAINFALL

The south west monsoon commenced in June and ends in September. The rainfall in the district increases from the south-west towards the north east. The rainfall mostly received during south west monsoon season (June to Sep). The average rainfall received during south west monsoon (June to Sep) for the year 2019-20 is 1238.8 mm as against the Normal rainfall of 1020.5 mm with a Deviation of rainfall of 21%.

7. COAL:

The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is a Government coal mining company jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and Government of India on a 51:49 equity basis. The Singareni coal reserves stretch across 350 Km of the Pranahita – Godavari Valley of Telangana with a proven geological reserves aggregating to whopping 8791 million tonnes. SCCL is currently operating 20 opencast and 25 underground mines in 4 districts of Telangana with manpower around 43,895.

8. RIVERS:

The Wardha River, is a major river in Vidarbha, State of Maharastra, which originates in the Satpura Range and enters this District nearby Makidi Village of Sirpur(T) Mandal and its flows into the Wainganga River.

The Wainganga (Penganga) is a river in India originating in the Mahadeo Hills in Mundara near the village Gopalganj in Seoni, state of Madhya Pradesh. It is a key tributary of the Godavari. The river flows south in a winding course through the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, roughly 579 km (360 mi).

9. ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UP

The district is administrated through the (2) Revenue Divisions i.e., Asifabad and Kagaznagar each having (08) and (07) Mandals respectively. There are (434) Revenue villages consisting of (335) Grama panchayats in Kumuram Bheem. Total No. of Households as per 2011 census is (120420). Total Population of the District is (515812) out of which Male Population is (258197) and female Population is (257615).The district has 01 urban area i.e., Kagaznagar Municipality in the district.

10. POPULATION

The Population of the district 5.15 Laths of which the rural population accounts for 4.28 lakhs or 83.00% of the total, while the urban population accounts for 0.87 lakhs forming 17% of the total population. The increase in population during decennial ending 2011 over 2001 is 8.76% , The female population is more namely 995 females for every 1,000 males.

The density of population of the district is 106 persons per sq.km. as against the State average of 312 persons per Sq.km. The literate persons in Kumuram Bheem district are 2, 55,002 (Literacy percentage 49.44). The increase in literacy rate in population during decennial ending 2011 over 2001 is 10.86%.

11. AGRICULTURE

The district agriculture sector depends upon the South West Monsoon season. The rainfall received mostly during south west monsoon season (June to September). The Predominately Crops are Cotton, Red gram, Jowar, Soybean and Paddy. Cotton, paddy, redgram, jowar, soyabean & horticulture crops are predominantly grown in this region. Cotton is grown over 50% of cultivated area.

12. PLACES AND TOURIST IMPORTANCE

Kumuram Bheem District is having the historical tourist places like

(I) Chinthalamadara Waterfall (Tiryani):

This is a seasonal waterfall which was located Chinthalamadara village of Tiryani Mandal. So, visitors should plan according to the rainfall. More rainfall results in more water in the stream and so the beauty of this waterfall will be. It's around 27 km from District head quarters, but the roads that lead to this location are so narrow.

The location is filled with slippery stones and one has to be so careful while stepping ahead towards the water. The water from the stream falls from a good height onto the ground, forming a plunge pool. It's been said by the sources that this plunge pool is so deep and is rocky. Swimming here is taking a risk. Yet, you can see visitors swimming in the shallow areas of that plunge pool.

(II) Mitta Waterfalls (Lingapur):

In terms of pristine natural beauty, the Saptagundala waterfalls in Pittalaguda village of Lingalapur mandal surpasses the other waterfalls of Telangana—Kuntala and Pochera waterfalls. In fact, it comprises not just one but seven waterfalls, hence the name Saptagundala. The waterfall, which is 100 km away from Asifabad, is nestled between tall hills on one side and dense forests on

One has to trek rough and uneven terrain for a distance of three kilometers to reach the spot. Of the seven, the most important waterfalls is Pedda Jalapatam. It appears as though the skies have opened up leading to majestic descent of a huge stream of milk.

A wave of relaxation sweeps through the people’s minds once they watch the waterfall’s magic. The rhythmic sound of the waterfalls is sonorous to the ears of the tourists, who are overwhelmed with its beauty, take shower under it.

The waterfall descends gracefully from a height on the stone slabs below. The water gets emptied into a valley which is at least 100 meters below. The natural stone slabs remind us of ancient step wells of past rulers. A stream runs swiftly from the landing point of the water from a great height.

