About MayurbhanjOnline in Baripada, Mayurbhanj

* INTRODUCTION
Mayurbhanj – a district in the northern Orissa historically famous as the “ land of the maharajas”, is also known for its dominant tribal population, vibrant culture, the famous Similipal forests, Chhau dance, beautiful temples, stone, dhokra and tassar work and of course “mudhi” among other things. The district presents a panorama of many millennia in the human history. The district gets its name from the continuous reign of two ancient kingdoms for over a thousand years – the “Mauryas” and the “Bhanjas” until its merger with the state of Orissa on January 1, 1949.

* LOCATION
Mayurbhanj is a landlocked district with a total geographical area of 10, 418 sq. kms and is situated on the northern boundary of the State with its district head quarters at Baripada. The District lies between 21o and 22o North latitude and 85o and 87o East longitude. The District is bounded on the North by West Bengal and Jharkhand, on the West by Keonjhar District and on the East by Balasore District of Orissa.

*ADMINISTRATIVE SETUP
The District of Mayurbhanj is divided into four administrative Sub-divisions:
(i) Baripada
(ii) Bamanghaty with headquarters at Rairangpur
(iii) Panchpir with headquarters at Karanjia
(iv) Kaptipada with headquarters at Udala.
Besides, the district has 9 Tahasils, 26 blocks, 382 Gram Panchayats, 3945 Villages, 28 Police Stations, 16 Police out posts, 3 NACs & One Municipality.


*CLIMATE
Mayurbhanj District experiences a sub-tropical climate. An oppressive hot and humid summer followed by the monsoon between June and November and a severe cold winter characterizes the general climate of Mayurbhanj. May is the hottest month when the mean daily maximum temperature rises up to 47o Celsius. December is usually the coldest month of the year when the mean daily minimum temperature dips to 4o Celsius. The higher reaches of the Similipal experiences frosting during the peak of winter.

*AREA
The District has a geographical area of 10418 sq kms (or 10418 lakh hectares), which is the 6.69% of the total geographical area of the State. The percentage of plain land is comparatively lower than the highland and hills. The district has a cultivable area of 4,37,000 ha. Of this, the area under paddy is about 3,29,700 ha. Rice being the staple food of the district, the farmers cultivate paddy in both Kharif & Rabi. The forest cover stretches over an area of 439,200 ha, which accounts for 43% of the total area of the district. The net area sown of the district is 398,000 ha as per 2000-‘01 report. The land utilization pattern of the district during 2000- ’01 was:
•Forest area 439,200 ha.
•Trees, permanent pasture, land put to Non-agricultural use, Barren & uncultivable Land 116,000 ha.
•Cultivable waste 10,000 ha.
•Current fallow 43,000 ha.
•Other fallow 36,000 ha.
•Net area sown 398,000 ha.

*SOIL
The soil of the district may be broadly classified into Red soil and Laterite soil. The red soil is further classified in to three subgroups namely, Typical soil, Red loamy soil and Clay - loam soil. Typical red soil is found mostly in the hills of Bamanghaty & Panchpir sub-divisions and is suitable mainly for paddy, millets, sabai grass and other minor crops. Red loamy soil, which is found near riverbanks, is suitable for early variety paddy, groundnut, til, caster, black mung and kulthi.
The clay- loam type is found in the sub-divisions of Kaptipada & Baripada. Medium & late varieties of paddy are grown on this soil. The land remains fallow after the first harvest. However, in some areas gram, linseeds etc are cultivated.
Laterite soil is found in the hill & plateau region. Two types of laterites namely, Laterite morrum & laterite rocks have so far been identified in the district. These serve no productive value for agricultural purposes.
VEGETATION
The District vegetation can be broadly classified into:
•North tropical moist deciduous sal forests and semi-evergreen forests
•Mixed Deciduous Hill forests
•Dry deciduous Sal forests
•Plain sal forests
•Grass land and Savannah.
The growth of the forest is thick and is dominated by number of species, the chief being Sal, Peasal, Sisu, Kusum and Asan.
RIVER SYSTEM AND WATER RESOURCES
Mayurbhanj has nine major perennial rivers namely Budhabalanga, Deo, Sunei, Gangahar, Jambhira, Kharjhai, Khairibhadan, Bankabal, Katara and their tributaries, which originate mainly from Similipal Hills. These provide a good perennial water resource through out the district. The Budhabalanga is the main river which rises from the Similipal Hills and flows about 90 Km through the district. Katra, Palpala and Chipat hill streams are its important tributaries. The river Baitarini divides the districts of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar. The river Subarnrekha meanders through the States of Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa. However, only 23.4% of the net sown area is irrigated and the farmers mostly depend on the monsoons for a normal harvest. The need for expansion of irrigation facility is highly essential for the socio economic development of the people. There is a great scope for exploitation of irrigation potential for the all round benefit of the farmers. Besides, there is a tremendous scope for fresh water fishery through scientific pisciculture and exploitation of captive fishery.

*MINERAL RESOURCES
Iron ore (Hematite), Vanadeferus and Tintaniferous, Magnetite, China clay, Galena, Kyanite, Asbestos and Quartzite constitute the principal mineral resources of the district. Of these, iron ore deposits of Gorumahisani, Badampahad & Suleipat hills in Bamanghaty sub-division have been exploited for a period of more than half of century. Galena and lead- ore were discovered between Pithabata & Bangriposi belt, stretching over 30 kms.

*FLORA & FAUNA
The famous Similipal national park & sanctuary is a tiger reserve located in the district. It covers an area of 2750 Sq km with a core area of 845.70 Sq km. As per the tiger census of 2002, there are 99 tigers & 126 leopards in the Similipal tiger reserve, which constitute 57 % and 28% of the tiger and leopard population in the State. Besides, there are 432 elephants in Similipal National park constituting 23.65 % of the elephants in the entire state as per 1999 elephant census. There has been a felt demand for on farm forestry to meet growing need of fuel and wood for other domestic purpose.
Reservation & protection of forest requires intensive measures in view of the increasing population and ecological balance. Forty – three percent (439, 000ha) of the geographical area of the district comprises of forest. However, due to the rapid erosion of forests, there is a definite need to preserve the forests.
The livestock sector is closely associated with agriculture and it plays an important role in the district economy in terms of income & employment. It is the most important occupation subsidiary to cultivation among small & marginal farmers, women & landless agricultural labourers. Most of the people in the rural areas rear live stock & poultry. Though there is a good potential for diary farming, which has not been fully exploited. Against the ICMR recommendation of 250 grams per capita consumption per day, use of milk in the district is 22 grams, which is less then half of the state consumption of 47 grams - the national consumption level per day being 214 grams. There is, therefore, the need & scope to develop diary activities in the district.