Vijayawada

విజయవాడ
Vijayawada

Bezawada
—  city  —
The Vijayawada Junction
విజయవాడ
Vijayawada
Location of విజయవాడ
Vijayawada
in Andhra Pradesh and India
Coordinates
Country  India
Region Coastal Andhra
State Andhra Pradesh
District(s) Krishna
Subdistrict(s) Vijayawada (Urban),Vijayawada (rural),Penamaluru
Mayor Ratna Bindu
Members of Legislative Assembly V Srinivasa Rao, M Vishnu, Y Ravi
Parliamentary constituency Vijayawada
Assembly constituency Vijayawada (West), Vijayawada (Central), Vijayawada (East)
Planning Agency VMC,VGTMVUDA
Population

• Density
• Metro

 2,557,000 MC Area (Appro (2008)

• 24,231 /km2 (62,758 /sq mi)
• 3,149,738 (13) (2009)
Literacy 71% 
Official languages Telugu
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Area

• Metro
• Elevation

 119.8 square kilometres (46.3 sq mi) (3)

• 210.14 square kilometres (81.14 sq mi)
• 11.88 metres (39.0 ft)
Climate

• Precipitation
Temperature
• Summer
• Winter

 Tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen)

•      998.2 mm (39.30 in)
•      35 °C (95 °F)
•      48.1 °C (118.6 °F)
•      24 °C (75 °F)
Website www.ourvmc.org

Vijayawada (pronunciation) (Telugu: విజయవాడ) earlier known as Bezawada, is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India, located on the banks of the Krishna River and bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the West and the Budameru River on the North. The city is located in the Krishna District, about 275 kilometres (171 mi) from the state capital Hyderabad.

The Chalukyas of Kalyan once conquered this place. Vijayawada literally translates to "The Place of Victory". Vijayawada is also a centre of Andhra politics. Its prominence as a major trading and business center has earned it the title of the "Business Capital of Andhra Pradesh”. Situated along the Chennai-Howrah and Chennai-Delhi Railway route, this is the largest railway junction in South India.

Contents

History

The discovery of Stone Age artifacts and remains along the banks of the river from Machilipatnam to Nagarjuna Sagar indicates that this area was inhabited at that time.

The famous Chinese traveler Xuanzang (Hsuan-tsang) visited this place in 639 AD, when Buddhism was at its zenith in the region. Kings Choda Gangadeva and Ananga Bhimadeva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty in the 12th century, whose capital was in modern Bhubaneswar and who built the Lingaraj temple, had re-annexed a considerable part of the modern Andhra region and marched up to Godavari but could not cross the wide river. He established a town 'Vijaya Bahuda'(Oriya) which means 'return after winning' which became known as Vijayawada.

According to Vishnu Puranam, King Madhava Varma built the kingdom of Vijayawada and he was the ancestor of Poosapati Kings of Vizianagaram. He also built the Holy Temple of Kanaka Durga in Indrakiladri.

During the British Raj the city experienced significant growth. In particular, the completion of the Prakasam Barrage in 1959, and railway bridge on the Krishna River have helped the region expand its agriculture and commercial base. Vijayawada Railway station is one of the busiest railway junctions in India. The regions around the city have fertile soil and are irrigated by the river Krishna. It is the third largest junction in Asia.

Geography & Climate

Vijayawada is bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the east and west and the Budameru River on the north. The Northern, North-Western, and South-Western parts of the city are covered by a low range of hills, while the Central, South-Western and North-Western parts are covered by rich and fertile agriculture lands with three major irrigation canals. The topography of Vijayawada is flat, with a few small to medium sized hills. The Krishna River runs through the city. These hills are part of the Eastern Ghats cut through by the Krishna river. They have very low elevation compared to the average elevation of the ghats. Three canals originating from the north side of the Prakasam barrage reservoir, Eluru, Bandar and Ryves, run through the city. Vijayawada is the only city in the world with two rivers, Krishna, Budameru, and three canals. Buckingham Canal originates from the south side of the reservoir. Due to the presence of the Krishna river the soil around here is very fertile and cultivated intensively.

The climate is tropical, specifically a tropical wet and dry climate, with hot summers and moderate winters. The peak temperature reaches 47 °C (117 °F) in May-June, while the winter temperature is 20-27 C. The average humidity is 78% and the average annual rainfall is 103 cm. Vijayawada gets its rainfall from both the south-west monsoon and north-east monsoon. It's nicknamed "Blazewada" for its scorching summer heat by the Britishers.

