THOOTHUKUDI DISTRICT

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 THOOTHUKUDI DISTRICT

1. Introduction

i) Geographical location of the district

Traditionally known as “Pearl City”

on account of the prevailing Pearl fish in the
past in the area, Thoothukudi has a
fascinating history. On 20th October 1986 a
new district, carved out of the erstwhile
Tirunelveli district was born in Tamil Nadu
and named after [Link], a great
National leader.

Since 1997 as in the case of other

districts of Tamil Nadu, this district has also
been named after its headquarters town
Thoothukudi. Thoothukudi district is situated
in between latitude 0.8o and 45o and
longitude 78 o and 11o with an area of 4,621
[Link].

ii) Administrative profile

The details on taluks, blocks, village
panchayats and town panchayats are
illustrated below:

Tiruchendur, Srivaikundam, Sathankulam,

I Taluks : Ottapidaram, Thoothukudi, Kovilpatti,
Vilathikulam & Ettayapuram

Thoothukudi, Ottapidaram, Srivaikundam,

Karungulam, Tiruchendur, Alwarthirunagari,
II Blocks :
Udangudi, Sathankulam, Kovilpatti, Kayathar,
Vilathikulam & Pudur

480
III Revenue villages :

408
IV Village panchayats :

V Town panchayats : 19

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iii) Meteorological information ii) Agriculture and horticulture
Its maximum temperature is 41oC Agriculture is the main occupation on
and the minimum is 26oC. The climate is which 70% of the people depend on .The
conducive for agriculture and horticulture. main food crop in this district is paddy. Out
Thoothukudi comes under low rainfall of the total area of 4,70,724 ha, 1,78,623 ha
region. The normal rainfall of the district is are brought under the cultivation of different
662.2 mm. South west monsoon accounts for crops which is nearly 38% of total area of
9%, north east monsoon for 65%, winter the district. The important food crops in the
being 9% and summer being 17% of total district are paddy, cholam, cumbu, ragi,
rainfall. Thoothukudi depends mainly on varagu, samai and commercial crops like
north east monsoon rains, which are brought cotton, chilly, sugarcane and groundnut.
by the troughs of low pressure developing in
south Bay of Bengal between October and a. Total Cultivated Area ha : 1,83,075
December. b. Net area sown (ha) : 1,78,623
2. Resources-availability c. Area sown more than once (ha): 4,452
i) Land resources d. Area and production of area (ha)
(2011- 2012)
The major soil types found in the Production principal crops area
district include montmorillonitic, Vertisols,
Alfisols, Inceptisols and kaolinitic. Deep i. Paddy 20,278 89.44
fine, montmorillonitic, vertisols occupies a ii. Millets and 52,850 187.19
major area of 1,14,817.11 ha The types of other cereals
soil and the area are listed in Table, below. iii. Pulses 62,274 12.91
Common soils types and locations in iv. Groundnut 1,183 1.15
Thoothukudi district v. Gingelly 1,905 0.30
Sl. Places in
Type of Soil e. Agricultural Land Holdings (2010-11)
No. District
1. Red loam Udangudi, i. Holdings : 1, 95, 435
Kayatar, ii. Area ha : 2, 33,688.8
Sattankulam iii. Average size of holdings (ha): 1.19
2. Lateritic soil Srivaikundam,
Tiruchendur iii) Forest resources
3. Black soil Kovilpatti, Total forest area of the district is 11,010 ha
Kayatar, A. Forest Area (ha)
Vilathikulam,
Thoothkudi, a. Reserved forests : 7,121
Ottapidaram b. Reserved lands : 3,889
4. Sandy coastal Tiruchendur Vallanadu Blackbuck Sanctuary is
alluviam located in Vallanadu village of
5. Red sandy soil Udangudi, Srivaikundam taluk on Tirunelveli –
Sattankulam, Thoothukudi road at a distance of 18km
Srivaikundam, from Tirunelveli. The Vallanadu Blackbuck
Karungulam, sanctuary is located in an isolated hillock
Ottapidaram, with scrub forest.
Vembar

