Kakinada

కాకినాడ Kakinada

Cocanada
Fertilizer City
—  City  —
Kakinada aerial view
కాకినాడ Kakinada
Location of కాకినాడ Kakinada
in Andhra Pradesh and India
Coordinates
Country  India
Region Coastal Andhra
State Andhra Pradesh
District(s) East Godavari
Subdistrict(s) Kakinada (Urban)
Mayor K.Saroja
Member of Parliament M.M.Pallam Raju
Member of Legislative Assembly Kakinada City - D.Chandrasekhar Reddy (Congress), Kakinada Rural - K.Kannababu (PRP)
Parliamentary constituency Kakinada
Assembly constituency Kakinada City,Kakinada Rural
Population

• Density
• Metro

 5,50,000 (8,AP) (2001)

• 12,223 /km2 (31,657 /sq mi)
• 8,96,329 (4,AP) (2007)
Literacy 80% 
Official languages Telugu
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Area

• Metro
• Elevation

 92.3 square kilometres (35.6 sq mi) (4)

• 190.27 square kilometres (73.46 sq mi)
• 2 metres (6.6 ft)
Climate

Temperature
• Summer
• Winter

 Mildly Tropical (Köppen)

•      26 °C (79 °F)
•      40 °C (104 °F)
•      24 °C (75 °F)

Kakinada (Telugu: కాకినాడ) pronunciation is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the headquarters of East Godavari district.It goes by the sobriquets "Fertilizer City",owing to the large concentration of fertilizer plants and "Pensioner's Paradise" & "Second Madras", as it is well planned and peaceful .The city has a population of about 550,000 urban and 896,329 including kakinada rural, which covers an Metro (recent up-gradation of the Urban area) area of approximately 190 Sq Km, making it one of the important tier-II cities in Andhra Pradesh.[2]

This coastal city is witnessing rapid growth thanks to the setting up of a Special Economic Zone and proposed "Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR)". The city is the defacto capital of KG Basinand a hub to all the deep sea exploratory activity in the region thanks to its deep-water sea port.This region is purported to be the next Gulf of Mexico.

The presence of a small island called Hope Island about 5 km from Kakinada coast, makes Kakinada a natural Harbor. Prior to construction of the deep water port, the old anchorage port operated for several decades as the largest minor port in India. At present, both the deep water port and older anchorage port operate side by side.

Contents

Etymology

Several theories exist regarding the origin of the name Kakinada. One among them is that the place was called 'Kakinandiwada' during the reign of Nandi kings who ruled prior to the arrival of the Europeans. The name was truncated to Kakinada over the passage of time. The British used to call it Cocanada (for British pronunciation "Co Canada"). After Independence, it was renaturalized to Kakinada, although a few organisations established during the British colonial rule retain the old name (e.g., Cocanada Chamber of Commerce). Even now, the City's two railway stations are codenamed CCT (Kakinada Town Junction) and COA (Kakinada Port) by the Indian railways.

History

Kakinada is younger than other major cities in Andhra pradesh. The city itself grew into prominence in the last 300 years after the European settlers arrived here and the British made it an administrative headquarters for the local area they ruled.The first European settlers in this port city were the Dutch, followed by the British and then the missionaries of the Canadian Baptist Mission in 1874[1]

Geography

Kakinada is located at .[2]. The 82½ degrees east longitude, with respect to which IST (Indian Standard Time) is calculated, passes through Kakinada. It has an average elevation of 2 metres (6 feet) and many areas of the city are below sea level. The city has roughly a north-south orientation and is confined to a long narrow strip parallel to the sea coast. The average width of the city is around 6 km but its length is around 15 Km. It can be divided into two broad regions. The old city area in the south-west called Jagannathapuram is separated from the rest of the city by Buckingham Canal. Couple of bridges connect both these parts.This canal and its branches form Medaline Island which abuts the city in the south-west.

The northern part is dotted by many villages. The eastern part is separated from coastline by an industrial belt, running north-south through the entire length of the city. The southern part is a marshy wetland and home to India's second largest Mangrove Forest and Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary.One of the branches of the mighty River Godavari, the Gouthami flows into Bay of Bengalat this point.

Distances to other cities in AP

Climate

Kakinada has a Tropical Savanna Climate.The weather is hot and humid for most of the year. The hottest part of the year is late May to early June with maximum temperatures around 38–42 °C (100–108 °F). The coolest part of the year is January, with minimum temperatures around 18–20 °C (64–68 °F). The city gets most of its seasonal rainfall from the south-west monsoon winds altough a good deal of rains greet these parts during the north-east monsoon from mid-October to mid-December. Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal frequently hit the city. Prevailing winds in Kakinada are usually southwesterly for most part of the year except during October to January when they blow nort-easterly.The city experiences an average annual rainfall between 110 and 115 centimeters.

