THE -TION, TYPES AND DISTRIBUTION OF WASTELANDS AND

AN ANALYSISOF WATER AND SOILS OF THE AREA

 fn the f irst Chapter of the present study the^

general def i n i t ions of *wasteland** have been given. ~ u t

now in t h i a Chapter they a r e discussed more c l e a r l y s o as

to classify wastelands and to study their dimtrikrtion
and extent year-wise, type-vise, mandal-wle, and slop-
wise. Spatial concentrations of wastelands in the basin
have been worked out. The a v a i l a b i l i t y of water and soils
is a l s o analysed.

Wastelands a r e f a l l o v lands which were nM culti-

vated over a pericd of tims due t o various constraints
but could be brought under use depending upon available
land and other f a c t o r s such as vat- and agmelkaatic
conditions and physical characteristics.

Rote: Though it we& intended t o c o l l e c t mendal-wise averages

o f w a a t e l a n d s f o r each of the three years, 1970-71, 1980-81,
and 1990-91, it was not p s l b l e ~ d os o cuing t o c e r t a i n d i f f i -
cultles, For instance, t o a r r i v e a t the average f o r 1970-71,
it was necessary t o take the awrage of 1969-70, 1970-71
and 1971-72. S h F l a t l y f o r the other years too. Thie w&e
not possible because the Mandala were formed only l n 1983-84,
and therefore mandal-wise data could not be obtained. There-
f o r e f o r the years v i l l a g e - w b e data has been c o l l e c t & and
added together t o a r r i v e a t the Mandal data f o r 1970-71 and
1980-81. For 1990-91 mandal-wise data L available.
TYPES OP WASTELANDS

The d e f i n i t i o n and d e s c r i p t i o n of d i f f e r e n t typrs

of wastelande g i v e n by various organisation a r e given
belaw. I n the present study t h e nomenclature of waste-
land as adopted by the NRSA Le used. According t o t h e
NRsA wastelands are claesif lcd into two c a t e g o r l e a r
(1) C u l t i v a b l e wastelarula, and ( 2 ) u n c u l t i v a b l e wastelands.

WASTE-

I. C u l t i v a b l o Wasteland8 11. ~ n c u l t i v a b Wastaland.

l~

1. Undulating u p l a n d 1. Barren hill-rLBgea or

with or wlthout r o c k outcrops.
scrubs.

2. S a l t a f f e c t e d land. 2 . Snow-covered o r g l a c i a l
area.

3. G u l l l e d or ravlnous
land.

4. water-logged o r marshy
land.

5. mum o r f o r e s t blanks.

6 . Sandy area ( c o a s t a l or
desert).
 Cultivable waatelands are those lands whkh have
the capacity and potential f o r development of variowr
vegetal covers, and can be^ developed by adopt- suitable
land and water-dedlopnent and managemant practicer.
This category L further sub-divltled into six types
depending upon the physical condition of the land, land
cover, material and potential for theit reclamtion,

Uncultivable wastelands are those lands which cannot

be used for any cultivation purposes. This categary $8

further sub-divided into two type8

The different types of cultivable waetelands a r e

(1) s a l t affected land, ( 2 ) gull- or ravine land, (3)

vatat-logged or narahy land, ( 4 ) undulating upland w i t h

or without scrub, ( 5 ) Jhum or forest blank, and (6) Sandy

area (coastal or desert) . uncultivable wasteland8 cr?
( 7 ) barren hill-ridges with rock outcrop, and (8) snow
covered o r glacier area.
 In the following paragraphs only three of the
wasteland types l i s t e d above, namely undulating upland
with or without scrub, barren hill-ridges with rock
outcrop, and r a l t affected land w i l l be c o n a i d e d kraaure
only the86 three are found in the rtudy ama and there-
fore relevant for the present bveatlgation .
1. UNDULATING UPLAND WITH OR WITHOUT SCRUB

This type of wasteland L generally prone to dete-

rioration due to erosion and m y not have acrub cover.
such land occupies relatively high topographic locations,
b u t excludes h i l l y and mountainous terrain. The NRSA h u
defined t h i s land as the "Land with a topographic expression
of rolling or undulating nature" ranging from 3' t o 10.
slope after showing f l a t top as i n the csse af eandatom,
l a t e r i t e and basaltic plateau areas or with gentle tope
and gentle t o moderate slopes as i n the case of othere,

The repott of the National Commission on Agrieul-

ture, winistry of Agriculture and Irrigation, 1976,

New Delhi haa said t h a t "these lands lying waste are normally
found on rolling topography and plateau which have h e n
subjected t o heavy grazing or indiscrimhate felling of trees".
2 . BARREN HILLdIDOES WITH ibDCK OUTCROPS

These are r o c k exposures of varying lithology

of ten barren and devold of s o i l cover and vegetation.
They occur amidst hill-foreats as openings or scatte-
red as isolated exposures on plateau a d plaine.

