Latur district

Latur district (लातूर जिल्हा) is a district in Maharashtra state of India. Latur city is the district headquarters. In the last census on 2001, the total population of the district was 2,080,285. Urban population comprises 20.08% of the total population. The current population of Latur urban agglomerate is over 4 lacs.

History
Latur has an ancient history, which probably dates to the Rashtrakuta period. It was home to a branch of Rashtrakutas which ruled the Deccan from year 753-973AD.The first Rashtrakuta king Dantidurga was from Lattalur (kannada: ಲಟ್ಟಲೂರು), probably the ancient name for Latur. Anecdotally, Ratnapur is also mentioned as a name for Latur.

The King Amoghavarsha of Rashtrakutas developed the Latur city, originally the native place of the Rashtrakutas. The Rashtrakutas who succeeded the Chalukyas of Badami in 753 A.D called themselves the residents of Lattalut.

It was, over the centuries, variously ruled by the Satavahanas, the Sakas, the Chalukyas, the Yadavas of Deogiri, the Delhi Sultans, the Bahamani rulers of South India, Adilshahi, and the Mughals.

Later in the 19th century it became part of the independent princely state of Hyderabad. In 1905 it was merged with surrounding areas and renamed Latur tehsil, and became part of Osmanabad district. Before 1948, Latur was a part of Hyderabad state under Nizam. The chief of Nizam's Razakar army Qasim Rizwi was from Latur. After independence and the merger of Hyderabad with the Indian Union, Osmanabad became part of Bombay Province. In 1960, with the creation of Maharashtra, it became one of its districts. On August 15, 1982, a separate Latur district was carved out of Osmanabad district.

The city is a tourist hub, surrounded with many historical monuments including the Kharosa Caves, as well as Sri Satya Sai Baba Temple.

Geography
Latur is located at 18.4°N, 76.58°W. It has an average elevation of 631 metres (2070 ft). It is situated 636 metre above mean sea level.

The entire district of Latur is situated on the Balaghat plateau, 540 to 638 metres from the mean sea level. Latur district is located between 17°52' North to 18°50' North and 76°18' East to 79°12' East in the Deccan plateau.

Latur District is in the Marathwada region in Maharashtra in India. It is bounded by Nanded District to the East; south-west: Osmanabad District to the south-west; Beed District to the north-west; Parbhani District to the north; Andhra Pradesh and Karnatakato the south-east.

Climate
Average rainfall in the district is 600 to 800 mm. This is usually during the monsoon months from July - October. Moderate temperatures are mainly observed here. The rainfall is unpredictable in tune with the Indian monsoon. Summers here begin from early March to July. Summers are dry and hot. The temperature ranges from 24 °C to 39.6 °C, though at the peak they may reach 41 °C. From November to January, is the winter season. Temperatures at the peak drop to single digits but usually they hover around 13.9 °C to 21.8 °C sometimes lowers up to 11 °C. January to March are the months with moderate temperatures.

Rivers and lakes and Dams
Major rivers of the district are:

Manjra, Terna, Rena, Manar, Tawarja, Tiru and Gharni.

However the Godavaris and its branches offer lot of opportunity for damming the streams leading to large number of rivers in Latur district.

Demographics
Latur have a population of 2,080,285 in 2001 India census. Males constitute 52% and females 48% of the population. Latur has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 77%, and female literacy is 63%. In Latur, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age. For every 1000 males age 6 and older, there were 935 females.

The primary language is Marathi. Kannada, Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali and Rajasthani are also spoken.

Culture and Religion
Fairs and festivals: Shri Siddeshwar fair at Latur is held every year. Thousands of people attend the Gangaram Maharaj Samadhi every Ekadashi at Hattibet in Udgir tehsil. In January 2011, the first ever 'Latur Festival' was organised on the 10th, 11th and 12th January under the guidance of Shri Amitji Deshmukh. The grand success of this event has now ensured a permanent spot on the cultural calendar. Now this will be an annual fixture. The event is organised by the Latur Club and managed by Indian Magic Eye Pvt. Ltd. Religious places: Ausa, Hattibet, Nilanga, Renapur, Shirur Anantpal, Tambala, Ujani History: Latur has an ancient history. It was home to the Rashtrakutas and was part of Ashoka's empire. It was, over the centuries, variously ruled by the Satavahanas, the Sakas, the Chalukyas, the Yadavas of Deogiri, the Delhi Sultans, the Bahamani rulers of South India, Adil Shahi, and the Mughals. Later in the 19th century it became part of the independent princely state of Hyderabad. Earlier known as Naldurg tehsil, in 1905 it was merged with surrounding areas and renamed Latur tehsil, and became part of Osmanabad district. After independence and the merger of Hyderabad with the Indian Union, Osmanabad became part of Bombay Province. In 1960, with the creation of Maharashtra, it became one of its districts. On August 15, 1982, Latur was separated from Osmanabad to form a separate Latur district. The district may be divided into two regions—the Balaghat plateau, and the northeastern region consisting of Ahmadpur and Udgir.