Climate data for Vijayawada(1951-1980)[1]
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 30.0
(86)		 32.7
(90.9)		 35.4
(95.7)		 37.4
(99.3)		 39.8
(103.6)		 37.2
(99)		 33.2
(91.8)		 32.4
(90.3)		 32.6
(90.7)		 31.8
(89.2)		 30.7
(87.3)		 29.6
(85.3)		 33.6
(92.5)
Average low °C (°F) 18.7
(65.7)		 20.1
(68.2)		 22.4
(72.3)		 25.5
(77.9)		 27.5
(81.5)		 27.0
(80.6)		 25.4
(77.7)		 25.1
(77.2)		 25.1
(77.2)		 24.0
(75.2)		 21.3
(70.3)		 19.1
(66.4)		 23.4
(74.1)
Precipitation mm (inches) 0.9
(0.035)		 5.3
(0.209)		 9.6
(0.378)		 14.3
(0.563)		 51.3
(2.02)		 131.9
(5.193)		 218.4
(8.598)		 185.6
(7.307)		 163.5
(6.437)		 142..6
(5.59)		 51.3
(2.02)		 6.7
(0.264)		 998.2
(39.299)
Avg. precipitation days 0.1 0.4 0.5 1.0 3.1 7.6 12.6 11.5 8.8 7.1 2.8 0.6 56.1
Source: India Meteorological Department.[2]

}}

View from a hill
Kondapalli Fort

Kondapalli Forest

About 11 km from the western outskirts of Vijayawada lies the Kondapalli reserve forest, spread over 121.5 square kilometres (30,000 acres). The forest provides Vijayawada with a "green lung". This pristine forest is home to leopards, wild dogs, jackals, wild boar, wolves etc.[3] The hills produce a soft wood is used for preparing Kondapalli Toys.

Civic Administration

The city of Vijayawada is run by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation [4].The Municipality of Vijayawada (Bezawada) was constituted on 1st APR, 1888 and was upgraded as a selection grade municipality in the year 1960. The municipality was upgraded to a corporation in 1981. With the merger of Gunadala, Patamata and Bhavanipuram village panchayats and two villages payakapuram and Kundavari kandrika in the corporation in 1985. More than 200,000 people in metro reside outside corporation limits. Many areas on outskirts or yet to be merged into corporation limits. The total area of the corporation is 61.8 square kilometres (23.9 sq mi) and the population of the whole city (along with Vijayawada Sub-Urban and Vijayawada Rural) is more than 2.5 Million.

The city is divided into 59 political wards. An elected body headed by the Mayor performs the Administration of the Corporation. The Commissioner acts as the executive head, and oversees the day to day functioning of the local body. The commissioner is a (IAS) officer of Joint collector rank appointed by the state government.
It has a dedicated Sub-Collector's office for Administration of State and Central Government Programmes. The staff strength of the corporation is just over 5,000. Vijayawada is one of the three cities in andhra pradesh to be provided with its own police commissionerate.The Vijayawada City Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, who is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of DIG rank.termed as one of planned city.

Economy

The Gross domestic production (GDP)of vijayawada for year 2008 is Rs 5526 crores[5] The region around the city has fertile soil and irrigation is supported by the river Krishna and its canals. Major crops include sugarcane, Rice and Mango. Vijayawada is famous for automobile body building, garment, iron and hardware small scale industries. Small scale automotive industries 'Jawahar Autonagar', was the largest automobile township in Asia for sometime. The main markets are situated in the old city (popularly known as One Town) and near Besant Road. It is estimated that nearly INR 10 crores of garment business takes place in the Vastralatha building alone in One Town daily. Garments are mainly sold in Besant Road and Governor Pet, but most upmarket stores have shifted their shops to Bandar Road. The city has many wholesale businesses. They include garments, iron market, pulses, cereals, and other edible products, fancy markets, fertilizers, mango exports, pharmacy, metal and so on.

Vijayawada is the busiest railway junction in South India, and is the second biggest junction in India. The fact that Vijayawada is well connected through rail and road keeps it the main hub of commercial activities.

Transport

Vijayawada is an important link connecting the three regions of Andhra Pradesh and is a major transit point. Two National Highways, the NH-5 from Chennai to Kolkata and the NH-9 from Machilipatnam to Mumbai pass through the city connecting it to other parts of the country. Another National highway 221 connects the city to Jagdalpur in Madhya Pradesh state. It is connected to other areas of the state, by state highways and district roads.[6]

Air

The domestic airport located at Gannavaram, about 20 km from the city, connects Vijayawada to Hyderabad and Bangalore.[7]

Rail

Station Board, Vijayawada

Situated along the Chennai - Howrah and Chennai - Delhi rail route, Vijayawada Junction is the largest railway junction on the South Central Railway network. Vijayawada junction had been given A-1 status by the central government. Krishna canal junction, Madhuranagar, Gunadala, Rayanapadu, Kondapalli, Nidamanuru, Gannavaram, Mustabada and Ramavarappadu are the other railway stations in the city. Vijayawada is the busiest railway junction in South India, and is second biggest junction in India. It has 10 platforms and is the only station have 5 entrance gates with booking counters. The railway station has escalators.

