Prakasam district

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Prakasam district
ప్రకాశం జిల్లా
District of Andhra Pradesh
Location of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh
Location of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh
Country India
State Andhra Pradesh
Administrative division Prakasam district
Headquarters Ongole
Tehsils 56[1]
Government
 • Lok Sabha constituencies Bapatla (SC) (Lok Sabha constituency), Ongole (Lok Sabha constituency)
 • Assembly seats 12
Area
 • Total 17,626 km2 (6,805 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Total 3,397,448[2]
 • Urban 19.52%
Demographics
 • Literacy 63.53%
 • Sex ratio 981
Vehicle registration AP27
Major highways NH-5
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Website [Prakasam district website Official website]
Ongole railway station is on Howrah-Chennai main line

Prakasam district is an administrative district in Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the Southeastern part of the state and is bounded by Guntur district in the north, Mahabubnagar district in the northwest, Kurnool district in the west, Nellore district in the south, YSR Kadapa district in the southwest and Bay of Bengal to the east. The headquarters of the district are located at Ongole.[3][4] It occupies an area of 17,626 km2 (6,805 sq mi) and had a population of 3,392,764 (2011 Census).[5] The district headquarters are located at Ongole, the largest city in the district.

Etymology

The district was named after the patriot Tanguturi Prakasam, also known as Andhra Kesari (Lion of Andhra), who was born in the village of Vinodarayunipalem. It was accordingly renamed as Prakasam District in the year 1972.[6]

History

Prakasam district was originally constituted on 2 February 1970, carved out of Guntur, Nellore and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh.[7] It was carved out of four taluks of Guntur District, i.e. Addanki, Chirala, Darsi and Ongole, three taluks of Nellore district, i.e. Kandukur, Kanigiri, and Podili and three taluks of Kurnool district i.e. Markapur, Cumbum and Giddaluru. It is one of the nine districts in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh.

Prakasam District is a part of the Red Corridor.[8]

Geography

Prakasam district occupies an area of 17,626 square kilometres (6,805 sq mi),[9] comparatively equivalent to Indonesia's Seram Island.[10]

The only Municipal Corporation in Prakasam is Ongole. Some of the main towns in Prakasam district are Singarayakonda, Addanki, Inkollu, Markapur, Yerragondapalem, Podili, Darsi, Donakonda, Chirala, Kandukur, Pamuru, Parchur, Giddaluru, Dornala, Cumbum, Kanigiri, Chimakurthy and Martur. Markapur is India's main slate manufacturing town where the historic temple of Lord Chennakesava is situated. Chimakurthi is world-renowned for its granite reserves. Dornala is also known as Diguva Srisailam, since it is very near the historic pilgrimage center of Srisailam.

Cumbum lake also known as Gundalakamma lake built on Gundalakamma rivulet upon Nallamalai hills is one of the oldest man made lakes of Asia. The anicut was built by the Gajapati kings of Orissa in 15th. Century AD when the area was under their control. It was subsequently renovated by the Vijayanagar princess Varadharaj Amma. The lake in its present form is about 7 km long and on average, about 3.5 km wide As per the Imperial gazette of India at the turn of the 20th century the height of the dam was 57 feet (17 m) and the drainage area was 430 square miles (1,100 km2). The direct irrigation land was about 10,300 acres (42 km2) in all.[3] Cumbum lake is accessible both by the rail Guntur-Nandyal railway line and by road 108 km from Ongole.

Demographics

At the 2011 census Prakasam District had a population of 3,392,764,[11] roughly equal to the nation of Panama[12] or the US state of Connecticut.[13] It was the 98th most populous district in India (out of a total of 640).[11] The district had a population density of 192 inhabitants per square kilometre (500/sq mi).[11] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 10.9%.[11] Prakasam had a sex ratio of 981 females for every 1000 males,[11] and a literacy rate of 63.53%.[11]

Telugu is the language spoken here. Cumbum mandal showed a very good growth indicators in the 2011 census. According to census of India, Cumbum mandal has been recognized as the second highest in literacy in Praksam district literacy having 73.55% literates after Ongole Mandal. Also Cumbum mandal is the third highest in sex ratio in Prakasam district having 1031 female population per 1000 males.