3 . SALT AFFECTED LAM)

The NRSA ( 1 9 8 5 ) defines s a l h soils "a8 those

which contain excess of soluble s a l t s u , and it definer,

a l k a l i s o i l s a8 "those s o i l s which contain more exchange-
able sodiumH.

DISTRIBUTION O F WASTELANDS IN GENERAL

In Andhra Pradesh, a l l these types of wastelands are

present except snow-covered area. The m a t prevalent and
wide-spread (more than 2/31 is undulating upland with or
without scrub. Barren hill-ridges with mck outcrops
come next. These two make about 68% and 16% of the
total wasteland in the e t a t e respectively. N e m t i n order
comes the gullied or ravins land (10%) whfrch 56 seen in
the ( p i g . 4.1) d i s t r i c t s of Guntur, Prakasam, ~uddapah,
Anantapur, ~urnOOl, Mahabubnagar, Warangal and ~algonda.
The other four types of wastelands are found in small
pocket6. water-logged area irr found mostly in the
Nellore dirrtrict. s a l t affected area (2.68%) L in
very small patch- in south Coastal Andhra Praderh and
in the Rayalaseema distrhts. Sandy area (16.4%) l8

found i n t h e coastal areas. Patches of Jhum land(0.45%)

a r e seen in the ~ d i l a b a d , Khammam and ~ o d a v a r id b t r h t s .

The c h l t t o o r d i s t r i c t ha8 about 1% of wasteland

(WA) as against 9% in the s t a t e aa a whole. There
are only three types of wastelands i n the d i s t r i c t . They
a r e : (1) undulating upland with or without scrub(Type-I),
( 2 ) barren hill-ridgee with rock o u t c r o p (~yge-XI), and
( 3 I s a l t affected area ( ~ y p e - 11).
I he undulating upland
accounts for 3/4 i.e., 74.3% of the t o t a l wasteland in

the district. A l i t t l e l e s s than 1/4 i.e,, 23.7% of the

wastelam3 consiate of harrenrkidges with rock outcrop.
S a l t affected area makes about 2% of the total wasteland.
A small patch of salt affected area is found in the Chandra-

girl, Tirupati, Renigunta and Vadamalpet mandals(Fi g . 4.2)

Barren h i l l - r a g a with rock outcrops and undulating vith
scrub a r e seen mostly in the north-west part of the d i s t r i c t .
~ o s of
t the wasteland of these two type8 a r e generally loca-

td peripherally t o e i t h e r forests or h.Ul6. Putthe, it

i.a d dif f k u l t t o identify where the forest area ends and the
wastelad of undulating upland begins, since both a r e almost
scrub land. In the north-west parts where the r a i n f a l l
is scanty ( 5 5 cm) and where rain depandant d r y cultivation
i s ln practice, the land is undulating with strong and
coarse s o i l . The wasteland and cultivated land overlap and
appear t o be almost similar and interchangeable. The d i e -
trlct has been divided into 8 baeinrr formed by minor

rivers. The Swarnamkhi has the blggest baain in thr!

district.

TO observe the types of wasteland found in the

study area and note t h e i r relative location and ground check,
a reconnaissance survey was conducted. ~ h f r r became neces-
sary because the wasteland map which b in the million
scale is blown up four timts t o a quarter inch scale
(1 : 250,000), thereby chanping the extent and the location
of wastelands In the map. The wastelands in the atudy
area were located with the help of the NRSA wasteland
maps, toposheets , data f tom the Mandal authorit leu3 an8
from the vlllage records. No field technique was applied
for t h i s purpose. ~f t e r locating the wasteland*, the other
aspects such as the d l t r i b u t l o n of wastelands, their in-
crease or decrease, the slope of the area and the avalla-
b i l i t y of water in these regions were studisd.
DISI'RxBUTION AND THE .PPPENT OrB-w xbl ME BASIN

Only the nonlculturable land of the 8tudy area ha8

been taken for our investigation. The t o t a l wasteland
3n this area l a 56,221 heetarea, which accounte for 22%
of the t o t a l geographical area of the bash, as against

16% of the d i s t r i c t and 9% of the state. Of the t h r e e

types of wastelands identified In t h e study area, the
wasteland Type-I, t h a t Is undulating upland with or with-
out scrub, covers 50,599,.44 hectares, which make 9016 of
the total wastelands in it. The wasteland of Type-11,
i.e., barren hUly-ridges with rock outcrope, make8 7%
( 3,935.5 hectaree) of t h e t o t a l of the wasteland. The
wasteland of Type-111, i . , the s a l t affected s o i l ,
covers about 1,686.65 hectares or 3% of t h e t o t a l waste-

land of the area.

The t h r e e patches of t h b type of wasteland found in

t h e north and north-west of the distrht are flat with

scrub and a t e seen in interf lures of the Swarnamukhi and
its tributaries. This type of wasteland Is seen in t h e
( p i g . 4.3) north-eastern p a r t , t h a t Is the Yerpedu, Thottam-
bedu, S r i k a l a h a s t i and B .N. Kandriga mandals. The
c e n t r a l part of the basin has s a l t affected wasteland whlch
is l o c a t e d batween S r i k a l a h a s t i -
~ i r u p a t i i n the east-
w-t d k e c t Son and between Karakambedi -
Ga jul~landyaun
i n the n o t t h - S ~ u t h direction.

