Vijayawada

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Vijayawada
విజయవాడ
Bejjamwada, Bezawada, Rajendracholapuram
Metropolis
Clockwise from Top Left:Vijayawada City View, Kanakadurga Temple on Indrakeeladri, Prakasam Barrage, Vijayawada Junction Railway Station, VMC Pylon
Clockwise from Top Left:Vijayawada City View, Kanakadurga Temple on Indrakeeladri, Prakasam Barrage, Vijayawada Junction Railway Station, VMC Pylon
Nickname(s): Bezawada, The Place of Victory
Vijayawada is located in Andhra Pradesh
Vijayawada
Vijayawada
Location of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country India
State Andhra Pradesh
Region Coastal Andhra
District Krishna
Founded by Arjuna
Named for Victory
Government
 • Type Mayor–Council
 • Body Vijayawada Municipal Corporation[1]
 • MLA's Gadde Ramamohan (East),
Janab Jaleel Khan (West),
Bonda Uma Maheswara Rao (Central)[2]
 • MP's Kesineni Srinivas[3]
 • Mayor K. Sridhar
 • Police commissioner Goutham Savangh[4]
Area[1]
 • Metropolis 61.88 km2 (23.89 sq mi)
 • Metro[1] 110.44 km2 (42.64 sq mi)
Area rank 6th (in state)
Elevation[5] 23 m (75 ft)
Population (2011)[6]
 • Metropolis 1,034,358
 • Rank 43rd (India)
2nd (Andhra Pradesh)
 • Density 16,939/km2 (43,870/sq mi)
 • Metro[7] 1,476,931
Demonym(s) Vijayawadian[8]
Languages
 • Official Telugu
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 520 XXX
Telephone code +91–866
Vehicle registration AP–16 (AP 17, AP 18 and AP 19 reserved)
Website www.ourvmc.org

Vijayawada is a city on the banks of the Krishna River, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the headquarters of Vijayawada (urban) mandal in Krishna district of the state. The city is one of the suburbs of the state capital Amaravati, under the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region, and the headquarters of APCRDA.[10] The city is one of the major trading and business centers of the state and hence, it is also known as "The Business Capital of Andhra Pradesh".[11][12] The city is one of the two metropolis in the state, with the other being Visakhapatnam. As of 2011 census, the city had a population of 1,048,240, making it the second largest city in the state in terms of population and it had an urban agglomeration population of 1,491,202.[6][7]

The city has been recognised as a "Global City of the Future" by McKinsey Quarterly.[13] It is one of the commercial hubs of Andhra Pradesh with a GDP of $3 billion in 2010, and is expected to increase to $17 billion by 2025.[14] The political, agricultural, industrial sectors are a boon for its recognition. It is the hub of transportation with one of the largest railway junctions in India.

Toponomy

There are many legends behind the origin of the name Vijayawada. Goddess Durga killed the demon and relaxed in this place for some time. As she was victorious (vijaya), the place came to be known as Vijayawada (vijaya translates to victory and wada as place/location, literally "The Place of Victory"). The epic Mahabharata refers to the Indrakiladri hills as the place where Arjuna secured Pashupatastra from Lord Shiva. The city thereafter came to be known as Vijayavatika and later as Vijayawada.[15] In some legends, Vijayawada was referred to as Rajendracholapura. A tale behind its acquiring the name "Bezawada" is that Goddess Krishnaveni (River Krishna) requested Arjuna to make a passage for her to merge into the Bay of Bengal. Hence, Arjuna made a bejjam (hole) through the mountains and the place came to be known as Bejjamwada which later changed to Bezawada.[16][17]

Prakasam barrage. a landmark to Vijayawada

History

Vijayawada history reveals that Bezawada (Vijayawada) was ruled by King Madhava Varma (Ancestor of Pusapatis of Vizianagaram).[18]

Major projects during British rule are, the Prakasam Barrage, was completed and a railway bridge over the River Krishna that connected Guntur City and its district was one of many improvements constructed.