Higher education
Latur has developed as a good educational center in Maharashtra over the years.

From Past few Years, Latur have emerged as a strong Educational hub for Secondary School and Higher Secondary School. Students from Latur are always in top spot when it comes to results. In last decade almost all Maharashtra Topers comes from Latur.

Famous colleges include Rajarshi Shahu College, Dayanand College of Commerce, Dayanand College of Arts, Dayanand Science College, Dayanand College of Law, Om Sai College of Computer Science,Kesharbai Kale Girls' College, Mahatma Basweshwar College Mahatma Basweshwar College, Udaygiri College, Hawagi Swami College, Mahatma Gandhi College, M.S. Bidve Engineering College, M.I.M.S.R.Medical College, Govt. Medical College, Manjara Ayurvedic College, Dayanand Law College and several others to name a few.

Primary and secondary education
There are many Zilla Parishad school in Latur District. There is many Primary Pravite School some are 1) Azad primary school Jai Nagar,Malvati Road Latur 2) '''Shree Keshavraj Vidyalay Sham Nagar Latur. 3)''' Shree Deshikendra Vidyalay Latur

Latur is famous as Latur pattern for SSC and HSC.The major role player colleges are 1.Shree Rajarshi shahu science college Latur. 2.Shree Dayanand Science College Latur.

Latur having one Engineering, two medical colleges and Residential Girls government Poly technical college.

Divisions
Administratively the district is divided 3 Sub Divisions namely Latur, Nilanga & Udgir and into 10 talukas & 10 Panchayat Samitis. These are Latur, Udgir, Ahmedpur, Ausa, Nilanga, Renapur, Chakur, Deoni, Shirur Anantpal, and Jalkot. Latur city is the administrative headquarters of the district. There are around 945 villages & 786 Gram Panchayats in the district.

There are 6 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in this district. These are Latur City, Latur Rural, Udgir, Ausa, Nilanga and Ahmedpur. The district is divided into 2 Lok Sabha constituencies Latur & Osmanabad.

Cities and towns
Latur city, Udgir, Ahmadpur, Ausa, Nilanga are the major urban centers in the district. All these cities are administered by the respective Municipal Councils.


 * Chakur
 * Renapur
 * Murud and
 * These are Fastly developing Villages which is not administered by any Municipal Councils. These village are having Gram panchayat.
 * These are Fastly developing Villages which is not administered by any Municipal Councils. These village are having Gram panchayat.

Pilgrimage centers

 * Latur
 * Renapur
 * Chakur

Forts
There are some forts in and around Latur District, including:


 * Udgir
 * Ausa
 * Aurad Sha.

Latur district has got some Tourist Attractions.

1. Wadwal Nagnath- This small hillock near Chakur is home to hundreds of rare species of plants, most of them believed to be of medicinal use in Ayurveda. Every year, yatra is held here when thousands of pilgrims from the district and nearby throng to Wadwal.

2. Sai Nandanwan- Another tourist spot near Chakur. Recently developed. Spread into nearly 400 acre, it has mango plantations, water park and amusement park. A temple of Satya Sai Baba is situated in the middle of the park.

3. Devarjan- Another small hill in Udgir taluka with small temple on the top.

4. Kharosa - It has caves carved out into latterite rocks. Believed to belong to 8th century AD.

5. Udgir and Ausa have forts.

6. Latur also has good tourist attractions like Siddheshwar temple, Viraat Hanuman, Nana Nani Park, etc.

Economy
Latur was one of the important trading hub during the time of Nizam of Hyderabad. It is an industrial center as well as agriculture based economy. Latur is the rising Industrial Hub Of Marathwada.

Latur is known all over India for the Quality and Quantity of Pulses that it produces and especially Toor Dall a.k.a. Arhar dal or Pegion Peas. Latur is also a major trading center for Urad, Moong and Channa along with TUR. Also it is known for trading in Oil Seeds mainly Sun-flower and Soya Bean, nutcrackers, locks, brassware, milk powder, ginning and pressing.

Air
Latur Airport is located near Chincholiraowadi, northwest of Latur city. Latur Airport was a small airport constructed in 1991 by Public Works Department (PWD) and then handed over to MIDC. It has been upgraded at a cost of nearly Rs.140 million and has all required facilities, including a new runway and night landing facilities. Weekly thrice is the frequency of the air transport by kingfisher from latur airport.