T a b l e 4 01 shows the mandal-wiee distribution of

wastelandfa w i t h i n t h e basin. Of t h e 11 mandals of the
basin at present S r i k a l a h a s t i has 9,667.2 hectare8 of
wasteland. Next i n o r d e r , Thotta&.edu has 8,656 h e c t a r e r ,
K.V.B. Puram 6,997.6 hectares, and Tlrupati (rural)
4,439.2 hectares. These a r e followed ln t h e d e c t e a e i n p
o r d e r by B .N. Kandriga, Yerpedu, T i r u p a t i (Urban), Chandra-
g-i, K a ~ a p a l l i and Vadamalpet. Wasteland of t h e tv
of u n d u l a t i n g upland with or w i t h o u t s c r u b is found more
t h a n t h e o t h e r two t y p e s in t h e f l r s t f i v e mandals mentioned
above.

T a b l e 4.2 shows t h a t t h e t o t a l w a s t e l a n d ln t h e b a s i n
h a s increased d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d from 1971 t o 1991, It vat#
16.06% i n 1970-71, it became 2036 in 1980-81 and increased
further t o 22% in 1990-91. The p e r c e n t a g e growth of t h b
l a n d a l s o h a s i n e r e s e e d from 24% t o 37%, over a period of
y e a r s , though t h e r e was a l i t t l e d e c r e a s e In t h e intet-
vening y e a r s . ~t had d e c r e a s e d t o 11%from 24% in 1981.
L a t e r on it increased tremendously. A l l the three t y p e s
of wasteland of the area have also increased b@tween
1970-71 and 1990-91. O f them, however, wasteland T-I
h a s increased more (40.2%) t h a n t h e o t h e t two t y p e s . TypbIl

also had grown by 20%. The growth of Type-111 is very

 -'IJLE
- - 4.1
MNDAL-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF VITAL H A W IN ?HE BASIN (hhectares)

Tlrupatl ~ i r u p a t i Chandra- Ren!- Yerpdu srikala- Thottan- KVB BN Kan- KamM- Vada- Basin %of t o t a l
Years
(urban) ( ~ u r a l ) g i r l gunta hasti bedu Puram drlqa pall1 mala- Total wasteland t o
Pt the t o t a l
--.--------------------------------.-.*-.---m----*---------.-----------------------------.-------.---------
eoqraoh
!-- --.-La-- area

-.-_----.--_-..__..*----.--------------------&-----------*---*.
Note : Ftgures In brackets irdfcate penentaps to t o t a l wasteland lo the &sin
 TABLE -42
8

TYPE-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF WASTELANDS IN THE BASIN DURIffi 1971, 1981 and 1991

-___--_____________-------------------------------------*----------------------.----------------.--
% to total % to total I t o total % growth % growth % growth
Type of geqraphi- geoqraphi- geographi- from 1970- from 1980- from 1970-
S.NO.
wasteland cal area of c a l area of c a l area of 71 t o 81 to 71 t o
the hsln the basin the basin 1980-81 1990-91 1990-91
1970-71 1980-81 1990-91
----------------------------------------------------

1, T-I 14 18 20 26 12 40,2

Total waste-
land
l i t t l e (3.2%).

Wasteland Type-I irr located in the north-eartern

part of the area, which includes the ~ q e d u ~, h o t t a n b d u ,
Srikalahasti and B.N. Kandriga Mandals. It can be re-
claimed easily and developed.

Wasteland Typ-IS ie distributed in the mrume

north of the area a l l along the r i v e r Swarnamukhi, along
the foot-hilla of Serhachalam.

Typ-111 is found in the central part( of the basin,

which b on the southern side of the Tirupati urban Develop

ment Area (TVDA). A small patch of s a l t affected land ie
found in the Chandragiri, Tirupati, Renigunta and Vada-

malpet mandala.

Though these wastelands a t e distributed a l l over

the river basin, more than three fourths of them, i.e.,
47.5 thousand hectares, are distributed in the north and
north-eastern part of the basin. hey are much lesa aeen

in the western and southern parts of the basin, b a u a e

here, most of the land is cultivated an8 the remaining
area L under foreste. The north and north-eastdrn
parte of the basin have undulating upland w i t h ac with-
out scrub and also rock outcrops.

The western and eouthern parts have only undu-

lating upland. The central part of the basin has rack
outcrop as well as saline and alkaline eoilr.

