Balaghat district General information
Balaghat a district of Madhya Pradesh state of central India. The town of Balaghat serves as its administrative headquarters. District Balaghat looks like a flying bird and is situated in southern part of Jabalpur division. It occupies the south eastern region of the Satpura and Upper Wainganga Valley. The district spans over a degree from 21.19' to 22.24' North and 79.31 to 81.3' East. The total area of the district is 9245 Sq. Km. District Balaghat is bounded by Rajnandgaon in the East, Seoni in the West, District Mandla in the North and District Bhandara of Maharashtra State in the south. The Wainganga River separates the district from Seoni while the rivers Bawanthadi and Bagh define the inter-state boundary.
History
Balaghat District was constituted during the years 1967-73 by amalgamation of parts of the Bhandara, Mandla and Seoni districts. The headquarter of the district was originally called "Burha" or "Boora". Later, however, this name fell into disuse and was replaced by "Balaghat", which was originally the name of the district only. The Wainganga is the most important river of the district.
Geography
Balaghat District is located in the southern part of Jabalpur Division. It occupies the south eastern portion of the Satpura Range and the upper valley of the Wainganga River. The district extends from 21°19' to 22°24' north latitude and 79°31' to 81°3' east longitude. The total area of the district is 9,245 km². Balaghat District is bounded by Mandla District of Madhya Pradesh to the north, Dindori District to the northwest, Rajnandgaon District of Chhatisgarh state to the east, Gondiya and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra state to the south, and Seoni District of Madhya Pradesh to the west.
The Wainganga and its tributaries are the most important rivers in the district. The town of Balaghat is on the Wainganga, which flows north and south through the district and forms part of the boundary with Seoni District. The Bagh, Nahra and Uskal rivers are tributaries of the Wainganga. The Bawanthadi and Bagh rivers define the boundary with Maharashtra.
Geographically the district is divided into three distinct parts:
* The southern lowlands, a slightly undulating plain, comparatively well cultivated and drained by the Wainganga, Bagh, Deo, Ghisri and Son rivers.
* The long narrow valley known as the Mau Taluka, lying between the hills and the Wainganga river, and comprising a long, narrow, irregular-shaped lowland tract, intersected by hill ranges and peaks covered with dense jungle, and running generally from north to south.
* The lofty plateau, in which is situated the Raigarh Bichhia tract, comprising irregular ranges of hills, broken into numerous valleys, and generally running from east to west. The highest points in the hills of the district are as follows: - Peaks above Lanji, 2300 or 2,500 feet (760 m); Tepagarh hill, about 2,600 ft (790 m).; and Bhainsaghat range, about 3,000 ft (910 m). above the sea. The Banjar, Halon and Jamunia rivers, tributaries of the Narmada, drain a portion of the upper plateau.
Administratively, the district is divided into eight development blocks: Waraseoni, Balaghat, Katangi, Paraswada, Baihar, Khairlanji, Laanji, and Kirnapur.
Demography
As per the 2001 Census, the total population of the district is 1,497,968, of which 1,236,083 is rural population and 129,787 is urban. Out of the total population, 113,105 are Scheduled Caste and 298,665 are Scheduled Tribes. The no. of males was 682,260 and the no. of females was 683,610. According to the District website the total area of the district is 9245 km², making the population density 162 persons per km².
In the 1991 Census, the total population of the district was 1,365,870.
Transport
The Jabalpur-Gondia section of South East Central Railway runs north and south through the district, along the valley of the Wainganga. The line was formerly narrow gauge (2 ft 6 in (762 mm)) for its entire length, but the section between Balaghat and Gondia was converted to broad gauge in 2005-2006, connecting Balaghat to India's national broad gauge network for the first time. Work is underway to convert the Balaghat-Jabalpur section to broad gauge as well. A narrow gauge branch line runs west from Balaghat to Katangi and Ramrama Tola via Waraseoni.
Balaghat is directly connected by bus with larger cities such as Bhopal, Nagpur, Gondia, Jabalpur, Raipur, etc. The nearest airport is at Nagpur.
Forest
About 52% of the district's area is covered with forest.Teak (Tectona grandis), Sal (Shorea robusta), bamboo and saja are the main trees. Fauna includes tiger, leopard, bear, nilgai, deer, and gaur, and birds like peacock, Red Bulbul and Koyal. Kanha National Park lies partly within the district.
About 80% of the manganese production in India comes from Balaghat District.The recently discovered copper deposit at Malanjkhand is regarded as the largest in the country.Bauxite, Kyanite, and limestone are the other main minerals of the district.
Tourist Place
Kanha National Park: falls in the Balaghat and Mandla districts. Located in the "Maikal" ranges of the Satpuras. The Park is internationally renowned for its rich floral and faunal attributes. The National Park has distinguished itself in saving, the endangered hard ground barasingha (cervus, duvaceli, branderi) from extinction and has the unique distinction of harbouring the last world population of this dear species. Barasingha is State Animal of Madhya Pradesh. The Present Park area encompasses two important valleys viz the Banjar and the Halon. The Halon vally falls in Balaghat district. The total area of the park is 940 Sq. kms. Of which 530 Sq. kms falls in Balaghat district comprising the three ranges viz Mukki, Bhaisanghat and Supkhar.
Lanji Temple/Fort: The Fort is located at Lanji Tehsil of Balaghat. It was made by Cultury Rajwansh. Which is located in Dense Forest area. The Temple and its Statutes art are of Khajuraho style. The Lanji Fort is also related with Gond dynasty. There are so many temples within Fort with lot of Statutes. Like Mahadev, Mahamaya, Lanjkaidevi etc.
Rampaily Temple: It is a Historical place located 30 Km away from District head quarter. The temple is built on the bank of Chandan river, in which Shree Ram , Hanuman and Balanji's big statutes are there.
Hatta Bawali [Well]: The village Hatta is located about 30 Km away from District head quarter. The village Hatta is famous for its historical history. At the time of British government Hatta was centre of a powerful Zamindari. Here one Bawali and old temple is situated. The Bawali was built by King Gond of Devgad in 17th Century. The Bath-room built in the Bawali was for King and Queen.
Nahlesara Dam: The Dam is built on Chandan River. It's length is 1.5 KM and it is quite old Dam, it was built some where around 1960-1965. It is 58 KM away from district headquarter Balaghat. The Dam is used for irrigation purpose. Behind Dam about one KM away one temple Amma Mai is there which is also famous.
Gangulpara Tank and Water Fall: From district headquarter Balaghat around 14 km. away on Baihar road the Gangulpara Tank and Water fall is located. The natural beauty surrounding Tank and Water fall looks nice. People at Balaghat used to go there for picnic. The Tank stores the water of Ghysri Nala and it is used for irrigation purpose.
Dhuti Dam: The Dam is built on Wainganga River and it is around 65 km. away from Balaghat near Lamta. The Dam is quite oldest, it was constructed during year 1911-23. The Dam height is 26.6 ft and it's length is 4040 ft and width 881ft. Maximum water level of Dam is 1077.5 ft. The Dam mainly serves the irrigation purpose of the villages