Some of the seven waterfalls have been named after Lord Rama, Goddess Sita and Bheema. Idol of Bheema was located at the place. Annually, tribals celebrate two fairs in reverence to their deity Bheema. They believe that Bheema went around the place and hence believe that the stone slabs carry foot impressions of the deity.

(III) Kerameri Ghats (Kerameri):

The Utnoor-Asifabad route, 6 km long Kerameri ghat road near Kerameri mandal of which the Kerameri ghats are a part, is one of the oldest in the district passing through its tribal heartland. The Kerameri hills, as seen from the popular Kerameri ghat road, Offer a breath taking view as the landscape is changing colours layer by layer. The view starts with the dark green of the agriculture fields and turns into bright yellow of the drying leaves as the vision progress upwards. The mountain range with a dominant blue at the top completes the picture casting a spell on the beholder. Descending the ghat road brings one closer to the clusters of trees which are changing colours.

Monsoon brings back greenery as vegetation thickens, especially on the margins of this single-lane road. The vegetation restricts the view considerably at almost all the bends on the 6-km-long road that starts at Busimetta camp and ends near Keslaguda in Kerameri mandal. The top three bends can be dangerous on account of the scenic spread in the valley. This part is besotted with three ‘S’ bends followed by two ‘U’ turns, two ‘S’ bends and two more ‘U’ curves.

(IV) Gangapur Temple(Rebbena):

The ancient Sri Balaji Venkateshwara Swamy Devasthanam of Gangapur village in Rebbana mandal is being spruced up for the three-day-long annual Jathara in every year. The Balaji temple is one of the major pilgrim centres of this district and it is believed to have been built on the picturesque shores of a rivulet and on outskirts of Gangapur in the 13th century. Situated five kilo meters away from the mandal centre, devotees visit the temple for worshiping the deity on full moon day of the sacred month of Magha in the Hindu calendar year.

According to legend, Mummadi Pothaji, a staunch devotee of Lord Venkateswara Swamy used to visit Tirumala every year and offer prayers. One year, Pothaji could not visit Tirumala owing to an ailment and old age was depressed over his inability to take up the pilgrimage. Lord Balaji then appeared in Pothaji’s dream and told him that he (Lord) could be spotted inside a hillock if he drills it. Accordingly, Pothaji managed to make a hole in the rocky hillock using a crowbar and after a while found an idol of the Lord. He used to worship the idol and perform special prayers on every full moon day of Magha.

Later, rulers of the Kakatiya dynasty visited the temple and installed an idol of goddess Padmavati and built a holy pond in front of the temple in the 16th century. However, the pond vanished over the centuries. But, the crowbar can still be noticed atop the shrine.

(V) Jodeghat Museum (Kerameri) :

The Jal, Jangal and Jameen arch has been constructed reflecting the aspirations of the Adivasis in Kumuram Bheem district. It has come up at Jodeghat where Adivasi legendary Kumuram Bheem died in 1940 fighting with Nizam forces for the sovereignty of 12 villages and land, forest and water in Kerameri Mandal.

Telangana government has put the expenditure of Rs 25 crores to build the Jode Ghat museum. It has become the spot of the tourists. The Department of Tourism has already made a plan to develop the places on all the aspects.

(VI) Sri. Kumuram Bheem Project (ADA):

The Sri Komaram Bheem Project is a Medium Reservoir has been built across Peddavagu River, a tributary of the Pranahita River. It is located at ADA village, Asifabad Mandal, Kumuram Bheem District. This Project proposed to supply water to Wankidi, Kagaznagar, and Sirpur Mandals more than 45,000 in acres. But currently, the project is providing irrigation water to about 20,000 acres under its left canal 35 km. Right canal will provide irrigation water to about another 25000 acres.

13. INDUSTRIES

The Sirpur Paper Mills: The Sirpur Paper Mills Limited (SPM) is an integrated pulp and paper mill situated at Kagaznagar mandal, Kumuram Bheem Dist, which was established in the erstwhile Hyderabad State in 1938 by the Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan, with actual production beginning in 1942. This makes it one of the oldest paper mills in the country. In the 1950s,

At the time of the closure, the mill employed about 3000 workers. The management team cited increasing raw material costs and unavailability of reliable power as the major reasons that impacted the profitability of the plant. Production at the mill had been shut down from September 2014 to August 2018. Efforts were started by the Government of Telangana to attract new investors to restart production at the mill and boost the local economy, which was heavily dependent on it. The Harsh Pati Singhania-promoted JK Paper Ltd has taken over the ailing sick paper mill in August 2018.