ThL category of wasteland i a found at only om

place of the district, betwen Srikrlahaeti and Tirupati
in the eaat-west and Karakambadi and Ga julamandyam in
the north-south within the basin. The total hectorage

under this category Is only 3,935.5,

 Table 4.3 s h a s tb6 type-wise and mandcl-rirre
d i s t r i b u t i o n of wastelands in tha basin d u r i n g 1970-71.
Wasteland Tpp.-1, n-ly undulating upland w i t h or with-
out scrub, is laore a x t e n e i v s (14%) than the o t b r two
types (1.3% and 00.64%) in t h e total a r o a of t h e basin.

A l l the three types are concentrated w i t h high percentage8

in t h e ~ i r u p a t i and Kammapalli mandalr only. F i g . 4.4

showa the d i a t r 0 u t b n of Typo-I land i n t h e basin during

1970-71. ~hRenigunta, K .v.B. ~uram, ~ h o t t a m k d u , and
yerpdu mandale have t h e loweat p r c o n t a g e r of a l l tkem .
types of wasteland durlnp this period. F 4 . 4.5 .nd
rig. 4.6 &ow the d b t r i b u t i o n of Type-I1 and TyW-fII

lands during 1970172.

T a b h 4.4 show, t h e typawine and loandal-wise d L -

tributionof wastelands during 1980-81. Fig, 4.4 ehows
t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of Typs-I land i n the basin. In t h L
perm, ~ l r u p a t i(u), T l r u p a t l (R), Srikalahasti, ThOttam-
bedu and K a m a p a l l i ehav the hhlghast percentages of all
the three types of vastelanda i n the b a ~ i n . F i g . 4.5. and
pig. 4.6 show the d b t r l b u t f o n of Type-If and Type-I11
lands i n t h e b a e i a d u r i n p 1980-81. B u t , t h o T i f u p a t 1 (R),
 -TABLE4 .3

TYPE-WISE AND MANDAL-k'ISE DISTRIBUTION OF WASTELANDS DURIE 1970-71 (in h e c t e r e s )

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~.NO. ~ a r of
e the nandal T o t a l area T-I T-11 T-111 Total wasteland

2. ~ h p a t (Rural)
i

3. Chandraglrl

4. Renigunta

5. Yerpedu

6. Srlkalahasti

7. Thottambedu

8. K-V.B. Puram

9. B.N. Xandriqa
(40.75) (3.70) (1.05) (468%)
10. Kmmapalli 9163'6 3733.134 339,44 169.72 4243
11. vadanalpet 18913.2 (19,71) (1.61) (0.80) (20.12)
3349.3 304.5 152.24 3806
Total 257997.2 ibei7.28 %,l-_:e6&-----4fi(jL
--- -
,-------------
--,,,----------------------- iL..----
 -
TABLE 4,4
TIPE-WISE AND MANDAL-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF WASTELANDS WRIK 1980-81 (in hectares)
..........................................................................................................
~.NO. Name of the Mandal Total area T-I T-I1 T-I11 Total wasteland
------------------------------------------
1. Tirupatl (Urban) 12642.4 3071.3(24.3) 248.?(2.0) 127.5(1,01) 3447(27.35)

2. Tirupati(Rura1) 9536 2883.3(30.24) 233 (2.44) 97(125) 3236(34.00)

3. Chandragiri 36019,2 2774,6( 7.70) 224,2(0,62) 115.2(0.32) 3114( 8.65)

4. Renigunta 31032 4801,6(15.5) 388 [1,25) 199,410.64) 5389(17.46)

7, Thottambedu 24806.4 7083,5(28.66) 572.4(2.31) 294.1[1.25) 7950132.05)

8. K.V.B. puram 40840,4 4586.@(11.23) 370,7(0.91) 190.5(0.56) 5148(12.61)

9. 0.N. Kandrlqa 16B99,Z 3303,8(19.60) 267 (1+61) 137.2(0.81) 3708(21,94)

10. Kammapalii 9163.6 2310.4(25.21) 186.7(2.04) 95,9(1.05) 2593(28,3

11. vadamalpet 18913.2 2180.3(11.53) 176+2(0.93) 90.5(0.18) 2447(12,94)

Total 257997.2 45305.6(17.60) 3661.2(1.42) 1881.2(0,73) 50848(19,71)

-----------------__---------------------------------------------------------------
 TABLE - 4.5
TYPE-WISE AND MNDAL-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF HASTELANDS DURIN; 1990-91 (in hectares)

--------------*----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~ , N O , Name of the Mandal Total area Td T-I1 T-111 Total wasteland

.........................................................................................................
1, T h p a t i (Urban) 12642.4 3448.44(27.30) 268.2(2,12) 115.0(0.91) 3831.5(30.31)

