STUDY AREA

Hubli - Dharwad are twin cities in Indian state of Karnataka. Hubli-Dharwad is the second-largest urbanized centres in Karnataka. The twin cities have a common governance and are governed by Hubli - Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) with a corporation governing area of 202.3 sq km. The population of the Twin cities is about 1 million (Census 2011). Hubli is a commercial and industrial hub with various commercial establishments. Dharwad is an educational and administrative centre with numerous colleges, universities and government offices. Hubli-Dharwad District encompasses an area of 4263 sq. kms lying between the latitudinal parallels of 15002’ and 15051’ N and longitudes of 73043’ and 75035’ E (Figure 1) with an altitude of about 800 m above the sea level. The district is bounded on the North by Belgaum, on the East by Gadag, on the South Haveri and on the West by Uttara Kannada. The district enjoys a moderate and healthy climate. The district has an agro-based economy to a large extent, trade and commerce are completely dependent on agriculture.  In order to understand the inflence of urban system in the rural vicinity, 5 km buffer is considered from each city boundary. Hubli city boundary is 7km in radius and dharwad has a boundary of 2.45km in radius.

Figure 1: Showing the geographical location of HubliDharwad district.