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Islands of Tuticorin region i) Mineral resources
Rock types found in the area belong
Four of the 21 islands of Gulf of to the Khondalite and Charnockite groups
Mannar occur along Tuticorin coast. These and Migmatite Complex of Eastern Ghats
islands are surrounded by a thick coral and Super group, which are unconformably
seagrass cover. Erosion has been severe in overlain by Tertiary and Quaternary
these islands because of coral mining sediments. Garnet-biotite-sillimanite gneiss,
activities which happened before 2004 quartzite, calc-granulite and limestone of
Indian Ocean tsunami. Khondalite group with epidiorite, occurring
Van island as narrow linear bands. Charnockite group is
represented by acid variants. These rock
Van island is locally called as Church
types occur as xenoliths within the
Island. The island forms part of Keela
Migmatite Complex occupying a major part
Arasanadi village of Ottapidaram taluk. The
of the area, comprising medium grained
area of the island was 16 ha and 56 acres but
hornblende-biotite gneiss and garnet-biotite
it has currently shrunk to 5.7 ha according to
gneiss. Grey and pink granite represent the
the new reports. Moreover, island has split
last phase of granitic activity and occur as
into two parts because of a narrow channel in
concordant intrusive bodies.
between. The erosion in the island is
attributed to rampant coral mining which Fine grained marine, calcareous
happened in this region until 2004 tsunami. sandstone and limestone and gritty sandstone
This island is situated at a distance of 6 km intercalated with a pebble bed of Mio-
from the shore. Pliocene (Cuddalore sandstone)
unconformably overlies the Archaean. The
Kasuwar island pebble bed generally marks the contact
It is also called as Kasuwar island. It between the sandstone and gneiss. An
is located at a distance of 7km from interesting assemblage of fossils such as
Tharuvaikulam village of Ottapidaram taluk. lamellibranches, gastropods, corals and
Its area is 19.5 ha according to the 1986 foraminifera is found in the sedimentary
report. It is included in Tharuvaikulam of rocks. The beds are more or less horizontal
Ottapidaram taluk. or dip gently towards the east.
Karaichalli island Quaternary sediments occur along the
This island is located 10 km off the river valley and the east coast. They are
shore of Pattanamarudur village of grouped into fluvial-marine, Aeolian and
Ottapidaram taluk. This island is the most marine. Calcareous sandstone and siliceous
diverse island among the four islands. limestone of Quaternary age uncomfortably
overlies the Tertiary sediments marked by a
Vilanguchalli island conglomerate. The calcareous sandstone is
This is the farthest island from the interbedded with limestone. The rocks are
shore in the district. It forms part of coarse grained, poorly consolidated and
Pattanamarudur village and is located at the friable with recent marine shells of which
distance of 12 km off the shore of the Ostrea sp. is the most common. A
village. This island got submerged under the conglomerate bed is noticed at the base of
water because of severe coral mining these sediments in contact with Archaeans.
activities. Kankar and tuffaceous occur in number of
detached outcrops. The rocks occur as

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massive beds of sheet tufa resulting from Mica
segregation of lime bleached out of the
underlying garnet gneiss. Thick alluvium ENE of Kovilpatti, Pegmatite shows
occurs along the banks of Tamirabarani and incidence of mica. The limestone is available
Vaippar rivers and along the coast. Red ‘teri’ in the following areas:
sands represent Aeolian deposits. They occur 1. Arasur, in Sattankulam taluk
as small dunes and cappings.
2. Semma Pudur in Ettaiyapuram taluk
Ilmenite-garnet sand
It occurs the mouth of Vaippar and 3. Usilankulam in Kovilpatti taluk
Kallar rivers. they extend over a length of 4. Sivalarpatti, Meenakshipuram, [Link]
3.2 to 48 km and a width of 122m. Red reddiyarpuram in Vilathikulam taluk.
garnet sands occur between the south of
Ovari and Mavaladi. The proportion of 5. Kankar deposit is available in
garnet is 75% in the rich Kodambakkam Maniyakkaranpatti, Vilathikulam taluk in
tank, Tiruchendur taluk. Good purchase of Thoothukudi district.
ilmenite sand occurs at Thiruvaikunlam, Minor minerals
which extend over 3.2km The belt
containing good concentrates varies from 1.5 Rough stone, jelly, sand, gravel, clay,
to 30.5m in width. earth and granite are the minor minerals and
leases are granted for quarrying of the said
Lime Shell
minerals in Thoothukudi District. Rough
Lime shell with 50-55% CaO is stone, jelly is used for construction of
known from the coastal tracks of buildings, road, etc. Clay and earth are used
Thoothukudi and Srivaikundam taluks. for manufacturing bricks and filling
Gypsum and Salt materials. Gravel is used to form the road
and filling purpose.
Gypsum associated with Kankar has
been reported from a few localities. Gypsum v) Water resources
is a by-product in the salt pans, located along
the east coast between Veppalodai and Tamiraparani river which rises in
Ayyanapuram. Agasthiyamalai of the western ghats, flows
Salt pan through Srivaikundam and Thiruchendur
taluks and joins the sea at Punnakayl in
Srivaikundam taluks. Pambayar and
Manimuthar are the chief tributaries of
Tamiraparani, which pass through the
district. The Malattar and Uppodai flowing
in Kovilpatti taluk are drainage courses.
Tamiraparani and Manimutharu are the
catchment areas of river basins, which have
their place of origin in the Pothigaimalai.
The former has a length of 120 km and the
latter has a length of 98 km Pabanasam dam,
Manimutharu dam and Eppodumvernam
dam are built in the district.

