Cuttack district

Coordinates: 20°27′58″N 85°49′59″E / 20.466°N 85.833°E / 20.466; 85.833
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Cuttack district
Precipitation
1,501.3 millimetres (59.11 in)
Avg. summer temperature40 °C (104 °F)
Avg. winter temperature10 °C (50 °F)
Websitecuttack.nic.in

Cuttack district is one of the 30

Khurda districts to the west while its southern and eastern boundaries touch Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Jajpur
districts.

History

The history of the district is the same as that of Odisha owing to the strategic location of Cuttack city. The city in some form or the other has been an administrative centre since the Kesari kings of the 10th century. The fort at Barabati continued to be the capital of the

Nawab of Bengal and the Maratha Empire, it finally fell to the British. Simultaneously, a number of petty princely states existed along the north and south bank of the Mahanadi upstream from Cuttack. After the present Sadar subdivision of the district was conquered along with the rest of Coastal Odisha by the East India Company in 1803, a magistrate and judge were appointed for the newly conquered areas with headquarters at Puri which was later shifted to Cuttack city. Further reorganisation took place in 1828 and three districts of Balasore, Puri and Cuttack with headquarters at towns of the same name were constituted. Each district was headed by an officer known as the Collector and District Magistrate who was a member of the Indian Civil Service
. The Commissioner of Orissa division with superintendence powers over these three districts as well as the associated princely states also had his headquarters at Cuttack.

The subdivision of Banki comprising the feudatory state of Banki and zamindari of Dampada was added to the district in 1840 after the Raja was deposed for murder. The district reached its greatest extent after 1948 when the princely states of Narasinghpur, Baramba, Athagad and Tigiria were added to the district post their accession to India. Subdivisions like Gram Panchayats and Community Developments blocks were introduced in 1962. A small portion of the district adjoining Bhubaneswar was transferred to Puri district that year.

Before the division of the district in 1992, it was the largest in Odisha by population. It had no less than 42 blocks and six subdivisions with headquarters at Banki, Athagad, Cuttack,

Kendrapada
. The last three were split off to form separate districts that year.

Geography and Climate

The district covers an area of 3,932 km2. The geographical location of the district is 20,4625° N latitude and 85.8830° E longitude. The average annual precipitation over the district is about 1,440 mm, most of which occurs during south-west monsoon period (June to September). The temperature seems moderate for the area throughout the year except for the summer season (March to mid-June), where the average maximum temperature is 41 °C. The average minimum temperature over the district is 10 °C.[2]

The district is divided into two distinct geographic regions. The Sadar subdivision mostly consists of the alluvial delta formed by the River Mahanadi and its distributaries. The width of the delta stretches to about 60–75 kilometres from the coast. The land is mostly flat and is intersected by numerous channels, active and abandoned, of the Mahanadi system. Few isolated hillocks near Cuttack form the only break in the plain. The land is often waterlogged during the Monsoon and an elaborate system of canals, embankments and weirs is used for both flood control and irrigation. Paddy is the primary crop and is grown throughout the year. The villages are located on an artificial high ground and are usually surrounded by copses of banyan, mango and other large trees. Most villages have one or more tanks called pokharis that supply their fresh water needs.

The Athagad and Banki subdivisions consist of broken hill country on either side of the Mahanadi river. Most of the hills are of low height and present a rounded appearance reaching a maximum of around 2500 feet along the border with

Khurda district. Numerous small streams run down these hills to join the Mahanadi. Substantial forested tracts are still to be found in the Dampada block and Narasinghpur blocks while Athagad, Tigiria and Badamba blocks are largely agricultural. A thick layer of sandstone underlies these subdivisions while occasional laterite
stone outcrops can be seen at many places.

