NTR District was newly proposed district is named as NTR District as a ark of respect and recognition of the of the stellar contribution of Sri Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Garu, who officiated for 3 times as a Chief Minister of Combined Andhra Pradesh. NTR District with its district head quarters at Vijayawada formerly called as Bezawada.

The District is divided into 20 Mandals covering 3 Revenue Divisions viz., 1.Vijayawda 2. Nandigama 3. Tiruvuru. The District is naturally Upland Zone. The upland consists of an undulating broken by low ranges of Eastern Ghats. (The main sources of Irrigation in upland are tanks. It is being benefited by the water of Nargarjuna Sagar also The delta land is being irrigated by canals of river Krishna.

The population of the District is 2218591 comprising of 305 inhabited and 16 uninhabited villages. There are 4 Municipalities viz., 1. Tiruvuru 2. Nandigama 3. Jaggayyapeta 4. Ibrahimpatnam and one Municipal Corporation in Vijayawada.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Latitude

16° 86’ N and 17° 14’ N

Longitude

15° 71’ E and 16° 47’ of E

AREA

3316 Sq. Kms

BOUNDARIES

East

Eluru district

West

Guntur and Nalgonda districts

North

Khammam district

South

Krishna

RIVERS:

The famous river Krishna is flowing in this district. Part of upland mandals as well as the delta Mandals is now having the facility of utilising the Krishna river water for irrigation purpose. Krishna being a great and sacred river of South Indian like Godavari and Cauvery flows almost across the peninsula from West to East and finally joins the sea by two principal mouths. Among the other streams and tributaries Muniyeru, Budameru and Tammileru are significant.

Muniyeru is the chief tributary of the river Krishna and it flows from North to South across erstwhile Jaggaiahpeta and Nandigama taluks. This is an additional irrigation source available in this district. The Budameru is another hill streams which flows through several mandals viz., Mylavaram, G.Konduru, Unguturu, Vijayawada, and finally falls into Kolleru Lake. Agriculturally, the importance of the above sources is more as they not only feed minor irrigation tanks but also provide for lift irrigation sources and ground water potential.

CLIMATE & RAINFALL:

The district has no worth mentioning forests. However, it contains Reserved Forest areas in Nandigama, Vijayawada, Tiruvuru, Nuzvid, Gannavaram, Bandar and Divi taluks. A type of lightwood known as ‘PONUKU’ (Gyrocapus Jacquini) is found on the Kondapalli hills. The wood is used for the manufacture of the well known Kondpalli toys. The most noticeable trees are pterocarpus, Terminalia, Anogeissus and Logustroeinai and Casuarina.

SOILS

Three types of soils viz., 1. Black soil which constitute 57.6% of the villages 2. Sandy Clay-loams with 22.3% and 3. Red loamy with 19.4% of the villages are prevalent in this district, while a small sandy soils constitute 0.7% fringes on the sea coast.

AGRICULTURE

Endowed with a rich variety of soils, the district occupies an important place in Agriculture which is the most important occupation and paddy is the main food crop produced. While 2019-20 the gross cropped area of the district was 2.15 Lakh Hects of which gross irrigated area was 1.08 lakh Hects.

TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Vijayawada City is the largest commercial centre of this district and also there is an important railway junction being connected to Delhi, Calcutta,Madras, Hubli, Gudivada and Machilipatnam. It has an Aerodrome at Gannavaram about 16 Kms away and a minor sea port at Machilipatnam. The second largest Bus Station complex in the state is also located in Vijayawada.

LITERACY

NTR District has recorded a literacy of 74.43 as per 2011 census. This district is much advanced in the field of education. Almost all the villages in the district are having primary schools. NTR Medical University is located at Vijayawada.

MINERAL SOURCES:

Several Minerals like…

1.CHROMATE

Kondapally hills and adjoining areas.

2.DIAMOND

Paritala, Ustepalls, Kodavatikallu, Ramannapet,Uryavaram, Kothapet, Nemalipuram, Mugaluru, Putrela etc..

3.IRON ORE

Jaggayyapet area.

4.LIME STONE

Jaggayyapet area.

5.MICA

Tiruvuru area.

In view of the present demand for chromate for Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, it may be worthwhile to carry out detailed exploration to assess the grade and reserves.

As regards diamonds, detailed exploration of diamond ferrous gravels of Paritala and other areas is taken up by Geological Survey of India to assess the potentiality of the deposits.

Most of the iron ore from Jaggayapeta area has already been mined and exported and the mining industry was closed down.