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vi) Fisheries production Thiruchendur
a. Length of coastal line (km) : 163.5 Thiruchendur is one of the major
b. No. of coastal blocks :8 pilgrim centres of South India. This Temple
is situated at a distance of 40 km from
c. No. of coastal centre’s : 24 Thoothukkudi. The sea-shore temple
d. Marine fish production (tone) : 39,170 dedicated to Lord Muruga is one of the six
abodes of Lord Muruga. (Arupadi
e. Inland fish production (tone) : 1,276 Veedu).The nine storied temple tower of 157
The fishermen of Thoothukudi are ft. belongs to 17th century AD. Visiting Valli
mostly using gillnets and trawl nets in the Cave, taking sea-bath, and bathing in
motorized country craft and trawl boats, Nazhikkinaru are treated as holy ones. It is
respectively. The trawling method of fishing well connected by bus service from all over
over the years has led to the depletion of the TamilNadu and train services are there from
fishing resources and destruction of the sea Tirunelveli and Chennai.
bed. In Thoothukudi all FRP/wooden Manapadu
vallams and catamarans are motorized and
Manapadu is a coastal village
totally there are about 4,200 traditional crafts
situated at a distance a distance of 70 km
altogether. The fishing methods followed is
from Tirunelveli and 18 km south of
mostly gill netting only. Thoothukudi being
Tiruchendur. This place was visited by St.
a major export hub consists of one major
Francis Xavier in 1542. The Holy Cross
port and fishing harbour. The fish landings
church built on a cliff attracts thousands of
consists of important fishes like seer fish,
pilgrims throughout the year and during the
lobsters, prawns, snappers, groupers etc.,
month of festival (1st September to 14th
which are considered to be export varieties.
September) number of tourists assemble
vii) Heritage resources
here.