Road

Vijayawada is well connected to the rest of the country by National Highways: NH-5,NH-9 and NH 221. Transport by road from Vijayawada to all the places of interest is available in the form of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses.

All major streets are connected with the Local Public Bus Transit (City Buses) operated by APSRTC. Vijayawda Municipal Corporation (VMC) is planning to launch Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) with dedicated bus corridors.[8] The initiative, however, is mired in procedural delays and is expected to be launched by mid 2010.[9] Motor driven (auto) rickshaws and manual driven (cycle) rickshaws are the other alternative means of transport within Vijayawada. Private lorries (trucks), cars and two-wheelers (motorcycles and scooters) abound as well. Public and private bus operators provide transport services to various parts of the country.

Vijayawada also has the second biggest bus terminal in the Asia, next to Chennai. It was inaugurated on 23 September 1990 and is officially named as Telugu Satavahana Prayana Pranganam.

Education

Vijayawada, also called "Vidyala wada" (Place of Education), occupies a large amount of the educational infrastructure of Andhra Pradesh. The city was named "The Educational Sahara" by a foreign ambassador.

Education in the city is implemented by both the government and the private institutions. Vijayawada Municipal Corporation takes care of the government educational institutions.

Following are statistics of government schools:[10]

There are also “aided” schools in Vijayawada, meaning schools with both government and private partnerships as well, such as the Gollapudi high-school. Government schools are located at different places like the Jammichettu center, the Patamata high-school and Suryarao Peta, to name a few. Private schools are scattered all over the city. A majority of them implement the Andhra Pradesh State Syllabus for their students. The students, after studying their 10th class, take the Public Examination, which is equivalent of the school-leaving certificate. There are only a few schools accredited to the Central Board of Secondary Education in the city-meaning their class Ten students have to take the All India Secondary School Examination(AISSE) for their school-leaving certificate.

NTR Univ. of Health Sciences

The first college built in Vijayawada was SRR & CVR college. Andhra Loyola College was established in the year 1953 with Rev. Francis Theo Mathias, SJ as its first Principal. KBN College is another popular college in Vijayawada. The first private engineering college in Andhra Pradesh, V R Siddhartha Engineering College, is located here. The branch of the premier centre of excellence under the central government - School of Planning and Architecture (SPA, V) has been allocated to Vijayawada and has commenced its courses since 2008.

The NTR University of Health Sciences is the first medical university in India. It is a public university in the city of Vijayawada. It started functioning from 1 November 1986.

Sports

Cricket is the most popular sport, with National level cricket matches played at Indira Gandhi Stadium.[11] A new international stadium is being built in a 20-acre (81,000 m2) site in Mangalagiri which will replace the local stadium as the venue for international and Ranji matches.[12] Badminton, Chess and Volleyball are also popular.

Famous sports personalities from Vijayawada include:

Attractions

Religious

Others

caption : Prakasam Barrage on river Krishna
caption : Undavalli Caves

Sister cities

Vijayawada has one sister city:[13]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.imd.gov.in/section/climate/vijayawada2.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.imd.gov.in/section/climate/vijaywada2.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/25/stories/2006052503630200.htm
  4. ↑ VMC
  5. ↑ http://www.livemint.com/2009/09/07215125/The-rapidly-growing-stable-ma.html
  6. ↑ http://www.morth.nic.in/statedetailsmain.asp?state=14
  7. ↑ http://www.airportsindia.org.in/allAirports/vijayawada.jsp
  8. ↑ http://www.ourvmc.org/jnnurm/brts_dtls.htm
  9. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Vijayawada-BRTS-faces-IAS-hurdle/articleshow/5256120.cms
  10. ↑ http://www.ourvmc.org/general/edu.htm
  11. ↑ Vijayawada cricket stadium
  12. ↑ The Hindu: Andhra Pradesh / Vijayawada News: Keeping home turf in top shape
  13. ↑ Modesto Sister Cities

External links

 State of Andhra Pradesh
Capital : Hyderabad
Topics

History · Politics · Telugu people
Districts

Adilabad · Anantapur · Chittoor · East Godavari · Guntur · Hyderabad · Kadapa · Karimnagar · Khammam · Krishna · Kurnool · Mahbubnagar · Medak · Nalgonda · Nellore · Nizamabad · Prakasam · Rangareddy · Srikakulam · Visakhapatnam · Vizianagaram · Warangal · West Godavari
Major cities

Hyderabad · Visakhapatnam · Vijayawada · Tirupati · Warangal · Hanamakonda · Guntur · Rajahmundry · Kakinada · Nellore · Kurnool · Anantapur · Ramagundam ·  · Eluru · Machilipatnam · Bhimavaram · Karimnagar · Mancherial ·  · Kadapa · Khammam · Bhadrachalam · Nizamabad
Portal : Andhra Pradesh
Krishna district