Home Maps&Photos Hospitals Population
Gee Yes Kay InfoTech
Coimbatore
According to ancient manuscripts, Coimbatore's history can be traced to the Irula tribal chief Kovan and his clan who were it's earliest settlers and the founders of "Kovanpatti " a part of Kongunadu. Years later, the surrounding forests were cleared, and a new village was formed called "Kovanputhur", which over the years came to be known as "Coimbatore".
In spite of it's prominence as a bustling industrial city, Coimbatore still remains one of the most pollution free cities in India. Covering an area of 23.5 square kilometers, the city houses some of the biggest names in Indian Industry. The major industries include textiles, textile machinery, automobile spares, motors, electronics, steel and aluminium foundries. Tirupur - a neighbouring town has carved a niche for itself in the garments market. Agriculture however remains the major occupation. The rich fertile soil and tropical climate is excellent for the growth of millet, paddy, cotton, tea, oil seeds and tobacco.
LOCATION AND AREA
Coimbatore is an inland district in the southern
part of the Peninsula. coimbatore district lies between 10* 10' and 11* 30' of
the northern latitude and 76* 40' and 77* 30' of eastern logitude in the extreme
west of TamilNadu. It is bounded in the north and east by Erode district. In the
west and south the mountain ranges, viz., the Western Ghats and Animals
provideits boundary. In the west, to the south-West of its Headquarters city (Coimbatore)
there is a mountain pass in the Western Ghats. Due to the presence of the
mountain pass major parts of the district benefit from the south-west monsoon.
Apart from its influence on the climatic conditions in the district, the pass
which is commonly known as Palghat Gap has an enduring influence on the trade
and commerce that are centered in and around Coimbatore city. this opening in
the Western Ghats provide a direct access to the traders in the west coast to
the city of Coimbatore and vice versa, thus establishing a constant and
continuous intercourse in trade with the west coast. Total area of the district
is 7469 sq. kms. Headquarters of this district is Coimbatore.
GEOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES
Soils of the district are mostly of black cotton
variety but red loam are also found in Avanashi and Coimbatore
taluks. The soil in Coimbatore taluk is found enriched
with organic matter from the hill ranges. there are rich
tracts of red
loam in Palladam and
Pollachi taluks. The soils in Pollachi
taluk are mostly
of sandy
loam often mixed with
gravel. The red
soils around
the Anamalais are found to be very rich and fertile.
Coimbatore is
perhaps one of the very few districts in the State
which can boast of
considerable areas of dense forests. More than 20 per cent
of the total
districts' area is under
forest. The district has 146905 hectares
of reserve forests and
together is about 154974 hectares. The forests here abound in
commercially significant items such as Teak, Sandalwood, Rosewood,
Vagai, Pillaimaruthu etc.
Bamboo is also available in plenty. The
Nilgiris slope, viz.,
the Mettuppalaiyam range is
rich in sandalwood trees and bamboo.
The Balampathy and Todogan
valley are notable for Vagai and Pillaimaruthu.
Other forests in
this district
are spread
over Punachi,
Udamalaippettai and Tunacadavu ranges.
They vary from rich tropical evergreen forests of Panachi range to jungles of shrubs in Udumalaippettai or
Pollachi ranges. The conchona department is
raising a cinchona plantation here. Apart from this, there
are one or two tea plantations and coffee plantations. There is a Forest
College in the district. this was started during the British days
as it was found that the College at Dehra Dun was not adequate
to meet the
needs of the south. However, it was only in 1912 that the
Chennai Forest College at Coimbatore was started. Soon, the institution was in the
red and came to be closed in
1939. Though it war re-opened in 1945, the management was passed
on to the Government of India in 1948. Ever since, it is known as
the Southern Forest Rangers College and casters to the needs of
candidates from the Southern
States and a few from other States also. The
fauna too is varied and rich in the district. Most of the common
species found in the palins and ranges in the south are available here
but mention has to be
made about the presence of
wild elephants and a few tigers
in high ranges. Mention
should be made of the wild life sanctuary in Anamalais.
About
95000 hectares come
under the sanctuary where the wild elephants
and tigers are
treated as protected
animals. Among drought animals Kangeyam
breed to
bulls is a matter of pride for the district. They are in great demand
not only in the district and in
other districts but also outside the STate.
Kangeyam cows are not noted for their yield but their
availability in large numbers has helped the district to make a mark in the
field of dairy development.
RIVERS, CANALS AND WATERWAYS
Noyyil is
the important river in this district. It rises in
the Vellangiri hills to the west of Coimbatore and Palladam taluks before
entering Erode district.
Two other rivers of consequence are Palar and Aliyar which rise
in the Anamalais and flow westward through Pollachi taluk. Amaravathi
river flows through Udumalaippettai
taluk before
it crosses
into Erode
and Tiruchirappalli district. Yet
another river of consequence
is the Bhavaei which rises in
the Silent Valley
ranges in Kerala. Before
entering the district it is
reinforced by Sirubvani
which is a perennial stream rising in the Attapadi ranges in Kerala.
