STUDY AREA

Raichur City (Figure 1) is located in the North Eastern part of Karnataka State. The city extends from 16°9'17.804" North to 16°15'2.521"North in Latitude and 77°18'23.912"East to 77°24'43.895" East in Longitude and at an elevation of 410m above MSL with an area of 5868.78 hectares. A buffer region of 2 km around the administrative boundary of the city (Figure 2) was considered for the study, the total study area was 15732.27 hectares. The city had a total population of 207421 in the year 2001(Census). The climate is characterized by dryness for major part of the year and very hot during summer. The low and highly variable rainfall is liable for drought. Annual average rainfall is about 729 mm (District at a glance 2010-2011).Temperature during summer attain up to 45° C, during winter season would drop down to 17 ° C, due to the dry climate, even during the monsoon, the humidity levels are low. The region consists of light green, reddish-brown, black soils. The major portion is comprised of black soil, occurring near the hornblende schists and the gneisses rocks. The city is surrounded by Yermaras and Potgal to the North, Manslapura, to the North West, Eklaspura and Rampura to the West, Nelhal, Asapur, Araibechi, and Malibad to the South, Sidrampura to South East, Wadwati and Bodamanudoddi to East, and Katlakur to the North West.

Figure 1: Study Area

Figure 2 illustrate the study area as seen in Google earth, showing 2km buffer region along the city administrative boundary

Figure 2: Study Area with 2 Km Buffer Overlaid on Spatial Data (Google Earth)