Gadchiroli district was carved out on the 26th of August 1982 by the division of erstwhile Chandrapur district. Earlier, it was a part of Chandrapur district and only two places namely Gadchiroli and Sironcha were tahsils of Chandrapur district before the formation of Gadchiroli district. The district is categorized as a tribal and undeveloped district and most of the land is covered with forest and hills. This district is famous for bamboo and tendu leaves. Paddy is the main agricultural produce in this district. The tribals in the district have a culture all of their own, and the district is famous for tribal folk dances such as Dander, Gondi and Gondhali.
Location of Gadchiroli District
Gadchiroli district is located on the north-eastern side of the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan plateau. It is situated between 18.43 to 21.50 north latitudes and 79.45 to 80.53 east longitudes. The districts adjoining Gadchiroli district are Durg and Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh on the east, Chandrapur district on the west, Bhandara on the north and Karimnagar district and Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh and Jagdalpur district of Chhatisgarh on the south. The District Headquarters is situated at Gadchiroli which is 180 Kms away from Nagpur and 80 Kms away from Chandrapur and 200 Km from Bhandara. The district is surrounded on the west, south and east by the Wainganga River, Godavari River and Indravati River respectively.
Geography of Gadchiroli District
Forests cover more than 75.96 percent of the geographical area of the district. The main river basin of the district is the Godavari river Basin which borders the southern boundary of the district and flows west to east. The major sub-basins of the Godavari are the Pranhita sub-basin which is named after the confluence of two major sub-basins ie Wainganga and Wardha River, and Indravati sub-basin. The eastern part of the district ie, Dhanora, Etappali, Aheri and Sironcha talukas are covered by the forest. Hills are located in the areas of Bhamaragad, Tipagad, Palasgad and Surjagad in the district. Gadchiroli district experiences extreme variations in temperature with very hot summers and very cold winters and an average relative humidity of 62 percent.
Demography of Gadchiroli District
According to the last Census (2001), the total population of the district is 9, 70,294. Male and female population is 4, 91,101 and 4, 79,193 respectively. Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe population in the district is 1, 08,824 and 3, 71,696. The literacy rate of the district is 60.1. The Tribal Community population that resides in the district is 38.3 percent.
Administration of Gadchiroli District
The district is divided into three Sub-Divisions i.e. Gadchiroli, Aheri and Desaiganj respectively and each sub-division has four talukas. There are 467 Gram Panchayats and 1688 Revenue Villages in the district. The district has three Legislative Assembly Constituencies namely Gadchiroli, Armori and Sironcha. Basically, the district is distributed into 12 talukas and 12 Panchayat Samitis. Only, two municipalities exist in the district i.e. at Gadchiroli and Wadsa.
Culture of Gadchiroli District
Most of the people living in the district are of the tribal community. Due to the high population of tribals here, the district has been categorised as a tribal district. The major community of tribals that reside in the district are the Gond tribe, Madia, Pardhan and Kolam. They have their own languages such as the Gondi language, Madiya etc. The tribals in the district have their own culture. They worship their own God known as Persa Pen among others. The dance Rela is quite popular among the tribals and is performed by them on auspicious occasions, and when new harvest comes in. The other dance is Dhol dance. Holi, Dussehra and Diwali are the main festivals of the tribals. The tribal community families reside in the dense forests of the district. People from other communities also celebrate the various festivals, such as Ganpati, Dussehra, Holi, and Diwali. In some parts of the district, the villagers arrange for natak and tamasha on the occasion of Shankar-Pat in the month of January and February. Cultural programs like Dandar are also arranged on festivals days. Seven languages are spoken in the district i.e., Gondi, Madiya, Marathi language, Hindi language, Telugu language, Bengali language and Chattisgarhi language.
Economy of Gadchiroli District
The district is categorized as tribal and undeveloped district and most of the land is covered with forest and hills. The main profession of the people is farming. Paddy is the main agricultural produce in this district. The other agriculture produce in the district includes jowar, linseed, tur and wheat. There are no large scale industries in the entire district except the Paper Mill at Ashti in Chamorshi Taluka and Paper Pulp Factory at Desaiganj. There are many Rice Mills in the district as paddy is the main agriculture produce here. The Tussar Silk Worm Centre exists in Armori taluka of the district.