Geography

Vijayawada is surrounded by the Krishna river on the east and west, and the Budameru River on the north. The northern, northwestern, and southwestern parts of the city are covered by a low range of hills, while the central, southwestern and northwestern 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 along the city. These hills are part of the Eastern Ghats cut through by the Krishna river. Three canals originating from the north side of the Prakasham barrage reservoir, Eluru, Bandar and Ryves, run through the city.[19]

Climate

Vijayawada has a tropical climate with hot summers and a monsoon season. Temperatures can reach 47 °C (117 °F) in May–June, while the winter temperatures rarely fall below 15 °C (59 °F). The average humidity is 78%, and the average annual rainfall is 921.5 millimetres (36 in). Vijayawada gets its rainfall from both the southwest monsoon and northeast monsoon. With its hot and humid conditions, the city is often referred as Blazewada.[20]

Climate data for Vijayawada (1971–2000)
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)		 35.7
(96.3)		 37.8
(100)		 40.0
(104)		 37.4
(99.3)		 33.7
(92.7)		 32.7
(90.9)		 33.0
(91.4)		 32.1
(89.8)		 31.0
(87.8)		 29.9
(85.8)		 33.8
(92.8)
Average low °C (°F) 18.4
(65.1)		 20.5
(68.9)		 22.6
(72.7)		 25.5
(77.9)		 27.4
(81.3)		 27.0
(80.6)		 25.3
(77.5)		 25.1
(77.2)		 25.0
(77)		 23.8
(74.8)		 21.4
(70.5)		 19.1
(66.4)		 23.4
(74.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 0.8
(0.031)		 9.2
(0.362)		 9.7
(0.382)		 17.1
(0.673)		 44.3
(1.744)		 118.7
(4.673)		 189.2
(7.449)		 174.3
(6.862)		 158.3
(6.232)		 129.3
(5.091)		 59.7
(2.35)		 11.0
(0.433)		 921.5
(36.28)
Average precipitation days 0.3 0.6 0.7 1.1 2.4 6.8 11.9 10.6 8.4 7.1 3.1 0.8 53.6
Source: India Meteorological Department[21]

Demographics

Historical population
Year Pop. ±%
1871 8,206 —    
1881 9,366 +14.1%
1891 20,224 +115.9%
1901 24,224 +19.8%
1911 32,867 +35.7%
1921 44,159 +34.4%
1931 60,427 +36.8%
1941 86,184 +42.6%
1951 161,198 +87.0%
1961 234,360 +45.4%
1971 344,607 +47.0%
1981 543,008 +57.6%
1991 845,756 +55.8%
2001 1,039,518 +22.9%
2011 1,491,202 +43.5%
Since 1871, the population is that of Vijayawada Urban Agglomeration

Sources: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

2. Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011 City Name:VIJAYAWADA

As of 2011 Census of India, the city had a population of 1,048,240. The total population constitute, 524,918 males and 523,322 females —a sex ratio of 997 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 940 per 1000.[22] 92,848 children are in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 47,582 are boys and 45,266 are girls—a ratio of 951 per 1000. The average literacy rate stands at 82.59% (male 86.25%; female 78.94%) with 789,038 literates, significantly higher than the national average of 73.00%.[6][23]

The Vijayawada Urban Agglomeration had a population of 1,491,202, of which males constitute 750,770, females constitute 740,432 —a sex ratio of 986 females per 1000 males and 133,396 children are in the age group of 0–6 years. There are a total of 1,107,903 literates with an average literacy rate of 81.60%.[7] The city's population is expected to reach 2.5 million by 2025.[13] The Muslims constitute about 250,000 or approximately 21% of the total 1.2 million population in Vijayawada.[24]

Governance

Civic administration

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is the civic governing body of the city. It was constituted on 1 April 1888, and was upgraded to selection grade municipality in 1960. The municipality was then became corporation in the year 1981. The jurisdictional area of the corporation is spread over an area of 61.8 km2 (23.9 sq mi) with 59 wards.[1]