2. Tirupatl ( ~ u r a l ) 9536 3995,3 (41.9 ) 310.74(3,26) 133,2(1.1 ) 4439.2(46.55)

3 Chandragirl 36019,2 3285 ( 9.12) 155.5 (0.71) 109,5(0.30) 3650 (10,13)

7. Thottambedu 24806.4 7790.4(31,40) 605.92(2.44) 259.7(1.05) 86%.0(34,9 )

8. K.v.~,Pu~~ 40840.4 6297.8(15,42) 489.93(2,0 ) 209.93(0.5) 6997,6(17,13)

9. B.N. Kardrlga 16899.2 2841.12(16.8) 2210(11) 94.70(0,6) 3156.8(184?)

101 Kampalll 9163.6 M92,8(33.15) 240,55(:,63) 103,1(1.13) 34%.4074M)

11. Vadantalpet 18913,2 3042.7(16.09) 236.66(1.3) 101.42(054) 3380,fl( 17-91

Total 257997.2 50599.44(20.0) 3935.5 (1.5) 1686.65(0,7) %221.6(22.0)

T h o t t a u and Kaa~lapalli mandala only shar h-
PfMcentages able 4.5) during 1990-91. rig. 4.4 and
P4. 4 . 5 show the d i s t r i k r t i o n of TYPO-I
am3 TyOaJI
lands i n t h e baain during 1990-91. During t h i s perio8
~yp.-XxI land is found by l i t t l e in t b ~B.N. Kandrlga,
Yeypedu, ChandragkA and Vadamalpet a ~ d s l rC?&. 4.6 1.

Table 4.6 shows the changes in the percentages

prawth of the three type8 of wasteland i n t h e 11 mandala
of t h e basin during 1970-71 t o 1980-81. he ~ i r u p a t i ( R ) ,
Chandragir i, Kanmapalli and vadanvlpeta mandala ahov
negative values of e l l tho three types of wastel.&ada during
these periods. It has been obeerved t h a t the three types
of wasteland decraa8.d durLng the above pariala. Bocau8e,
these areM have been taken up f o r devalopphat by ths
~ h I n a l a 4 i r u p a t i Davasthananrs under a BicMesthtic Scheme.
he TTD could take up plantation programnerr and the laying
of commercial gardens. The f o r e s t department of the
dirrtrict too ha8 done camendable work i n plantation a t
the source ab theas areas. I n 7 inandals tbo waotelandr
increased ~nareouely becauae of the f a i l u r e of r a i n f a l l
or u n s w o n a l and uneven distribution of r a M a l l and
because d the f a l l i n g economic statua of the fanner8 of
the reg**
 THE UPPER SWARNAMUKHI RIVER BASIN
DISTRIBUTION OF SALT EFFECTED LAND

LEGEND
N
(in hectares)
.,..., BELOW 103

100 - 200 !
2, - 300

ABOVt 300

RESERKD FOREST

-
0 20 Km
 TABLE - 4.6

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
~ . N O . NWof the ~ a n d a l T-I T-I1 T-111 ~ o t a wasteland
l
-------.-----------..-----------------.
Tkupatl (Urban)

Tirupati (Rural)

Chandrag ir i
Ren$junta
Yerpedu
srlkalahasti

Thattambedu
K.VeBe Purarn
B.N. Kandriga

Kammapal 1i
V8damalpet

Total
 But, during 1980-81 t o 1990-91, t h e Yerpsdu, S r i -

kalahasti and B.N. Kandriga mandale have shovn negative

values. There i s a decrease of t h e two types of waste-
lands, namely Type-I and ~ype-XI (Table4.7). But
Type-I11 land has decreased in 7 mandalls namly T i r u g a t i
(U ) , Chandragirl, Renigunta, Yetgedu, St i k a l a h a s t i ,

Thottambedu and B .N. Kandriga durhg 1980-81 t o 1990-91.

I n t h e remaining four mandala namely ~ i r u p . t i(R), X.V.B.

Puram, Kafmnapalli and Vadamalpet, there has k e n an ln-

c r e a s e in t h i s type of land during t h i e * r i d .

It hae Wem observed in Table 4.8, a l l the three

type8 of land have decrclased ln f o u r mandale, namely Tim-
p a t i (R), Chandragiti, Kanmpalli and Vadamalpet, during
1970-71 to 1990-91. I n t h i a period a l l the t h r e e types
of wasteland have increased more i n ~ k u p a t i(u), Srb

kalahasti, Renigunta, Yerpedu, ~hottambaBu, K .v .B . Purarn

and B .N . Kandriga in 1991 over 1971 becaure o f the r8asons
already explained. T i m p a t i (U), S r l k a l a h w t i and Reni-
gunta urban a r e a s have mote waetelands in and around them
because the ownem of these lands intend to Sell th# for
i n d u s t r i e s or convert tho6 l n t o reeldenti.1 plot6 and 9811

them f o r huge prof its. And hence they have been l e f t un-
c u l t i v a t e d f o r many years
 PERCENTAGE GDKM 09 WASTELANDS ( 1 9 W 1 to 1990-91)

-----------------------------------
S O N ~ , Name of the Handal T-I T-11 T-I11 Total wasteland
--.)--------------------------------
Tirupati (Urban)
Tintpati (Rural)
Chandrag lri
Renigunta

