Basti district General information

Basti district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state, India and Basti town is the district headquarters. Basti district is a part of Basti Division.

Origin of Name

    The tract comprising the present district was remote and much of it was covered with forest. But gradually the area became inhabitant, or want of recorded and authentic history it cannot, with any degree of certainty, be said how the district came to known by its present name on account of the original habitation (Basti) having being selected by the Kalhan Raja as a seat of his Raj, an event which probably occurred in the sixteenth century. With the passage of time, the place prospered and in 1801 it became the Tehsil headquarter and was chosen as the district headquarter of the newly established district in 1865. Since then it has steadily grow both in population and in general importance.

LOCATION & BOUNDARIES

The district lies between the parallels of 26° 23' and 27° 30' North and Latitude and  82° 17' and 83° 20' East longitude. Its maximum length from north to south is about 75 km. and breadth from east to west about 70km. The district lies between newly created district Sant Kabir Nagar on the east and Gonda on the west On the south, the Ghaghra river separates it from the Faizabad and newly created district   named Ambedkar Nagar. While on the North  it is bounded by district Sidharth Nagar.

AREA

According to the 1991 census  the district covered an area of   7,309 sq. km. and with regard to size it occupies 7th place in the state. Owing to the changing  course of the Ghaghra, the area of the district is subjected to frequent alterations.

POPULATION

According to the census 1991, the district had a population of 27,50,764 persons of which 14,37,727 were males and 13,13,037 females. Of these 75,299 persons, resided in urban areas and 29,08,791 in the rural areas.

     Total literacy of this district is 8,21,206 of which 6,04,029 are males and 2,17,77 are females. Whereas the literacy rate of this district is 21 percent only. Total population of SC is about 5,79,812 of which 5,55,610 are residing in rural area and 24,202 are residing in urban area

DEMOGRAPHY

According to the 2001 census, the district has a population of 2,068,922 persons, of whom 1,079,971 are males and 988,951 females (sex ratio 916). The population density is 682 persons per square kilometer.[1]

Literacy: As of 2001, the literacy rate has increased to 54.28% from 35.36% in 1991. The literacy rate is 68.16% for males (increased from 50.93% in 1991) and 39.00% percent for females (increased from 18.08% in 1991). [1]

Many villages, including Tikariya, Udaipur, Kanraha,Marha and Kawalpur, have large populations of Rajpoots.In Tikariya, the Sooryavanshi Rajpoots and in Marha VISHEN live. Saandpur and Bachaipur have many Brahmin, Gauriya and Khatamsarai have many Yadavas. All these villages are situated on the Basti, Gonda, Faizabad border.

  TOPOGRAPHY

     The district,in spite of its apparent uniformity of aspect, it divided topographically into several distinct tract namely, the low valley of the Ghaghra in the south, extending from that river to its tributary, the Kuwana; the central upland ,between the latter river and the rapti; and the low and ill-drained paddy belt between the Rapti and the Nepal boundary.

RIVER SYSTEM AND WATER RESOURCES

    The district has two main river systems namely, the Ghaghra and Rapti, both of which ultimately form a part of the great Gangetic system. The other streams of the district are the Kuwana,its tributaries are, the Rawai, The Manwar and the Katnehia, and the Ami is a tributary of Rapti.

    The Ghaghra

   River Ghaghra is formed by the combined waters of Kauriyala,Girwa, Chauka and other streams, which have their origin in the mountains of Kumaun and Nepal. The Ghaghra forms  the southern boundary of the district, from its entry opposite the sacred town of Ayodhya,where for a short distance it is usually known as the Saryu,as far as Belghat on the border of Gorakhpur. The river flows continually shifting cannel within a broad sandy bed. During the rains it carries as immense volume of water, but in dry weather it shrinks to small dimensions.

    The river has a constant tendency to change its course during the floods, and in this manner large tracts of land from time to time are transferred either to the northern or southern banks, rendering the total area of the district subject to incessant variation. These changes have occasionally been accompanied by the formation of large islands and deep stream rule prevails, the constant shifting of the jurisdiction of such lands from one district to another results in considerable inconvenience.

     Tributaries of the Ghaghra:- The Ghaghra receives directly hardly any of the drainage of the district, as exception the immediate neighborhood of  its bands, all the surplus water is intercepted by its affiance. Occasionally the river overflows its banks and submerges the adjoining lowlands, with the result the water is actually transferred from the river to the Manwar or Kuwana. The latter, in its lower reaches near Bhanpur, is joined with the Ghaghra by cross channel and from that point onwards it acts as an arm of the Ghaghra.

      The Kuwana

    The Kuwana also known as Kuano, rises in the low ground in the east of Bahraich district and thence flows through the centre of Gonda. It first touches the district in the stream west of Rasulpur. It then separates the Basti east pargana from Basti West, Nagar West, Nagar East and after passing through Mahuli West and Mahuli East leaves the district in the south-Easter corner, at short distance from its junction with the Ghaghra in Gorakhpur.

GEOLOGY

      The district is underlain by Quaternary alluvium comprising and of various grades, gravel, kankar and clay. The Alluvium can be classified into two groups, the Older alluvium and the Newer alluvium.

Older alluvium:- It is of middle Pleistocene age and generally occupies high ground which is not affected by floods during the rainy season.

 The Newer alluvium:- It covers the lower height and is mainly conferred to the flood plains along the river channels and belongs to the upper Pleistocene to the recent age.

Kankar:- Substantial deposits of kankar are available in the tahsil of Harriya only.

Reh:- Reh is also reported from some localities of the district.

CLIMATE

The climate of the district is more equable than the adjoining districts to the south.The year may be divided into four seasons. The winter season, from mid-November to February is followed by the summer season lasting till about the middle of June. The period from mid-June to the end of September constitutes the south-west mansoon season. October to mid-November is the post mansson or transition period.

Rainfall         :- The average annual rainfall in the district is 1166 mm.

Temperature :- During the winter seasons the mean minimum temperature is about 9 degree Celsius and mean maximum 23 degree Celsius while during the summer seasons the minimum is about 25 degree Celsius and mean maximum is about 44 degree Celsius.

Humidity       :- In the south-west mansoon and the post mansoon seasons the relative humidity is high, being above 70 percent. Thereafter the humidity decreases and in the summer air is very dry.

cloudiness     :-During the mansoon season, and for brief spells of a day or two in association with passing disturbances in winter, heavily clouded or overcast skies prevail. In the rest of the year the skies are mostly clear or lightly clouded.

Winds           :- Winds are in general very light with a slight increase in force the late summer and mansoon seasons. The  average annual wind blow in the district is ranging from 2 to 7.1 km/hrs.