Administration

The district is headed by a collector and district magistrate, usually from the Indian Administrative Service. The collector combines revenue collection functions with law and order responsibilities under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. He is also the lynchpin of development activities in the district and chairs numerous committees to oversee the same. In his day-to-day functions, he is assisted by two additional district magistrates who look after Revenue and General Administration. The district is divided into a total of 15 Tahsils each headed by a Tahsildar for land revenue purposes.[3]

Development activities in the district under the Panchayati Raj Department are overseen by the project director, District Rural Development Agency. The Collector is the ex-officio CEO of this agency. A total of 14 blocks under the Orissa Panchayat Samiti Act are operational in the district each headed by a Block Development Officer who reports directly to the project director and the collector.

Policing is the responsibility of the

Superintendent of Police or SP who is nominally under the District Magistrate but is independent in practice. Each block has one or more police stations headed by an Inspector or Sub Inspector in-charge. After the introduction of the Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Police Commissionerate, Magisterial powers in the urban area covered under it have been vested in the Commissioner of Police who exercises them through deputy and Assistant Commissioners of Police. The SP and senior officers of the Commissionerate are usually from the Indian Police Service
.

The three subdivisions of Banki, Athagad and Sadar are each headed by a Sub Collector cum Sub Divisional Magistrate who exercises most of the powers of the Collector in his jurisdiction. His police counterpart is the Subdivisional Police Officer. The Sub Collector exercises both direct and indirect control over the Tahsils, Blocks and Police Stations in his jurisdiction.

The urban areas of Cuttack, Banki, Athagad and Choudwar are constituted as municipal bodies. Cuttack Municipal Corporation is usually headed by a senior Indian Administrative Service officer called the municipal commissioner who is independent from the collector in his day-to-day functioning. The other three urban bodies have executive officers who report to the project director, District Urban Development Authority and the Collector.[4]

The district and Sessions Judge of Cuttack handles both civil and criminal cases. He is assisted by a number of additional district judges, civil judges and magistrates at the headquarters. At the subdivision level, the Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate heads the criminal justice system.

Education

Cuttack city is the educational hub of Odisha and is home to numerous institutions of repute. The main colleges and universities located in Cuttack include the

SCB Medical College and its hospital – again the oldest and largest in the state, the Piloo Mody College Of Architecture, the Sailabala Women's College as well as the National Law University Odisha
.

Transport

Map
Map
Map

Cuttack's location places it at the centre of the road and railway network in Odisha.

Khurda
, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara.

The main-line of the

Paradip and Sambalpur via Talcher
take off from the district. Almost all trains passing through have a stop at Cuttack.

Waterways were formerly extremely important but are almost extinct now. Limited boating takes place for pleasure or fishing on the Mahanadi. The nearest airport,

Biju Patnaik International Airport
is about 30 km away from Cuttack city.

Economy

Cuttack is widely known as the commercial capital of Odisha. It is believed to have the largest GDP among all cities in Odisha due to its large business houses and wide range of industries ranging from ferrous alloys, steel and logistics to agriculture and traditional industries like textiles and handicrafts. There are many trading houses in the city renowned nationally and internationally. The

Port of Paradip
around 85 km from the city facilitates the process.

Large-scale industries

There are 11 large-scale industries in and around Cuttack mostly in

, Cuttack. A mega-auto complex is in implementation stages on the city's outskirts.

Traditional industries

The legacy of Cuttack in traditional industries is enviable. The city is second-largest hub for textiles in eastern India after Raipur. The city's annual textile trade generates over a billion dollars. A large textile park is planned by giving a facelift to the erstwhile Orissa Textile Mills on city outskirts. Cuttack is famous for its glory of craftsmanship of handicraft work in silver filigree. These fine and unique handicraft works add significantly to the local economy.

Logistics and other industries

The number of medium- and small-scale industries concentrated around Cuttack is by far the largest among the cities in the state. The industrial estates in and around Cuttack numbers around eight. Jagatpur and Khapuria are industrial estates inside the city. A large chunk of these serve as ancillary industries for the big industrial houses in Odisha and other states.