Vijayawada urban agglomeration is spread over an area of 110.44 km2 (42.64 sq mi) in two districts of Krishna and Guntur.[1] Its constituents in Krishna district are Vijayawada municipal corporation, out growths of Gollapudi, Jakkampudi, Ambapuram, Phiryadi Nainavaram, Pathapadu, Nunna, Enikepadu, Nidamanuru, Done Atkuru, Ganguru, Penamaluru, census towns of Ramavarappadu, Prasadampadu, Kanuru, Poranki, Tadigadapa, Yenamalakuduru. While, in Guntur district are Tadepalle municipality and its out growth of Undavalli, Mangalagiri municipality and its out growths of Navuluru and Atmakur.[25]

Utility services

Water supply, maintenance of roads, drainage and Solid waste management services are provided by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation. There exists underground drainage system in the city since 1967-68. Fire fighting services are maintained by the Andhra Pradesh Fire Services Department with five fire stations operating around the city. India Post provides physical mail services. As per National Urban Sanitation Policy, the city was ranked 24th in the country in 2009–10, with a total of 24.580 points.[26] The corporation won many awards and achievements such as, National Urban Water Award (2009), Siti e-Governance Project by CRISIL, CSI Nihilent runner-up, finalists in Stockholm Challenge, ISO 9001 certification for Quality Management System.[1]

Law and Order

The Vijayawada City Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, who is an Indian Police Service officer of Additional Director General of Police rank along with two Deputy Commissioners of Police who are also IPS officers. The present Police commissioner is Goutham Savangh[27]

Economy

Agriculture, commercial trade, tourism, industries, transportation and tertiary sectors etc., are the major sectors that contribute to the economy of the city. Vijayawada is famous for processing of agricultural products, automobile body building, hardware, textile, consumer goods and small scale industries. GDP of Vijayawada for 2008 was stimated at Rs 55.26 billion and it was $3 billion (Rs. 180 billion) in 2010.[13][28] The fact that Vijayawada is well connected through rail and road, makes it one of the main hubs of commercial activities.

The city is promoting the usage of renewable energy sources. It is one of the city in the state to use biodiesel, alongside Visakhapatnam.[29] The city is covered under Solar/Green Cities scheme launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and is one of the 15 cities in the country listed in Pilot Solar Cities.[30]

Agro-based industries such as cotton, turmeric, and Virginia tobacco are located in the surrounding areas. There are also oil, dal and rice mills located at Kondapalli. Real Estate is another sector in Vijayawada which is very high in property prices and are comparable with top cities of India.

Industrial estates

The two well equipped industrial estates in Vijayawada are Auto-Nagar and other near Kondapalli. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Auto Nagar Industrial Estate in Vijayawada is one of the largest auto industry hubs of Asia.[31] The industrial estate in Kondapalli suburb is spread over 450 acres (1.8 km2), and is base to more than 800 industries. The Kondapalli Estate houses thermal power plants, and is base to more than 800 industrial units. Kondapalli suburb also houses Andhra Pradesh Heavy Machinery and Engineering Limited (APHMEL) factory.[32] It is also a hub for storage, bottling and transportation of petroleum products of all major companies like BPCL, HPCL, IOC etc.[33]

Culture

The city has good history in art, literature and culture. There exists many religions, languages with different traditions and festivals.[34] Dussera celebrations are noticeable which involves Durga Pooja, Theppotsavam[35] mainly due to the existence of self manifested Kanaka Durga Temple, other festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali etc., of Hindus, Eid ul-Fitr of Muslims and Christmas of Christians. The clothing includes traditional men wearing dhoti and women wearing saree and salwar kameez. Western clothing is also predominant in the urban areas.[36]