Manapadu village

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Kulasekaranpattinam viii) Biodiversity
It is a historical fact that even before
Kulasekaranpattinam is situated on
Christian era, the pearls and chanks obtained
the way to Kanyakumari from Tiruchendur.
from Gulf of Mannar coast enjoyed a
It is 20 km from Tiruchendur and 65 km
position among the import and export
from Kanyakumari. This village is famous
commodities to various parts of the world.
for the Mutharamman temple, which is
Since Tuticorin was famous for pearl fishing
located on the shore of Bay of Bengal. This
it is called Pearl City. The Gulf of Mannar
temple is nearly 150 years old. The Dhasara
Marine National Park area of Thoothukudi
Festival is celebrated in a grand scale every
district includes estuaries, mudflats, beaches
year during October. Folk dance artists from
and forests of the near shore environment.
throughout Tamil Nadu perform variety of
It also includes marine components such as
programmes.
coral reefs, seaweed beds, sea grasses, salt
Kazhugumalai marshes and mangroves. Mangroves occur
Kazhugumalai Jain temple is situated in Tuticorin mainland, Vaipar, Pazhayakayal
at a distance 60 km from Tirunelveli and 21 and Punnakayal areas. The diverse nature of
km from Kovilpatti. In this temple we can ecosystems in the Gulf of Mannar supports a
see the images of Adinatha, Neminatha wide variety of significant species including
Mahaveera Parvanatha, Bahubali. There is 117 species of corals, 13 species of
also a monolithic temple called Vettuvan seagrasses, 641 species of crustaceans, 731
Kovil. This is the only one of the monolithic species of molluscs, 441 species of finfishes
Pandya temple that still survives. and 147 species of seaweeds apart from the
seasonally migrating marine mammals like
Meignanapuram whales, dolphins, porpoises and turtles.
It is 13 km from Tiruchendur and is
3. Impacts
an ancient village. The Pari Pauvlin church
here was built in 1847. It is 110 ft long, 55 i) Urbanization
ft wide with steeple in the front soaring into Among the urban areas, Thoothukudi
the sky for a height of 192 ft This is one of municipal town accounts for a greater share
the biggest churches with the tallest steeple of urban population when compared to the
in India. other urban areas within the district. Surface
Sinthalakkarai water is the major source for protected water
supply both in municipalities and in town
Sinthalakkarai is a pilgrim centre panchayats. The estimated sewage
where Goddess Sri Vetkaliamman of 42 ft generation is 155 lakh litres among
height blesses the devotees. It is situated on municipalities and 84 lakh litres among town
the road from the Thoothukudi to Madurai. panchayats. The municipalities and the town
The Statue of Mahavishnu of 72 ft length panchayats have complete open drainage
with Rajasayanam on the snake in system. The solid waste generation of
Thiruparkadal is also there. municipalities and town panchayats is to the
Vanathirupathi tune of 35.10 tonnes and 23.45 tonnes
This temple is about 45km from respectively. The solid waste collection in
Tirunelveli and around 20 km from municipalities and town panchayats is
Tiruchendur. The nearest railway station is claimed to be 82.5%. It was observed that
Kachanavilai on the Tiruchendur to 10% of rubber and leather, 11% of plastics,
Tirunelveli section. 52% of compostable matter, 6% of wooden

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matter, 9% of glasses, 6% each metal and maximum value of these indicators is far
bricks & stones are the composition of beyond the set standards causing concern.
municipal solid waste in the district.
iii) Thermal power generation
ii) Industrial development
There has been an improvement in
The industries found in this district the power generation sector. Non
can be classified under three categories viz. conventional and renewable energy sources
household industries, small scale, and of utilisation are not very much identified.
medium and large-scale industries. Safety Thermal power station at 5 km from
matches, mat weaving & processing and Thoothukudi town and DCW Ltd and heavy
manufacture of palm fibre and articles from water plant are the red category industries.
palm trees are the main household industries. Effluent discharge happens from these
Safety matches are manufactured mainly in industries into the land and sea respectively.
Kovilpatti taluk. Manufacture of articles
from palm tree is mainly found in iv) Natural hazards
Thiruchendur, Srivaikundam and
Sattankulam taluks where larger areas are Erosion has been severe along the
covered by palmyrah trees. coastline of Thoothukudi district. The
boundary of the sea keeps increasing and
There are many small-scale industries entering in to the land gradually. Sea level
in this district, which are mostly engaged in rise is a global problem as it occurs in the
manufacturing of chemical products, and Thoothukudi coast of Gulf of Mannar. One
food products. The items produced by large- of the four islands of Gulf of Mannar has
scale industries are salt, cotton yarn/textiles, submerged because of the combined effect of
chemical and chemical products. The rampant coral mining and sea level rise.
spinning mills are located in Thoothukudi Another island, Van, is also on the verge of
taluk. There are many major rice mills for submergence as it has decreased in area
production of rice from paddy. Salt considerably and recently split into two parts
manufacturing is one of the very important by a narrow channel in between. Sea surface
industries found in this district. There have temperature is also increasing as a
been 17 Red category industries and 9 consequence of global climate change.
Orange category industries under large-scale Corals in the Gulf of Mannar are facing
industries in the district. However all the annual bleaching because of the elevated sea
industries of the district are found to be surface temperature.
having the emission rates well under the set v) Natural disaster prone areas
standards.
It has been ascertained from the
Air pollution is the major component available information that 3 taluks were
of atmospheric pollution, which affected by flood during 1992 - 1993 years.
instantaneously affects human health and No significant drought and cyclone in the
thus is an environmental hazard. As far as district have been recorded in the recent
the urban air quality status is concerned, the years. The banks along the Thamiraparani
average SPM values and average NOx values river are prone to occasional floods. 2004
of commercial and industrial categories seem Indian Ocean tsunami did not make huge
to be within the standards. However, the damage in Thoothukudi district as the coastal
zone is protected by natural resources like
corals and seagrasses.