As of January 2009, Kingfisher Airlines operates a regular service on the Mumbai-Nanded-Latur sector departing Mumbai at 6 a.m., halting at Nanded and reaching Latur at 8.20 a.m. on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The flight schedules of Kingfisher Airlines may be consulted for actual travel as the schedules may change without notice.

The tri-weekly flight service connecting Latur with Mumbai proposes to cater to the needs of pilgrims, traders, entrepreneurs and industrialists who have been instrumental in bolstering trade and commerce in the region.

Highways
Total road length of Pune district is 13,642 km. Several State Highways criss cross Latur district. They include:
 * Nagpur—Bori—Adhampur State Highway (SH )
 * Daund—Barsi—Osmanabad—Bantal—Ausa State Highway (SH 77)
 * Miraj—Pandharpur—Barshi—Latur State Highway (SH 02)
 * Manjarsumba—Kaij—Lokhandi—Savargaon State Highway.

Bus routes to the district headquarters connect 96 % of the villages.

The municipal bus system operates buses that serve the region and connect places in Latur City. The State Transport buses of MSRTC serves all villages in the district.

Railway Lines
All railway lines through Latur are broad gauge. They belong to Central Railway

Latur railway station was built again when the Barshi railway line was converted from narrow gauge to broad gauge. The railway gauge was converted in September 2007 from Latur to Osmanabad and in October 2008 from Osmanabad to Kurduvadi. Latur is now is connected to Mumbai by a direct train via Kurduvadi (train number 1006 from Latur and 1005 from Mumbai). It is connected to Hydrabad by train number 7013 that originates at Osmanabad. With the introduction of train number 1005 via Kurduvadi in October 2008, the earlier train connecting Latur to Latur Road, Parbhani and Aurangabad was discontinued.

The important railway stations are Latur, Latur Road and Udgir. The district has 148 km of railways of which 83 km is broad gauge and 65 km is narrow gauge.

The railway line from Latur to Kurduwadi to Miraj was narrow gauge. The Kurduwadi-Pandharpur section towards Miraj was converted to broad gauge in 2002. The Latur to Osmanabad section was converted to broad gauge in September 2007. (Osmanabad did not lie on the narrow gauge railway line and the alignment was changed for the new broad gauge track to pass through Osmanabad.) The Osmanabad-Kurduwadi section of broad gauge track became operational in October 2008. The Pandharpur-Miraj section is still narrow gauge and the conversion to broad gauge is low on priority. But it will be very important route to Goa if pandharpur-miraj is converted to broadgauge, as the peoples here agriculture-based but have no market. Trains will help them achieve konkan, goan markets and hence the poor economy of these people will improve.

Sports
The Maharashtra Cricket Association is planning to construct their home ground near Latur City. Also a Divisional sports complex have been sanctioned for Latur region, which would cater to the needs of players in Latur, Osmanabad and Nanded districts.

National Level Kabaddi and Basket Ball were held in Latur district. Latur Region is still awaiting to get a Krida Prabodhini.

Medical Facilities
Latur District is served by 12 government hospitals, 46 Primary Health Centers, 19 dispensaries and 234 primary health support groups. A Super Specialty Hospital is taking place in Latur which would benefit to the patients in 11 adjoining districts.

In addition to these there are a large number of private hospitals; Jatal Hospital & Research Center, Gugle Memorial Hospital, Yeshwantrao Chavan Rural Hospital and Latur Cancer Hospital are the famous ones.

Communication
Post and telegraph services: Only 250 villages of total 914 died (1991 census) had post offices, serving 52.27% of the rural population.

Media and Communication
Newspapers: Marathwada Neta is the first Maharashtra District news paper daily having an internet edition along with an epaper. Ekmat- is the leading newspaper of the region, while Yeshwant, Lokmat, Bhukamp,- Sakaal & Punyanagri and are other daily newspapers published in the regional language.

Latur Earthquake of 1993
Latur had a devastating, though only midly severe, earthquake on 30 September 1993 resulting in a huge loss of life. The earthquake measured only 6.3 on the Richter scale but more than 30,000 people were estimated to have died mainly due to poor construction of houses and village huts made of stones which just collapsed on people who were fast asleep in early morning hours. It struck southern Marathwada region of Maharashtra state in central-western part of India and affected Latur, Beed, Osmanabad and adjoining districts about 400 km south-east of Mumbai (Bombay). It was an intra-plate earthquake. Latur was almost completely destroyed and life came to a standstill. The earthquake's focus was around 12 km deep - relatively shallow causing shock waves to cause more damage. The number of lives lost was high as the earthquake occurred at 03.56 a.m. local time when people were fast asleep.

After the earthquake, seismic zones were reclassified and building codes and standards were revised all over India.