Y erpedu

srikalahasti
Thottambedu
K.V.B. Puram
B .N , Kandr iga

Kampalll

vadamalpet
Total
 TABLE - 4.8

PERCENTAGE Q R W H OF WASTELANDS (1970-71 to 1990-91)

s.W. NaiUe of the Total

Manda 1 T- I T-I1 T-lll wasteland

2. ~ i r u p a t i (R) -22.14 -33.4 -42 -90 -23.90

3. chandragiri -54.40 -60.99 -66.6 -55.42

4. ~enigunta 227.5 180.2 140.2 220.22

5. yerpedu 83.7 57.16 34.7 79.60

6. srikalahasti 34.74 15.3 - 1.2 ' 31.74

 I n t h i s Chaptar an a f f o r t has been -do to tocua a t t m -
t i o n on the a~l8thg and changing wutelands i n tbe b a s h .
So, the location quotient has heen used t o know t h e s p a t h l
concentration of w ~ t e l a n din the basin during 1970-71 to
1990-91. The fonnula f o r the location quotient index
( L . Q . 1 ) is as follows :

Wasteland i n a Mandal wasteland i n the basin

'I = ~ o t a geographical
l
area of the Mandal
-- Total geographical area
of the bash

Wasteland in a Mandal Total geographical area

Total geographical X of the basin
area of the nandal wastelancl I n the Win

From thie formula, the wasteland concentration has

been categorised into law, medium and high t o very hiqh
concentrat* regbw.

CONCENTRATION OF tUPlTELlrND IN 1970-71

It has been observed (Tablo 4.9 ) t h a t during 1970-71,

almost a l l the lnandals had low and midiurn concentrations.
 Only the T i r U p a t i (Rural) and K a m a p a l l l mandale had very
h 4 h Concentrationee The Chandraqirl, T i r u p a t i (urban),
s r i k s l a h a a t l and Vadamalpcrt mandala had M f u m concentra-
t ions. Renigunta, Yerpedu, Thott&mb&u, K rV.B. Puram,
B .N. ~ a n d r i g a eame under la c o n c e n t r a t i o n a n a a ,($9 e4.7) *

I t is noticed t h a t , there was n o t even a slngle mandal

under very hlgh c o n c e n t r a t i o n during 1980-81 period. he
Chandraqirl, Renigunta, K.V.B . ~uram and vadawlpet man-
dala had low c o n c e n t r a t lona . The medium concentrated
a r e a s were T i r u p a t i (U) , Yerpedu, Srikalahaeto, B .N .
~ a n d r i g a and Kaftanapalll. Durlng t h i a period only, the

~ i r u p a t l(R) and Thottambedu mandale had high concentration.

Duriryl this prm only ~ i r u p a t l( R u r a l ) mandal l a seen

t o have very hLjh c o n c e n t r a t i o n . It ir a l s o obeervad that
(Table 4.9 ) t h e T i t u p a t i (urban), Srikalahuti, Thottarnbadu
. and K ~ a m a p a l l imandals have high concentrations. he remain-

ing mandala i n t h e a r e a , i . e . , Chandraglri, Renwnta,

Yerpedu, K.V.B. Puram, B I N . Kandriga and Vadamalpet have
low concentration.
 TABU - 4.9

CONCEMl'RATIOH OF WASTELANDS IN THE B A S I N ( ~ ~ ~ ~ - ~ ~ ) UL.Q.1.

SINO

4. Renigunta 0.4 0.9 0.9

5. yerpedu 0.6 1.0 0.8

6. srikalahasti 1.2 1.3 1.1

7. Thottambedu 0.3 1.6 1.6
8. K.V.B. P U C ~ 0.4 0.6 0.8

9. B.N. Kandriga 0.8 1.1 0.9

10. Kmapalli 2.9 1.4 1.7
11. vadamalpet 1.3 0.7 0.8
---------------------*---------------------------------

-
InBexr Low concentration a L 1.0
wdium concentration I 1.0 - 1.5
~ i g hconcentration I 1.5 - 2.0
very ~ i g hconcentration : 3 2.0
FIG. L.7
 A8 pointad o u t already, the t o t a l wasteland a r e a ln
the ha8 incma~d f w 41,020 h0~t-8 ( 16 .WX) in
1970-71 t o 56,222 hrrctlrns (22 .OK) h 1990-91. It maw
that during the above period, thn, were no worth mentioning
d O v e l o p n t a 1 e o t i v i t l r in this area regarding tk. waste-
lands. Therefor* n a t u r a l l y concentration of wastelands
increased over t h e years. However i n t h e T i r u p a t i (Rural)
and K a m a g e l l i nandals tiw degree of concentration L obser-
ved t o h v e docraaaed from very hltyh t o high during these
years, and in t h e c h a n d r a g i r i and Vdamslpet 1~andal8 it $8