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4. Government initiatives ii) Coastal protection initiatives

i) Initiatives to improve fisher folk Islands of the Tuticorin region act as

livelihood bio shields in this village along with the
coral and seagrass beds. The impact of
Schemes Implemented In Thoothukudi tsunami was comparatively less in this
District district. Moreover, manual protection by
making sea walls has been done in several
• National Savings- cum- relief scheme areas noticeably in Thirespuram.
for marine fishermen Savings- cum-
iii) Awareness initiatives
relief scheme for marine fisherwomen
One day workshop was conducted on
• Enhanced Financial Assistance of tsunami at Government Polytechnic on
Rs.2000/- to marine fishermen families 19.07.06. Quality testing of various types of
during fishing ban period. materials used in construction and practical
sessions were conducted. Various awareness
• Special allowance of Rs.4000/- for programs on coastal resources and
fishermen families during non-fishing conservation have been conducted by
period. various government and private sectors.
Coral miners stopped coral mining after
• Conversion / Upgradation of fishing 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami due to increased
crafts into tuna liners @ 25% subsidy. awareness.

• Group accident insurance scheme for iv) Bio diversity

fisher-folk.
Successful coral restoration has been
• Fishermen personal accident insurance done by Suganthi Devadason Marine
scheme. Research Institute around Tuticorin group of
islands and in mainland Punnakayal patch
• Motorisation of traditional grafts. reef. Very good results were obtained.
• Cash awards to 10th and +2 students Artificial reefs have also been deployed in
belonging to fishermen community. various areas along Tuticorin coast.
Initiatives have been taken to do the seagrass
• Payment of daily relief to the missing restoration also. Mangrove restoration has
fishermen family while conducting been done by the forest department near
fishing into the sea. Punnakayal and Pazhayakayal areas.

• Fishermen welfare board schemes. 5. Summary / Conclusion

• Fishermen free housing scheme
• Thoothukudi district is situated in
• Scheme for creating employment between latitude 8.8100°N,
opportunities to educated fishermen 78.1400°E with an area of 4621
youth through up gradation of skills in [Link]
Maritime Education and Nautical
Sciences. • The major soil types found in the
district include montmorillonitic,

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 vertisols, alfisols, inceptisols and • Tamiraparani, the only river of the
kaolinitic. Deep fine, montmor- district. It originates from rises in
illonitic and vertisols occupy a major Agasthiyamalai of the Western
area of 1,14,817.11 ha Ghats, flows through Srivaikundam
and Thiruchendur taluks and joins
• Agriculture is the main occupation the sea at Punnakayl in
and 70% of the people depend on it. Srivaikundam taluk.

• Out of the total area of 470724 ha, • The district has a wide coastal length
178623 ha are under the cultivation of 163.5 km
of different crops which is nearly
38% of total area of the district. • The Gulf of Mannar Marine National
Park area of Thoothukudi district
• The important food crops in the includes estuaries, mudflats, beaches
district are paddy, cholam, cumbu, and forests of the near shore
ragi, varagu, samai and commercial environment.
crops like cotton, chilly, sugarcane
and groundnut. • Coral restoration, seagrass
restoration and mangrove restoration
• Four of the 21 islands of Gulf of activities are carried out
Mannar occur along Tuticorin coast. successfully in this district.
These islands are surrounded by a
thick coral and seagrass cover which
act as a bio shield.

• Erosion has been severe in these

islands because of coral mining
activities which happened before
2004 Indian Ocean tsunamialong
with sea level rise.

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