Arts, crafts and artifacts

Vijayawada Art Society promotes Telugu arts.[37] The city had hosted Poetic Prism-2015, a multi-lingual poet’s meet in the city on 19 September 2015. All these activities are organized in collaboration with organisations like the Cultural Centre of Vijayawada.[38] Kondapalli Toys are an example handmade toys by local artisans at Kondapalli village, a suburb of Vijayawada.[39] Victoria Jubilee Museum is an archaeological museum which has sculptures, paintings and artifacts of Buddhist and Hindu relics, dated back to 2nd and 3rd centuries.[40]

Cityscape and landmarks

Panorama of Vijayawada at night

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Main article: List of visitor attractions in Vijayawada
Prakasam Barrage
Idol of Krishnaveni on the banks of Krishna River
Vijayawada – Kanaka Durga Temple

The city has many landmarks both in and around the city. Some of the notable places includes, Prakasham Barrage, the barrage across the Krishna river, built by "Sir Arthur Cotton". Krishnaveni Mandapam, also known as "River Museum" is situated beside Prakasam Barrage, houses vivid history of Krishna river. The Krishnaveni statue at the Prakasam barrage is the idol for the river Krishna. As, the river is also referred to as "Krishnaveni" in its original nomenclature. Kanaka Durga Temple on Indrakeeladri hill, at the banks of Krishna river,[15] Hazarat Bal Mosque being a holy relic of the Prophet Mohammed and Mary Matha Church installed by St. Joseph's Orphanage at Gunadala are other religious landmarks.

Gandhi Hill is the first Gandhi Memorial in the country, constructed on a hill, located at an elevation of 500 ft in the city. Many green parks under Vijayawada Municipal Corporation are present in the city to protect the environment. These includes, Raghavaiah park, Rajiv Gandhi park, Dr.B.R Ambedkar park, Mahatma Gandhi park etc.[41] Bhavani Island is one of the largest island, located in midst of the Krishna River. It is at the upstream of Prakasam Barrage of the city which is being developed by APTDC into a tourist spot and a Riverfront resort.

Nearby landmarks in the surrounding suburbs include Mogalarajapuram Caves (5th century AD), Undavalli Caves (7th century AD Buddhist landmark), Kondapalli Fort (7th century AD) in Kondapalli village etc.,[42] Lord Narasimha temple in Mangalagiri, located 14 km from the city, is the abode of Lord Narasimha. Kondapalli Forest, located 20 km from Vijayawada, is spread over 121.5 square kilometres (30,000 acres). The fauna include of this forest include leopards, wild dogs, jackals, wild boar, wolves etc.[43]

Transport

Road

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Main article: Pandit Nehru Bus Station
1932 model bus India named as Deccan Queen and was used in passenger service by the Nizam govt. of Hyderabad kingdom
File:Vijayawada varadhi.jpg
NH 5 at Varadhi, Vijayawada

Vijayawada is well connected to the rest of the country by National Highways. Two National Highways, the NH 5 (Now NH-16) from Chennai to Kolkata and the NH 9 (Now NH-65) from Machilipatnam to Pune, pass through the city connecting it to other parts of the country. Benz Circle is the intersection of NH 5 and NH 9, which happens to be the busiest area in the city. NH 16 is a part of the Golden Quadrilateral Project undertaken by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). NH 221 (Now NH-30) connects the city to Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh. It is connected to other areas of the state by state highways and district roads.

Garuda Plus bus service of the APSRTC

The Pandit Nehru Bus Station was inaugurated on 23 September 1990 and was officially named as Telugu Satavahana Prayana Pranganam later renamed to its current name. It is third largest and busiest bus terminals in India alongside Delhi, CMBT (Chennai) . State run APSRTC buses are operated from the terminal. APSRTC runs more than 450 city buses in the city which include Ordinary, Metro Express and City Sheetal (A/C Buses). It is the first city in the south India to introduce CNG buses in its fleet. Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is planning to launch BRTS with dedicated bus corridors.[44]

Private bus operators also provide transport services. Motor-driven auto-rickshaws and manual-driven cycle-rickshaws are the other alternative means of transport within Vijayawada. Private lorries, cars and two-wheelers are common.

