About District

WANAPARTHY DISTRICT

          Wanaparthy District has been carved in accordance with the Reorganization of the Districts ACT, 2016 of the bifurcation of Telangana State. Wanaparthy Revenue Division Comprising 8 Mandals as part of the Mahabubnagar District was Already existing and Madanapuram, Revally, Chinnambavi & Srirangapur mandals are newly formed mandals carved from Atmakur, Amarchintha, and Narva mandals from Narayanpet Division of Erstwhile Mahbubnagar District, at Present (14)Mandals are existing in the District.

           Wanaparthy District is a newly formed District bifurcated from the erstwhile Mahabubnagar District and occupies an area of `2164.59 Sq.km with a total population of 577758 as per Census 2011 of which 92288 is urban population and 485470 rural population. The density of the population is 267 per Sq.km.  The percentage of the rural population in the District is 84.03 and that of the urban is 15.97. The scheduled caste population in the District forms 16.13% of the total population, while scheduled tribes account for 7.97% of the total population. Wanaparthy town is the largest urban unit in the District. Total Literacy as per the 2011 census is 55.67% in which Male literacy is 65.73% and female literacy is 45.27%

 BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY:

          The District is bounded by Mahabubnagar District in the North, Nagarkurnool in the East, Jogulamba Gadwal District in the West, Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh in the south. The District is located in between 16⁰ and 17^’0 degrees Latitude and 77⁰ degrees and 78⁰ degrees Longitude.

         The District has one Revenue Division i.e., Wanaparthy, and is sub-divided into 14 mandals, which include 223 Revenue Villages, 255 Gram Panchayaths, and (5) Municipalities. The official language of the district is Telugu and the second language is Urdu.

Industries:

          Kothakota and Thippadampally are popular for silk sarees. Quartz, Feldspar, Limestone & Laterite occur in Pangal and Wanaparthy Mandals. One Large Industry SSV Spinners Private Limited with an investment of Rs.42 Crores is established by providing employment for 180 persons in Peddamandadi village of Peddamandadi Mandal. Two (2) Megaprojects viz., NSL Krishnaveni sugars Ltd. at Ramakrishnapur village of Kothakota Mandal and another Shasta Bio Fuels Pvt.Ltd., at Rangapur of Pebbair Mandal have been established with an investment of Rs.608 crores and these two projects are providing employment to 433 persons.

Micro and small Enterprises:

        Under MSME Act 2006, a total of 293 Micro Enterprises with an investment of Rs.95.45 Crores providing employment to 1113 persons and 19 small enterprises with an investment of Rs.112.26 Crores providing employment to 1223 persons have been established from October 2006 to May,2015.

IRRIGATION

Priyadarshini Jurala Project

        Priyadarshini Jurala Project was constructed across river Krishna between Nandimalla village (Amarachintha mandal of Wanaparthy District) and Revulapally village (Dharoor Mandal of Jogulamba Gadwal District) to utilize 17.84 TMC of water to irrigate an ayacut of 1,04,124 acres under Left Main Canal and Right Main Canals lying in the drought-prone mandals of Amarachintha, Atmakur, Kothakota, Madanapur, Pebbair, Srirangapur, Weepanagandla, Chinnambaavi & Pentlavelly on Left Flank (68,467 acres) and Dharoor, Gadwal, Itikyal, and Manopad on Right Flank (35,657 Acres).  This project is also intended for the generation of Hydro Electric Power of 234 MW and this component was executed by TS GENCO. The revised estimated project cost is Rs. 1,815.20 Crores (SSR 2012-13).

       The Ookachettuvagu Project, Ramanpad (v), a balancing reservoir on PJP Left Main Canal at km 17.100 has a separate allocation of 1.900 TMC with an ayacut of 5,172 acres. Out of 73,639 acres (68,467+5,172) under PJP LMC, the ayacut in Wanaparthy district is 69,975 acres and the balance tail-end ayacut of 3,664 acres falls in the Nagarkurnool district. Irrigation potential is created for the entire ayacut.

         Rajiv Bheema Lift Irrigation (RBLI), and Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy Lift irrigation (MGKLI) schemes are ongoing Lift irrigation schemes having an Ayacut of 70347 and 75648 acres respectively.

         The rainy season starts in June and ends in September. The rainfall in the district increases from the southwest towards the northeast. About 80% of the rainfall is received during the rainy season. July & August Months are full rainy months. 808. MM.  rainfall is recorded against the normal rainfall of 579.6 MM for the Year 2022-2023 in the district.                

Places and Tourist Importance:

Wanaparthy District has tourist potential with tourist spots like

1. Sri Ranganayaka Swamy temple is located in Srirangapur Village of Srirangapur Mandal at a distance of 23 km from the District headquarters. According to legend, Krishnadevaraya, the Vijayanagar ruler, went to Srirangam and was enthralled by the Sri Ranganayakaswamy Temple there. He desired to construct a Ranganayakaswamy temple in his kingdom. Later, Ranganayaka (Lord Vishnu) appeared in a dream and told the king that his idol was lying in the kingdom and an eagle will direct him to that place. On the succeeding day, Krishnadevaraya followed the eagle and found the Lord’s idol between Kothakota and Kanvayapally mountains. The king constructed the Sri Ranganayakaswamy Temple near Ratna Pushkarini Lake which is a classic example of Vijayanagar architecture.

