LINES ON LAND LOINS OF ADMINISTRATION

Crunchy numbers, crispy stats

A map of India contains a line of its country boundary, states, districts etc. at a large scale and it may be the line shown in a plot area to show the boundary of a property. Maps with boundaries are used as tools for urban and regional planning and development. The lines of boundaries and the administering the boundaries are done in urban and regional planning thorough spatial planning and spatial governance.

Lines of differences are made for convenient to administer as well as manage people and resources. The boundaries of settlements are extended as on when the settlement grow spatially. Some- times boundaries won’t change but at the same time the settlement names change may be a village grow into a town or town into city etc. Line on the map is not visible ion the land of administrations. There are lines of boundaries along or divides as rivers, roads, streets, forest areas, hills etc.

The history of Krishna district reveals that it is one of the administrated areas of Andhra Pradesh formerly called Masulapatnam district and in 1859 when the ten Guntur district was abolished, certain taluks thereof were added to this district which was renamed as Krishna district, after the mighty river Krishna. The present Krishna and Guntur district connect by the Prakasam Barrage with a length of 1223.5 mt. The Krishna district occupies an area of 8,727 square kilometres (3,370 sq mi). Historically the Krishna District is divided into four revenue divisions such as Vijayawada, Nuzvid, Machilipatnam, and Gudivada.

There are fifty mandals in the district and Nine Urban local bodies such as (a) Muncipal Corporation Vijayawada, (b) Machilipatnam, Nuzividu, Jaggayyapeta, Pedana, Gudiwada Muncipalities,(c) Nandigama Nagara anchayaty, Vuyyuru and Tiruvur Nagarpanchayats. During 250 AD - 340 AD the Pallava kingdom spread over from Krishna rivers to Tungabhadra, including Amaravati in the East, Bellary in the West and Kancheepuram in the South. The capital cities were Venginagar near Ellore (presently Eluru) and at Pithapuram, both in Vengidesa. VISHNU KUNDINAS ruled during 5th Century AD and they excavated cave temples at Mogalrajapuram and Undavalli etc. In 1512, Abu-l-Hussain Shah was the last of Qutab Shahi dynasty known as Tanisha.

He had two ministers, both Brahmins, named Akkanna and Madanna. For some reasons they fixed their office at Vijayawada. In 1611 the English founded their settlement at Masulipatnam which continued to be their headquarters until they were finally removed to Madras in 1641. At first the district was administered by a chief and council at Masulipatnam but in 1794 Collectors, directly responsible to the Board of Revenue, were appointed at Masulipatnam. Krishna district, more particularly Krishna Taluk, which then included parts of the present day districts of Guntur. It is important to examine how decisions regarding cities and their boundaries are taken.

In the United States, such limits are usually formally described in a state, provincial, or territorial law (or an appropriate regulation) as being under the control of the municipal corporation or agency that constitutes the city government. City limits may extend into more than one county, which can complicate certain matters of policing and taxation. Rail tracks and roads often separate or bound cities. City, town, and village limits are not usually coterminous with post office locations or ZIP codes/ postal codes, and the USPS and Canada Post even considers some places to be "unacceptable" for use on mail. In UK, city boundaries are more difficult to define, since British cities are defined as any town, regardless of size, that has been granted letters patent.

London the largest city is perhaps the most difficult to define, as different people have different definitions ranging from just The City of London, to anywhere inside the M25 motorway. Although British city boundaries are often important for defining local services such as refuse collection, schools, libraries and planning (zoning), they play little or no role in law enforcement or hospitals. Police jurisdiction and local services are generally defined by county boundaries, and people in one county may usually decide to use hospitals, libraries, and schools in another without incurring any fees.

Planning (zoning) law around British cities is generally determined by green belt laws, which prevent building on the countryside immediately surrounding large and medium-sized towns and cities. While 100 per cent of the population living in Lagos falls within the jurisdiction of the Lagos city-state, only eight per cent of the larger Manila metropolitan region’s population lives in Manila city and comes under its city mayor. The equivalent proportion for Delhi and Mumbai would be 66 and 65 per cent respectively. So it is important to look at how decisions regarding the boundaries of a city are taken.

Urbanisation or urban growth is conventionally understood as the increase in the population of a city. However, it is important to realise that spatial growth of the city is perhaps a more fundamental aspect of the urban process. In relation to the AP Capital City, there are a few fundamental questions to ask in this context: (a) What is the extent of the proposed city population that comes under the jurisdiction of the capital city government? (b) What extent the congruence in the areas of the functional capital city region with the administrative boundaries of the settlements? (c) what is the extend of the local bodies including community in the governance of the capital city region? Since the boundaries are very clear in the maps at the same time it is very much invisible on ground and the local people’s perception varies and development continue to take place.

Dr. Abdul Razak Mohamed, DEAN of Studies & HOD Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada

By Dr Abdul Razak Mohamed