found t o have been reduced f r o m medium t o low -tween 1970-71

and 1990-91. It shows t h a t there have been source improve-
mrntr taking place a d thereby checking tha coneentratiorr of
waetclanda during t h o s e yeam. The only mandal where tho
wasteland concentration has incma8.d lrad i8 hSglr in Th~ttilll-
bedu. he increase ha8 been f ran law t o high concentration
because of s o i l er-ion, presence of undulating land, mb-
use of i r r i g a t i o n , non-availability of water for irrigaticn,
etc., A l a r g e part of the land is still under wasteland
i n the basin though attempts a r e b l n g made gradually t o
reclaim it.
 T-pati (urban), Rsaigunta, yerpedu, S r i k a l a h a s t i .
K .V.B Putan and B .ti. Kandrlga ha* n o t shown any chanpe
i n the& c o n c e n t r a t i o n s during the period under considera-
tion. T l r u p a t i (Rural) a l s o haa rmnalned unchanged in
its very high concentration. Tirupati (urbsn), s r h l a -
hastl have n o t changed frrrn their medium c o n c e n t r a t i o n and
Renlgunta, Yerpedu, K.V.B. Puram, B.U. Kandrlga have re-
mained w i t h l w c o n c e n t r a t i o n throughout the s t u d y ptiod.

After a n a l y s l n g t h e d i a t r l b u t l o n a d concentration of
v a s t s l a n d e in t h e b a s h , it ia necessary to Maw the S l a p .
of t h e s e atsaa m i c h w i l l help i n g e t t i n g water for tho
fbld6 fr a n d if f e r e n c sourceo by gcavity .
a P B MALYSTS OF THE BAS-

The maxiarum h e i g h t of t h e baain above mean sea level

Is 1,150 m (3,650 f t .) . But much of t h e a r e a lies belw
t h b heiqht. A s muchas 47.5Xof t h e b a s i n lies belw
76.2 .
(250 f t ) h e i g h t and a s much as 73.2% of t h e land la
below 304.8 la (1,000 f t . ) . only 10.3% of t h e area i
.
above 609.6 m ( 2,000 tt .) from t h e mean s e a level.

bout 6 7 .l%of t h e a r e a has l a s s t h a n 3' s l o p e and

75% of t h e land hae a s l o p e of l e e s t h a n 1s'. There at.
swrr areas with a s l w above 30m, but theis t o t a l perrm-
tage m a ia very small (0.2%). mout 9.2Xof the at..
has a slop. between 20. and 30..

The undulating upland with or without scrub and also

the ravine land is distributed within the slop of l o mt o
20.. The rock outcrop appsar between 20- t o 30. and
the s a l i m and alkalhe soils are l o c a t d b l o w l o * slop..
The w a r r t e l ~ r rof the eastern baa ln (only Type-I and Type-11)
a r e located between 12' and 25'. Thla slop. la partiw-
l a r l y useful t o draw water by gravity f o r irrigation purpo-
ses. The central part of the basin ha6 s h a l l w lands where
the water accumulates during heavy r a w seasons. When

t h l s water dries up it leaves k h l n e ths salt8 In it A.

a result thr land becoolalr saline and alkalJru and themfore

u n f i t for c u l t ivatlon.

The warrtelands of the western part of the rivet -in

are located btveen 20. and 30.. These lands are located
particularly on the northern side of the Titumala foot-hills
or Seshachalaa f o o t - h i l b .
WATER RESDUlbCES

After this analysis the next step ia t o know what are

t h e water resourcerr in the river basin. ~ h ostudy area ls
irrigated by wells, tanks, canals, and tubs-wells. Sane

cmps are r a M e d . Evan then the wastelands in the area

could not be developed becauee the water available is in-
suf f icient f o r irrigation. Theref ore, t o reclaim and
develop them it is necessary t o tap as much of undergmnd
water as possible.

General ohmenration of wells in tho Swarnamukhi basin

reveals t h a t in the eastern parts of t h i s basin namely
Kasaram and Arai well water is available within a depth
of 8 t o 10 meters. I n the middle of the basin, i.e., in
yerpedu and Srikalahasti mandala water is available at a
depth of 10-12 meters. I n the uplands of the basin whSch
includes Chandragki mandal and part of the Tirupati(Ruta1)
mandal the well water is available within a depth of 12-14

meters.

Ground-water depends mostly upon the conditions of

t h e sur5ace lithology such as weathering, fractume,
joints, f aultzone between granites and dyke rocks, and also
on artesian conditions in fracture zones located below
impervioue hard rocks. Ground-water survsys have been
carried out by various geologists in the study area, nota-
bly by D r . Jagadeewara RaO and hla associates (1978).

On the baais of the available reports the groun8-uater of

t h i s area can be b e t t e r studbd under the following cate-
gorbs :

GROUND-WATER IN CIXDAPNl PUARTZITES

As quartzites a r e generally highly jointed, vary

l i t t l e water can km expected t o be stored along the jointe.
The Tirumala, KaLlasakona and T a l a k 0 ~water f a l l s indl-
cate t h a t a t places quartzites are fractured, faulted and
fissured t o such an extent, t h a t they form huge underground
resenmirs. The vater s o stored 5.n theme natural re8ervoks
la always released in t h e form of springs, which are perenn-
ial, inspite of the vagaries of the monsoon. The flaw Of
water f a l l s 5.8 attributed mainly t o the occurrence of natural
reservoinl and adjacent drainage basins.

