LAND AND SOIL

CLASSIFICATION OF LAND AREA

LAND USE PATTERN

LAND HOLDING  PATTERN

SURFACE AND GROUND WATER

RIVER

CLIMATE

MONTHLY RAINFALL

ELECTRICITY

DETAILS OF POWER GENERATING STATIONS IN KERALA

CATEGORYWISE CONSUMERS AND CONNECTED LOAD

 

The Potential of a district depends primarily on the availability of resources which can be utilized  to forward integration as raw material for industry.  The availability of all types of transport facilities viz. Road, Rail and Water are the factors favorable to the district.  Palakkad district is blessed with many resources like agricultural produces, minerals, horticultural produces, Cattle & Livestock, forest produce etc.   The major agricultural products include rice, coconut, Banana,  Groundnut, Cotton etc. and they offer maximum employment potential to the society.  There are opportunities for the development of tourism with tourist spots like Malampuzha, Nelliampathy, Silent Valley National Park and Attappady. The various resources available in the district and the utilization are detailed below

 

 

LAND AND SOIL

 

The total geographical area of Palakkad district is 4480 sq.k.ms.  Out of this the area under  forest is 1363 sq.k.ms.   Palakkad, Chittur and Alathur taluks are more or less plain except for Nelliampathy Area of Chittur Taluk.  But Ottappalam and Mannarkkad taluks are undulating. The district falls in the midland region except Attappady block which is an Integrated Tribal Development Block and lies in the high  land region.

 

There are three types of soil  (1) literate soil seen in Ottappalam, Alathur, Chittur and Palakkad taluks (2) Virgin forest soil of Mannarkkad Taluk and (3) Black soil in Chittur and Attappady Valley which is used for the cultivation of Cotton.   The Classification of land  area under different categories in the district along with the state figures for the year 1998-99 is  shown below:-

 

CLASSIFICATION OF LAND AREA.

                                                                                                                       Year 1998-99

Sl.No.	Type of land	District (Hect.)	State (Hect.)
1	Total Area	438980	3885497
2	Forest	136257	1081509
3	Non Agricultural.Use	43704	333822
4	Barren and Uncultivable waste	3037	28341
5.	Permanent Pastures & Grassing land	72	682
6	Miscellaneous. Tree  Crops	3660	20200
7	Cultivable Waste	13602	62710
8	Other fallow	9326	31537
9	Current Fallow	10986	68022
10	Area sown	218336	2258674
11	Area sown more than once	91701	657861
12	Total Cropped Area	310037	2916505

 

 

LAND USE PATTERN

 

The area under cultivation in the district during the year 98-99 was 49% of the total area, where the state figure is 58%.  Details of the  land use pattern both the district and state are shown in the table.

 

LAND HOLDING  PATTERN

 

The average land holding per household has shown a decreasing trend over the year against 0.46 hectares  per household in 85-86 in the district, the holding came down to 0.43 hectares in 90-91 and in 95-96 it is 0.40 Hectares.  A comparison of the land holding pattern in the district during the three reference periods with the corresponding state figures are given in the table below.

                       

 

NUMBER AND AREA OF INDIVIDUAL OPERATIONAL HOLDINGS.

 

 

SURFACE AND GROUND WATER.

 

Bharathapuzha and its tributaries are the major water resources of the district. Bharathapuzha, the longest river  of the state has 6,186 sq.k.m. of catchment area in the district with numerous tributaries draining different parts of the district. A number of dams viz. Parambikulam, Thunakadavu, Peruvarippallom, Mangalam, Pothundy, Malampuzha, Moolathara, Meenkara, Chulliar, Walayar, Kanjirapuzha were constructed along the course of the rivers for irrigation. At present an area of about 7535 sq.k.m. is secured with surface irrigation through two major and 6 medium and a number of minor and lift irrigation projects.

 

The district is blessed not only with a good flow of river/stream water but also with ground water.  It is estimated that utilizable surface and ground water potential in the district is estimated at 2250 x 16 m3   The untapped ground water availability is found to be 450 x 10 m3. 

 

RIVER.

 

The most important river in the district is the Bharathapuzha.  The tributaries of Bharathapuzha are Malampuzha, Walayar, Mangalam, Meenkara, Ayalure, Pothundy and Kanjirapuzha.    There are also two tributaries  of the Cauvery in Attappady hill range.viz. Bhavani and Siruvani.  The other important river flows through the district is Korapuzha,. Kunthipuzha and Nellipuzha are two tributories from Attappady and joins the Bharathapuzha at Kuttippuram.

 

CLIMATE

 

The district  has a humid climate with a very hot season extending from March to June. In the Western Part of the district whereas it is less humid in the Eastern sector.  The most important rainy season is during South West Monsoon which sets the 2^nd week of June and extends upto September. About 75% of  the annual rain is received during the south west monsoon period.  During the  period December to May, practically no rain is received.  The temperature of the district ranges from 20’ C to 45’ C .  The maximum temperature recorded at Palakkad was 43’C.  The monthly rainfall  of the district in 1997 and a comparison with the state is shown in the table.

 

MONTHLY RAINFALL

                                                                                                            2000   (mm)

Sl.No	Month.	District	State(Average)
1	January	0.1	14.2
2	February	29.3	67.4
3	March	2.5	23.0
4	April	85.3	98.8
5	May	43.1	129.8
6	June	508.2	549.2
7	July	290.6	339.9
8	August	464.3	580.1
9	September	160.1	198.8
10	October	130.7	216.5
11	November	82.7	80.9
12	December	34.4	70.2
	Total	1831.3	2464.8

 

ELECTRICITY.

 

There is no major power project in the district and the main source of electric power is from Kuttiadi Hydro Electric Project in Kozhikkode and Idukki Power project.  Electricity has reached in all the panchayaths in the district.  Low Tension Electric Lines has to be extended to several remote areas.  There are nine sub stations are functioning in the district.  The Malampuzha Electric project is going to be commissioned in the next year.  One or two wind power stations are commissioned at Kanjikkode and Chithali in Alathur Taluk.  The Silent Valley  Project did not materialized due to ecological reasons.

 

DETAILS OF POWER GENERATING STATIONS IN KERALA

 

 

CATEGORYWISE CONSUMERS AND CONNECTED LOAD.

 

Sl.No.	Category	Consumers Percentage	Energy Consumption %
1	Domestic	70.48	47.53
2	Commercial	13.94	16.64
3	Industrial	2.08	1569
4	Agricultural	13.05	15.03
5	Others	0.45	5.11

 

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