Rail

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Main article: Vijayawada Junction
Vijayawada Railway Station

Vijayawada railway station is an important junction in South Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. It is situated along the Howrah-Chennai main line and Delhi–Chennai line and categorized as an A-1 station under the jurisdiction of Vijayawada railway division.[45] It is one of the busiest station, handling more than 320 trains (both passenger and freight trains) per day next to Howrah and Mumbai. It has an Electric Loco Shed with a capacity to maintain 100 Electric Locomotives and a Wagon workshop at Guntupalli, near Vijayawada. Madhuranagar, Gunadala, Rayanapadu, Kondapalli, Nidamanuru, Krishna Canal, Ramavarappadu, Kolanukonda, Mangalagiri, Gannavaram are the other railway stations in the city.

Air Costa at Vijayawada Airport

Air

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Main article: Vijayawada Airport

Vijayawada Airport is located at Gannavaram. It connects the city Hyderabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Chennai and Delhi. Vijayawada Airport is served by Air India, SpiceJet, TruJet and Air Costa. Annually, about 380,000 passengers use this airport. A plan for its expansion has been proposed which will enable the landing of larger aircraft and also provide night landing facilities.

Education

Vijayawada, also called "Vidyala wada" (Place of Education), occupies a large amount of the education infrastructure of Andhra Pradesh. The city was named "The Educational Sahara".[46] Both government and private institutions operate in the city to provide standard education. Vijayawada Municipal Corporation(VMC) takes care of the government educational institutions. They run many Government schools with many High schools and also English / Telugu, Urdu medium schools as well.[citation needed] There are many Upper primary and Elementary schools as well alongside some aided schools. Andhra Pradesh Library Association has its headquarters located at Vijayawada.[47]

Colleges & Universities

Andhra Loyola College Entrance Bridge

The first college built in Vijayawada was SRR & CVR Government College. Andhra Loyola College was established in 1953. The Govt Polytechnic College was established here in 1960. The first private engineering college in Andhra Pradesh, V R Siddhartha Engineering College, is located here. School of Planning and Architecture,Vijayawada (SPAV) was established in 2008, a higher education institute in Vijayawada. It is one of the three School of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2008 as an autonomous institute and a fully Central funded Institution.

There are many other colleges namely MIC College of Technology, Prasad V. Potluri Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Nalanda Degree College, Maris Stella College, P.B.Siddhartha College of Arts and Sciences, Andhra Loyola Institute of Engineering & Technology, Potti Sriramulu College of Engineering & Technology.

Media

The major Telugu newspapers in city are Sakshi, Eenadu, Andhra Bhoomi, Andhra Prabha, Vaartha, Suryaa, Prajasakti and Vishalandra. The major English newspapers in the city are The Hindu, The Times of India, Deccan Chronicle, The Hindu Business Line, The New Indian Express and The Hans India. Electronic Media include HMTV, ETV and Sakshi.

Sports

File:Pwdground vijayawada.png
Indira Gandhi Stadium, Vijayawada

Cricket is the most popular sport, with national-level matches played at Indira Gandhi Stadium.[48] It is also the stadium for Krishna District Cricket Association. Mangalagiri International Cricket Stadium is being built in a 20-acre (8.1 ha) site in Navuluru, village of Mangalagiri town, Guntur district, about 15 km from the city of Vijayawada. The exclusive stadium of the Andhra Cricket Association will be the venue for international and Ranji matches.[49] Only one international cricket match was played between India and West Indies on 24 November 2002 at Indira Gandhi stadium. It was won by West Indies. On 12 December 1997 Women's Cricket Worldcup only a group match was played between England Women's Cricket Team and Pakistan women's cricket team, and it was won by England. Indian women's cricket academy is located in Guntur the twin city of vijayawada. Vijaya Madhavi Tennis Academy is situated in Layola College, led by Shri. Radha Krishna Murthy, a prominent tennis player.

Badminton, volleyball and chess are also popular.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "vmc" defined multiple times with different content
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  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  9. ↑ Sri G. Veerapandian, I.A.S. ourvmc.org
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  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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