Study Area
Raipur M.C. (Municipal Corporation) is the core town forming Raipur S.U. A. (Standard Urban Area) situated in Raipur tehsil of Raipur district. The study area extends between 21012'N to 21018'N Latitudes and 81033' to 81041'E Longitudes. As such it covers above 6' latitude and 8' longitude with an area of about 64.29 sq km . The average elevation is about 295 mtrs above mean sea level. The city occupies the northwestern part of Raipur district. Raipur City is situated in the fertile plains of Chhattisgarh region .It is located on eastern plateau region of Mahanadi basin (sedimentary), This region has undulating plateau with mounds and valleys. .Raipur is located in fertile valley of river Kharun. River Kharun is the principal river of this City, which is a tributary of Mahanadi. It rises about 13kms to the west of Raipur City forming the boundary between the districts of Raipur and Durg. The city is well drained and moderately permeable. The whole of Raipur city is part of the open Chhatishgarh plain, which is thickly populated and closely cultivated. Ground water table is about 10 m above. This region is gently sloppy (3-8 % slope) with moderate erosion and normal relief Parent material is limestone and shale, which have moderate water holding capacity.
The climate of this region is characterized by a hot dry summer and well distributed rains in the monsoon seasons. The cold season commences from December and lasts till the end of February .The hot season follows thereafter and continues till about the second week of June. The southwest monsoon season is from middle of June to the end of September. October and November constitutes the post monsoon season. The temperature is 46?C in summer and fall to 8?C in winter. The area receives an average rainfall of 1400 mm.
Total population of Raipur city, according to 2001 census, is 6,05131persons but the decadal population growth marked quiet uneven pattern varying from 10.03 percent during 1901-1911 to 47.35 percent in 1961-71 and 51.13 percent in 1991-2001. The sex ratio for Chhattisgarh according to the 2001 census is 990, which is very high when compared to most other regions of India. Except for Kerala, the new state of Chhattisgarh has a higher sex ratio than all other states. The sex ratio of population was recorded as 921 in 1971, which has increased from 925 in the 2001 census. The average level of literacy of the town has arisen to 82.42 percent in 2001 from 73.79 percent Work participation rate of Raipur town was 29.66 percent in 1991. In 1971,1981 and 1991 the total number of persons engaged in Cultivation activities were 1833, 2588 and 2333 respectively. Whereas agricultural labours were 1121, 2651 and 2727 for the same census years. Household industries (manufacturing, processing. servicing and repair) has engaged 2067, 2032 and 2472 while other activities their were 7117, 93983 and 20961persons respectively for the same census years.
Industrial development in this district is mainly because of availability of wide spread minerals, coal, electricity and cheap labour . There are large deposits of limestone used for cement production. The largest proportion of land use in the city is the residential i.e. 55.78 percent. This is followed by transport and communication (12.51percent), public and semi-public, (12.43 percent), industrial (12 percent), commercial (4.97 percent) and recreational (2.36 percent) purpose. Number of occupied residential houses increased from 59,219 in 1971 to 77340 in 1991.