Groundwater occurs i n shales under water-tabla condb

t i o m L.1 weathered mantle and under arteelan conditions in
f ractursd roc- within h a d shales. A t several placw
q u a r t z i t e s are u n d e r l a i n by s h a l e s and t h e n by granite.
T h i s k M of arrang-nt has g i v e n scope f o r taking up
water withia q u a r t z i t e s t o t a p groundwater w i t h i n f r a c -
tured s h a l e 8 underlying quartzi t e e .
GROUND-WATER IN ALLUVNW

. Qround-water occur8 n o t only a l o n g the prerent river

c o u r s e s b u t a l s o in large a r e a s on e i t h e r side of t h e r i v a r
c o u r s e 8 as a r e a u l t of s t r e e m meandering.

Alluvium c o n t a h boulders, f r e e of a n y cementing

material. The ground-water p o t e n t L 1 of much boulb.r-beda
is enormous owing t o t h e i r very h i g h p a m e a b i l i t y .
Although the riven in t h e a r e a are s m a l l w i t h small
d r a i n a b l e areas, t h e alluvium d e p o s i t e d b y t h e m in s u b t a n -
tial, a s these river8 haw been flowing f o r mare than 1,500
m u l i o n y e a r s and able t o d s p o e i t enormous alluvium.

Ground-water occurs a t f a i r l y shallow depth6 in t h e

e a r l y c o u r s e of almost a l l ths rivsrs in the r a n g e where t h e
rivers f l w along f a i t l y n a r r W v a l l e y s . Occurrence of w a t e r
a t great d e p t h s b found in c l u s t e r 3 of v U l . g e s , which are
f a r away from t h e river c o u r s e s as W e l l as fmra the f o o t - h i l l s
of the area.
 The d i r e c t i o n of ground water in t h e basin i s both
toward8 the east and south-east. he s p e c i a l features
of t h e SwarnanukhQli basin l8 the occurmace of a burbd
v a l l e y representing the ancient course of the r i v e r .

Jagadoellwera Rao and h i s associates ( 1978) have made

a detailed investigation of the groundwater bslance in
the basin f o r exploitation. These s t u d i e s have revealed
that t h e ground water balance is found t o be highest i n the
Swarnantukhi, when compared with t h e other river basin8 of
the d i s t r i c t .

The s o i l s i n thie basin a r e c l a s s i f i e d i n t o red eoils,

calcareous s o i l s , a l l u v h l soils and alkaline soils. Red
s o i l s a r e t h e most w u e l y distributed ones i n t h e c u l t i v a b l e
a r e a s of this region.

Generally, a t t h e f o o t of t h e h i l l s , and by the side

of minor atream, the t h l c k n ~ sof the red s o i l cover L a s
high a s 5-10 meters, where it is dissected by minor rhiw
lets, t o form bad lande. AS these bad lands su-t little

o r no vegetation, these s o i l s a r e e x t e ~ i v e l yeroded and

t r a m p o r t e d as suspended p a r t i c l e s i n f l a s h floods . The
a r e a s occupied by bad lands r e q u i r e e x t e w i v e rsclrusotlon
and contau: bunding t o make them f i t f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l
produet ion

I n some of t h e red s o i l s a s a t Mamanduru and in cer-

tain o t h e r places of this area, s o i l s a r e thin owing t o
emsion, and hence no d i s t i n c t i o n can be made between A
and B horizons. The calcareous s o i l s occur predominantly
around t h e Swarnamukhi bas in. They a r e compsed of clay
or sand mLcca with Calcareous scankar of nodular ahape
extending f o r about a m e t r e from t h e ground Surf ace.

A l l u v i a l s o i l s occur predomhently i n areas adjacent

t o a l l the rivers and river tributarlm, particularly the
t r i b u t a r i e s of SwarnamuWli, t o t h e e a t of ~ k u p a t i . The
major portion of a l l u v i a l s o i l s occurring on either s l d e of
the Svarnamukhi Ls h&hly a l k a l i n e owing t o poor drainage
and t h e occurrence of the impervious c l a y a t shallow depth.
I n t h e r a i n y season, t h e s e areas a r e water-logged with the
e n t i r e s o i l above t h e impervious clay foneatlon remaining in
a s a t u r a t e d conditions. Durlng s u m m a s a r s s u l t of ewgo-

ration, the e n t l m s o i l become8 completely dry leaving ths

s a l t s principally composed of sodiurP carbonate ( N 9 C O 3 ) has
sodium bicarbonate ( ~ - 0 ~ )in the s o i l . Such alkalZne or
salh e or salty or acid& s o i l s are seen in one place,
near Ran igunta .
The cumulative depositing of s a l t s every year has been
making t h e s o i l ptogreesively alkaline. As a r e s u l t the
soils u l t h a t e l y mo
rm completely unfit f o r ptoduction in
course of time.