Cuttack occupies a very significant place in the logistics map of the country. It connects the upper mineral-advanced districts and states to the Kolkata-Chennai corridor at the meeting point of NH-42 and NH-5 at Manguli Square.

The proximity to

Paradip Port
comes as an added advantage. OSL Group, one of the leading stevedore firms of the country is headquartered in Cuttack. Cuttack, being the largest business hub of the state is the nodal point of trade and transport. It also has the largest wholesale commodities market of the state at Malgodown and Chatrabazar catering to the whole state.

Primary and service sector

Agriculture is a mainstay of Cuttack's economy. The nearby villages are known for their high-quality and surplus production of crops, vegetables and fruits. These are usually sold at the largest mandi of the state at Chatrabazar inside the city. The presence of Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), the largest rice research institute in Asia, adds to the importance of Cuttack in the agricultural map of the country.

Being the former capital of the state and a big business hub, many central and state government and corporate offices are in Cuttack. The service sector is quite large. The people of nearby districts are heavily depended on the city for their livelihood, contributing to the service sector and, thus, the floating population. The presence of

Ollywood
, is based in Cuttack and adds to its economy. Education is a major industry due to large number of universities, colleges, schools and coaching centres and caters to the neighboring districts.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901816,086—    
1911835,867+0.24%
1921812,372−0.28%
1931864,780+0.63%
1941905,515+0.46%
1951935,593+0.33%
19611,131,236+1.92%
19711,414,425+2.26%
19811,719,771+1.97%
19912,052,936+1.79%
20012,340,832+1.32%
20112,624,470+1.15%
source:[5]

According to the

640).[1] The population is divided among 579,170 families. About 10% of the total population is of children below the age of 10 years. The district has a population density of 667 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,730/sq mi).[1] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 11.86%.[1] Cuttack has a sex ratio of 940 females for every 1000 males,[1] and a literacy rate of 84.2%, both higher than the all India average. 28.05% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 19.00% and 3.57% of the population respectively.[1]
The child sex ratio of 914 is lower than the overall district average.

Religion

Religions in Cuttack district (2011)[8]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
93.65%
Islam
5.38%
Christianity
0.46%
Other or not stated
0.51%

Hindus are the overwhelming majority of the district's population with more than 93.65% of the population practising

Scheduled Tribes are about 3%. Religion plays an important role in the lives of people and temples are present in every habitation. Like much of Odisha, Jagannath is the preferred deity of worship while other gods and goddesses like Durga, Ganesha and Shiva also have large shrines dedicated to them. Almost every village has a local shrine where the presiding female deity or Gram Thakurani is worshipped.[citation needed
]

Ismaili from Gujarat are found in Cuttack city while Ahmadiyya are found in Tigiria block. Large mosques are to be found in Cuttack, Raisunguda and Mahanga areas.[citation needed
]

Christians number about 0.46% of the population and are almost all descendants of converts from Hinduism. They are concentrated in Cuttack city and a couple of nearby villages in

Roman Catholic with a large number of Church of North India adherents as well. The community also runs a number of well regarded educational institutions throughout the district.[citation needed
]

A small community of Mahayana Buddhists numbering around 6,000 are found in the villages of Maniabandh and Nuapatna in Baramba and Tigiria blocks. This is the last remnant of a much larger Buddhist community that dominated Odisha for close to a thousand years till the 14th century. Almost all of them are weavers and produce the well regarded Maniabandh sarees. Apart from the usual Buddhist deities, a large number of Hindu deities are also a part of their pantheon. They are unique in being the only indigenous Buddhists to have survived outside the Himalayas in mainland India.[citation needed]

Small communities of Sikhs and Jains are also found in Cuttack city. They are mostly traders and maintain strong links with their brethren in other parts of India.[citation needed]

Languages

Languages of Cuttack district (2011)[9]

  Odia (91.36%)
  Urdu (4.66%)
  Hindi (1.24%)
  Others (2.74%)

At the time of the

2011 Census of India, 91.36% of the population in the district spoke Odia, 4.66% Urdu, 1.24% Hindi, 0.86% Bengali and 0.78% Telugu as their first language.[9]

Odia is the language of the Odia people and is spoken throughout the district. It is often the only language spoken outside the urban areas. Cuttack dialect of Odia language is widely considered to be the standard form of the Odia language and is frequently used in Odia newspapers, medium of the instruction in schools and colleges, cinemas and literary works.