Household indicators

In 2007–2008 the International Institute for Population Sciences interviewed 977 households in 42 villages across the district.[14] They found that 91.1% had access to electricity, 91.3% had drinking water, 40% toilet facilities, and 54.6% lived in a pucca (permanent) home.[14] 31.7% of girls wed before the legal age of 18[15] and 73.9% of interviewees carried a BPL card.[14]

Economy

Industries

The district has many service industries like Industrial testing, Electrical Appliance repair, Clinical Laboratory, Servicing of Computers Hardware, Tourism, Hospitality industry etc. Major exports from the district include Sea food, processed tobacco, granite blocks, granite monuments and yarn.[16]

There are many industries of food and agro, mineral, chemical, leather, plastic and rubber, engineering, cotton and textiles, electronic products. All these industries deals with Prawn/Fish Processing and Canning, Dairy Products, Granite industries, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Tanning, Fishing Nets, Surgical Cotton etc. Forest based industries produce Ayurvedic Medicines, Essential Oil (Palm Rose Oil), Wooden Furniture, Wooden Toys, Bamboo Products etc.[17]

Minerals

Prakasam is one of the leading district in granite mining in the State with discovery of “Galaxy Granite” in the Chimakurthy area of the district. Good deposits of coloured granites are located occur around Uppumangaluru and Kodidena.[17]

The minerals found in the district are Baryte, iron ore, quartz, and silica sand. In 2010-11, 4,300 tonnes of Baryte, 22,722 tonnes of quartz, 2,24,075 tonnes of silica sand and 400 tonnes of iron ore were produced.[17]

Marine Resources

Brackish water prawn culture in the coastal mandals of Chirala, Ongole, Singarayakonda, Gudlur etc. provides Sea food processing. Salt production in the extent of 2,000 acres (810 ha) of Govt. and private lands which has a scope for manufacturing of iodized salt.

Tourism

The district is having coastal line of nearly 100 km (62 mi). The state tourism department (APTDC) has proposed resorts and development of beaches at the places like Ramayapatnam, Pakala, Kothapatnam, and Odarevu.[6]

Tourism

Bhairava Kona Caves

Bhairava Kona
Bhairava Kona

The Bhairava Kona cave temples are 7th century single stone rock-cut cave temples (similar to Mahabalipuram) for Lord Shiva.[18][19][20]

Transport

Prakasam district road map

Roadways

The district is well connected by National highways, state highways and district roads as well. The NH 5 or NH 16 passes through Ongole which is the major highway connecting Howrah - Chennai, a part of Asian Highway Network. APSRTC, a state government public bus transport operates services connecting major cities and towns like Kandukur, Chirala, Markapur, Ongole and also to remote villages in the district.

Railways

Railways in the district comes under South Central Railway zone and has good connectivity on Howrah-Chennai main line. Ongole is one of the main stations of this district and most of the stations are under Vijayawada Railway Division.[21]

Airports

Minister of State for Civil Aviation, has granted site clearance for setting up of a Greenfield Airport at Ongole.[22]

Administrative divisions

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See also: List of mandals in Andhra Pradesh and List of revenue divisions in Andhra Pradesh
Revenue divisions map of Prakasam district
Prakasam district mandals outline map

The district is divided into 3 revenue divisions, namely, Kandukur, Markapur and Ongole.[23] These are sub-divided into 56 mandals which consists of 1081 villages and 13 towns. These 13 towns (or urban settlements) in the district include, 1 municipal corporation, 3 municipalities and 9 census towns. Ongole city is the only municipal corporation and the 3 municipalities in the district are Chirala, Kandukur, and Markapur.[24][25]

The 9 census towns in the district are Cumbum, Chirala (CT), Podili, Vetapalem, Giddaluru, Kanigiri, Pamur, Mulaguntapadu, Singarayakonda. Chirala, Markapur are the two municipalities and Ongole is the only municipal corporation.[4]

The following table is the list of mandals in the district.

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3

Notable individuals

There are many noted people from the district including Tanguturi Prakasam, a freedom fighter who was also the Chief Minister of Andhra State and Chief Minister of Madras Presidency. U. Aswathanarayana who was a Director of the Mahadevan International Centre for Water Resources Management in India. From the film industry personalities include Bhanumathi Ramakrishna was a film actress who was also a producer, director and singer. Johnny Lever, Indian film actor and one of the most popular comedians in Bollywood. D. Ramanaidu, film producer; Tottempudi Krishna, film director and editor; Giri Babu, film actor; Raghu Babu, film actor and comedian in Telugu cinema; Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, comedian in Telugu cinema.

References

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  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

 Mahbubnagar district, Telangana Guntur district
Kurnool district Bay of Bengal
  Prakasam district  
YSR district Nellore district
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