2. Wanaparthy Rajagari Bungalow was donated to the polytechnic college which is the most important place to visit. The first polytechnic college in Telangana was started in Wanaparthy. Wanaparthy turned into ruled with the aid of a feudal ruler, Rameshwar Rao II, who was a vassal of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Wanaparthy became one of the 14 important Zamindari segments in Telangana in Post-Independent India. Raja died on 22 November 1922. As his successor, Krishna Dev was a minor, his property was controlled by the Court as his ward Krishna Dev died earlier than attaining maturity and the crown surpassed directly his son Rameshwar Rao III. Soon after India abolished all regal titles Wanaparthy Samsthanam or Raja of Wanaparthy changed into a vassal of Nizam of Hyderabad. He controlled the feudalism of Wanaparthy. After the formation of the Telangana Government, Wanaparthy is a newly formed district along with 14 mandals.

3. Saralasagar project is the first ever of its kind and the second biggest dam in Asia running with a siphon system and the capacity of the dam is 0.5tmcft, located in Madanapur Mandal at a  distance of 20 KMs to the district headquarters. It is the oldest project in India after independence. Raja of WanaparthyRaja Rameshwara Rao founded the Sarala Sagar Dam Project which has incorporated siphon technology from California, United States.  The project was inaugurated in 1949 by the former Governor of Hyderabad General J.N Chowdary. The project construction stopped for 9 years due to some unknown reasons and was later resumed in 1959.  Presently this project is irrigating a vast area of 4,182 Acres of agricultural land in the Wanaparthy district. Telangana Government has taken priority for desilting and repair of the guide walls of the project in Mission Kakatiya Phase-III with an Estt. Cost of Rs.2.30 Crores.

4. Ghanpur Khilla

       Khilla Ghanpur also known as Ghanpur, Ganapuram, was named after Kakatiya king Ganapathi Deva. Ghanpur has a hill fort with hilly area of 4 Sq.Km.and was built by joining two mountains by Gona Ganapa Reddy and Recherla Padma Nayakulu (Singama Nayakudu I) in 13th century. This fort had witnessed many wars between Bahamanis, Vijayanagara Kings, Bijapur Kings and Qutub Shahi Kings, etc. The cannons which still exist have been kept on the top most side of the fort. We can also see palace and ruins of the ministers houses. The village was Naginenipally before it was named after Kakatiya Ruler Ganapathideva by Gona Ganna Reddy. People believe that there are two secret tunnels inside the fort. One is connected with the village at the bottom of the mountain and the other one is connected to the Pangal fort. After Buddapuram war, Kakatiya’s last king Pratapa Rudra married to Gona Ganna Reddy’s daughter in this Fort. The fort has beautiful rockscapes and greenery with two ponds which were used as drinking water supply for the fort army. There are many adventure activities that can be done here including rappelling, rock climbing, caving, etc.

       There are several temples inside the fort like Veerabhadra Temple, Narasimha Temple and Chowdeswari Temple. There are several caves on the hilltop and provide good opportunity for exploration.

       There are two ponds inside the fort with fresh water and they are good for swimming. There are several hills around the fort and they provide good opportunity for trekking as well. Ghanpur Lake is a large lake situated close to the Ghanpur village and the view of the lake from the fort is picturesque

5. Pangal Khilla:

       At a distance of 1.5 km from Pangal Bus Station, 15 km from Wanaparthy Bus Station, 74 km from erstwhile Mahabubnagar district  and 163 km from Hyderabad, Pangal Fort is located at Pangal in Wanaparthy District and is one of the Famous Hill

       Forts in Telangana. The trekking starts from Pangal village and it is an easy trek which takes about 2 hours to reach the peak, explore and come back to the village.

      It was built by Kalyani Chalukya Kings during the 11th and 12th Centuries. The fort is spread across hundreds of acres with Seven Gateways. The Main entrance is called “Mundlagavini” and is a special attraction of this fort. It was built with huge granite rocks.

      The ruins of the fort house several monuments built with beautiful architecture, including Uyyala Mandapam and several water bodies. Many deadly wars had taken place among the dynasties like Bahamani, Vijayanagara, Padmanayaka and Qutub Shahis at this fort. The fort also witnessed guerrilla warfare during the revolt against the Nizam.

6. Chandraghad Fort:

       At a distance of 1.3 km from Chandraghad, 8 km from Jurala Dam, 43Km from Wanaparthy Bus Station, 74 km from Mahabubnagar Bus Station and 163 km from Hyderabad, Chandraghad Fort is located at Chandraghad Village in Amarchintha mandal of Wanaparthy District. This Hill Fort is located close to Jurala Dam. The picturesique Hill fort is located on the banks of river Krishna. This Fort was built during Peshwas and belongs to Chandrasena Jilledar. This is a strong fort constructed to store the grains and taxes collected from people. The fort offers the remains of the protective walls, gateways and several ruined buildings. The Sri Ramalingeshwara Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is located in the fort. There are several water bodies exist in the fort. It requires about one km walk from the nearest road point to trek to the hilltop. Chandraghad is about 2 km from the main road between Jurala and Atmakur. Public transport to Chandraghad is very poor.