As Bhavani
enters Coimbatore district in Mettuppalaiyam
taluk after
being
reingorced by
Siruvini, its freshed are supplemented by river
Kundah which
rises in
the Kundah ranges of the Nilgiris. Bhavani
runs through
Avanashi
taluk before it enters the Erode district.
AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION
Though an industrial district, Coimbatore
has been able to maintain the pride
of position as regards
performance in the field of agriculture. The
district
has been fortunate in having two premier agricultural institutions,
viz., the
Agricultural College and
the Agricultural Research Institute.
Both these
institutions, apart from
providing scientific support to
agriculture have
helped in
propagating new varieties
and strains of
seeds. Publicity
and
development activities initiated by these institutions have gone a long
way in
the betterment
of agriculture in the
district. The intensive
propaganda,
teaching and research by these two institutions grow more food campaign,
made
during the Second World War and inputs provided under the Five Year
Plans have
contributed considerably towards
the betterment
of agriculture
in this
district. The main cereals cultivated in this district are paddy and
cholam. In addition
to these, commercial crops
such as cotton, sugarcane and oil seeds are
also
cultivated. Paddy is cultivated mostly in Palladam and Udumalaippettai
taluks. Coimbatore
taluk is
also known for paddy cultivation which is grown in two
crops, the
short term crop and long term crop. Improved seeds have been introduced
by the
Agricultural College and Agricultural Research Institute. A total of
37354 hectares is under paddy in the district. The most popular
of cereal cultivated in the district is Cholam. It has 141202 hectares
under it. Maize
and Cumbu are two other
cereals cultivated commonly in the
district. maize is
cultivated in 13284 hectares while Cumbu covers 8817
hectares. The
Millet Research Station in
the district has given a boost to the cultivation
of Cumbu by introducing popular
varieties of seeds such as Co 1, Co 2 and Co
3, etc.
TKM 6 is also popular among
ryots. Cumbu is cultivated
mostly in Pollachi
and Palladam taluks. In addition to this, Samai is
also cultivated over 10978
hectares in the district. Among oilseeds, groundnut in the most important item
followed by cotton. Total oilseeds account
for 66116 hectares in the district of which
48696 hectares are
under groundnut. Cotton which is yet another important cash crop
and it covers 20824
hectares. pulses are grown mostly is Palladam and udumalaippettai taluks.
Horsegram and Black
Gram are
two varieties grown in the
district. Cotton
is grown
in Coimbatore and Palladam taluks and in the garden areas of Avanashi
taluk also. sugarcane is
grown mostly in Coimbatore
and udumalaippettai
taluks. Few
varieties of
better yielding types introduced by the
Agricultural Research
STation are Co. 419, Co. 421, Co. 449, etc. Scanty
rainfall and
poor sub-soil
reserves necessitate the local
agriculturists to depend largely on irrigation projects or other sources
such as wells,
raifed tanks, etc. Except in
Pallachi and
parts of
Coimbatore
taluks, the
contribution of south-west
monsoon is
also most
negligible. Rainfall under
north-east monsoon often being indefinite ryots
look up
to irrigation facilities. Important rivers which contribute considerably
towards irrigation are
Amaravathi and Noyyil. The Amaravathi river helps to
irrigate areas in
udumalaippettai taluk while the Noyyil river irrigates large
tracts of land in Palladam and Coimbatore taluks. The contribution made
by the Palar and
the Aliyar rivers cannot be under-estimated. Upper Bhavani project
helps
to irrigate
large tracts
of land in Pollachi,
coimbatore, Palladam
and udumalaippettai taluks.
parambikulam-Aliyar project
makes seizable
contribution in irrigating
large extent
of land
in Pollachi
and Udumalaippettai taluks. Few spring channels and rainfed tanks help to
augment irrigation in Pollachi,
Coimbatore and
Udumalaippettai taluks. These channels are fed
by both
the monsoon. hence they prove a very useful source to the local ryots.
Wells have been the most dependable source of irrigation in the district
even
in early
days. In
spite of the increased
facilities provided
by river projects,
the number of wells has always been on the increase as
wells have proved to be the
most dependable source of irrigation. The chief
sources of irrigation in the district are a number of wells,
which play a significant role in the irrigation of the area followed by
the rivers, canals and a few
rainfed tanks. The most important
rivers in the district are bhavani. river,
Noyyil river, Palar,
Aliyar river and Amaravathi river. These rivers are fed by
south-west monsoon. these
rivers have been fully exploited by means of
several anicuts across built
them for irrigation purposes. the principal
source of irrigation in this district is ordinary wells.
There are 78852
wells and the area irrigated, by these wells is
104680 hectares. Secondly,
there are 35 Government canals and one private canal with a
length of 577 kms. and 10 kms. respectively in the district used to
irrigate an area of 36134 hectares.
there are 73 tanks of which 33 have each an anicuts of less
than 100 acres.