Debagarh district General information
Deogarh is one of the 30 administrative districts of Orissa situated in the Western region of the state having its Head Quarter at Deogarh town. Deogarh Town is 90 km to the east of Sambalpur Town on N.H.-6. National Highway No.6 passing through the district acts as the main artery of inter-regional trade and other links.
Deogarh District has been created after bifurcation from the erstwhile Sambalpur district and started functioning from 01.01.1994. This district is bounded on the East & the South by Angul District, West by Sambalpur district & North by Sundargarh district. This District has a hilly terrain.
History
Bamanda–the citadel of creative artists dates back to 5th century A.D. when Mathara Royal Family was at the helm of the Administration. After this dynasty, Ganga Rulers came into power and established their capital at Deogarh. Deogarh attained all-round prosperity during the reign of Raja Basudev Sudhal Dev, the most enlightened rulers of this clan. A new horizon was innovated in the field of communication by the foundation of Jagannath Ballav press in 1886 and publication of a weekly magazine the “Sambalpur Hitaishini” in 1889. It was during his rule that the jail, police station, postoffices, Dispensaries were established and irrigation system was introduced.. He had a telephone line of 78 Miles connecting Bamara and Barkote in 1900 was the longest in India during that period. Bamanda’s own postal system was very developed. It got affiliated to the British Postal system in 1895. Sir Sudhal Dev, the then King of Bamanda had coined and issued postage stamps in his own Kingdom. He had promulgated paper currency also in his state
After him, his illustrious son Raja Sachidananda Tribhuban Dev undertook the improvement activities of the earstwhile estate. The most outstanding developmental activities was the introduction of the hydro-electric system in Kodarkot water fall by which the Palace, cloth loom, Sugar factory established in 1908 at Rambhei got power supply. During the reign of Bhanuganga Tribhuban Dev, the estate of Bamra was merged with Orissa i,e. on 1st January, 1948 and it became a part of the District of Sambalpur.
Geography
District of Deogarh is situated in the Western region of the state having its Head Quarter at Deogarh. Deogarh is located between 21o 31' 53" N Latitude and 84o 43' 2" E Longitude. Deogarh Town is 90 K.Ms. to the east of Sambalpur Town on N.H.-6. National Highway No.6 passes through the district acts as the main artery of inter-regional trade and other links.
Access
1. Air: – The nearest Airports for visiting places of interest in Deogarh District are at Bhubaneswar (280 KMs.) and Raipur (376 KMs.).
2. Rail: - The nearest rail heads for Deogarh are at Sambalpur (90 KMs.), Bamra on the Nagpur-Hawrah Section of South Eastern Railway (103 KM), Jharsuguda (98 KMs.) and Rourkela (115 KMs.)
3. Road: - 90 KMs. from Sambalpur, 115 KMs. from Rourkela & 280 KMs. from Bhubaneswar.
Physiography
This District is entirely of hilly tract. The Hill system of Deogarh has been categorized mainly under four ranges such as
1. The Khajuria Range on the north running from West-East in Badbar-Pragana of Deogarh Police Station having a maximum height of 745 Metres.
2. The Pradhanpat & Kaidanta Ranges having maximum height of 743 Metres and 816 Metres on the North.
3. The Pawri Range on the eastern side of the River Brahmani which is 678 Metres in height.
4. The Ushakothi Range in Kansar & Reamal Police Stations. The hill ranges have elevation ranging from 610 Metres to 762 Metres from the mean Sea Levels.
Soil
The soil group of this district are mainly
1. Sandy loan
2. Red Soil
Geographical Area
Deogarh district accounts for 1.2% of the total Geographical Area of Orissa while it is home to 0.7% of the State’s population. The population density per sq.km in Deogarh is just around 145 while that of Orissa as a whole is 236. Thus Deogarh can be said to be a district where the population is relatively sparse in comparison to other districts of Orissa. Deogarh shares this feature with most other western/northern Orissa districts.
Rainfall
Annual average Rainfall is 1142.3 mm against the State average of 1482 mm.