Code switching is common and standard Urdu is always used for writing and formal communication. Most Muslims also speak Odia as a second language. Standard Hindi is the language of recent migrants from North India to Cuttack
city.

Cuttack city also has small Bengali and Telegu communities who migrated during the late 19th century. The former were government officials or employed in the courts and offices while the latter were mostly labourers and menial workers. They speak their respective languages with significant Odia admixture.

Politics

Under the three-tier system of

Panchayati Raj, the district is divided into three Lok Sabha
constituencies, 9 Vidhan Sabha constituencies, 1 Zila Parishad, 14 Panchayat Samitis and 373 Gram Panchayats.

The Zila Parishad is an elected body entrusted with the responsibility to oversee development activities in the district. It has 46 members including a president and a vice president. The collector is the ex-officio CEO of the Zila Parishad with the project director as the executive officer. The Panchayat Samitis are similar bodies at the block level with the block development officer as CEO. Gram Panchayats occupy the lowest rung and are headed by a Sarpanch assisted by an executive officer. Other Panchayat level officials include the Junior Engineer and the Gram Rozgar Sewak.

Most of Cuttack district is a part of the

Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency
.

The following are the 9 Vidhan sabha constituencies[10][11] of Cuttack district and their elected members[12] of that area

No. Constituency Reservation Extent of the Assembly Constituency (Blocks) Member of 16th Assembly Party
87
Baramba
None Baramba, Narasinghapur Debi Prasad Mishra BJD
88 Banki None Banki (NAC), Banki, Banki-Damapara, Baranga (part) Debi Ranjan Tripathy BJD
89 Athgarh None Athgarh (NAC), Athgarh, Tigiria, Tangi-Chowdwar (part) Ranendra Pratap Swain BJD
90
Barabati-Cuttack
None Cuttack (MC) (part) Mohammad Moquim INC
91 Choudwar-Cuttack None Chowdwar (M), Chowdwar (O. G), Charbatia (C. T), Cuttack (MC) (part), Tangi-Chowdwar (part) Souvic Biswal BJD
92 Niali SC Niali, Kantapada, Baranga (part) Pramod Kumar Mallick BJD
93 Cuttack Sadar SC Cuttack Sadar, Cuttack (MC) (part), Nischintakoili (part) Chandra Sarathi Behera BJD
87
Salipur
None Salipur, Tangi-Chowdwar (part) Prasanta Behera BJD
95 Mahanga None Mahanga, Nischintakoili (part) Pratap Jena BJD

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "District Census Handbook 2011 - Cuttack" (PDF). Census of India. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  2. S2CID 11416484
    .
  3. ^ "Administrative Setup | District Cuttack , Government of Odisha | India".
  4. ^ "CMC at a Glance – Cuttack municipal corporation".
  5. ^ Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901
  6. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 2011-10-01. Kuwait 2,595,62
  7. ^ "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2011-09-30. Nevada 2,700,551
  8. ^ "Table C-01 Population by Religious Community: Odisha". Census of India, 2011. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  9. ^ a b "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Odisha". Census of India 2011. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  10. ^ Assembly Constituencies and their EXtent
  11. ^ Seats of Odisha
  12. ^ "List of Member in Sixteenth Assembly". ws.ori.nic.in. Archived from the original on 2 May 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2013. MEMBER NAME

External links