Civic administration

City streets at night, Kakinada

The city of Kakinada is run by the Kakinada Municipal Corporation, consisting of elected representatives and a commissioner. The city is divided into 50 wards and each ward elects a corporator through direct ballot. A mayor is elected for the entire city among the elected corporators by indirect ballot. The commissioner who is an IAS is appointed by the state government. Apart from this, the city is represented at the state level in the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly by an MLA and at the federal level in the Lok Sabha by an MP.[3]

Transport

The nearest airport is located at Rajahmundry, about 65 km from the city has services to Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. Kingfisher Airlines is the airlines operating here. The nearest International airport is at Visakhapatnam at a distance of 145 km and has the services of all major airline operators to all big cities in the country.

Railway station,Kakinada

Kakinada being a city located on the sea shore, is a railway terminus, made by politicians because in the past it has a kotipalli railway line laid by British people but for the sake of help to other countries after World war-II our government removed that line.Now by the help of our great leader Late Mr. G.M.C Balayogi laid track up to kotipalli which should be extended to Narsapur(via Amalapuram).From Narsapur to Vijayawada(via Bhimavaram,Gudiwada) there is diesel railway line, to electrify that line Kakinada to Narspur line must be extended.There are benefits by extending this line mainly Konaseema market(coconut, banana) can be diversified to national level, the three districts(East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna) towns namely Ramachandrapuram, Drashakramam, Amalapuram, Narsapur, Palakol, Bhimavaram,Gudiwada are well connected to rail route, and will be developed more.Kakinada has four railway stations namely Kakinada Town Junction (3 km), Kakinada Port (8 km), Kakinada Port New (6 km),Sarpavaram (5 km).Presently through a branch line, Kakinada is connected to Samalkot Junction (12 km) which is on the Chennai-Howrah trunk line, where almost all express trains stop to connect Kakinada with the important places of the country.

City Roads,Kakinada

Good roads connect Kakinada with all the places within the state and rest of the country.NH-214 from Kathipudi to Pammaru is passing through Kakinada which connects it to NH-5 at Kathipudi, NH-9 at Pammaru.This NH-214 is extended to Ongole and named as NH-214(A)

Kakinada deep water port is the second largest in the state after Visakhapatnam port. It is operated by Kakinada Seaports Limited. Before the deep water port was built, the anchorage port was the largest of the forty minor-ports operating in India. It is well connected to all major seaports in the country. Currently both deep water port and older anchorage port operate side by side. It has a good seaport also. JSW Infrastructure and Logistics, an infrastructure and logistics company owned by the JSW group is building ship repair and shipyard facilities near kakinada port with an investment of about US$250 million.[3] Also, a second port is being planned to be built exclusively to serve KSEZ (Kakinada Special Economic Zone).[4]

Direction Compass

Warangal, Karimnagar, Pune, Mumbai Raipur, Patna, Lucknow, Kanpur, New Delhi Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkatta
Rajahmundry, Hyderabad, Khammam, Solapur, Goa Bay of Bengal
   Kakinada    
Vijayawada, Guntur, Nellore, Tirupati, Chennai, Bangalore Yanam, Amalapuram, Bhimavaram, Narsapur, Gudivada, Pamarru, Ongole Bay of Bengal

Industry

In the late 1940s (around the time of Indian Independence) there was little industry in and around Kakinada, when the local economy consisted mainly of agriculture and fishing. Six decades later, Kakinada's economy has a diverse industrial base.

Kakinada is often called the "Fertilizer City" of Andhra Pradesh. The city is home to two fertilizer producers: Nagarjuna Fertilizers is the biggest urea manufacturer in coastal Andhra. Another company, Godavari Fertilizers owned by Murugappa Group, produces Diammonium Hydrogen Phosphate (DAP).

There are several auto and iron/steel ancillary industries in Kakinada which include Sri Ramadas Motor Transport Limited , Sri Bhavani Castings Ltd etc.

The Murugappa Group-owned EID Parry (India) Ltd and Cargill International SA have announced their plans to enter into a joint venture to set up a port-based stand-alone sugar refinery in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. EID Parry vice-chairman A Vellayan said the investment was estimated at Rs 325 crore. The plant was expected to be commissioned by December 2008, with an initial refining capacity of 6 lakh tonnes and ultimately 1 million tonnes.[5][6] Reliance is also planning to set up a sugar mill.

ONGC India, Kakinada office

Recently, several oil companies decided to make Kakinada a transit point for oil and gas shipments. Baker Hughes, Schlumberger are examples of the world class companies working on oil fields in the city. The economic value of these investments increased considerably after recent gas finds, considered to be the largest natural gas basin in India[7] were made by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Reliance in the Krishna Godavari basin. There is an LPG terminal and LPG bottling plant developed by Shri Shakti LPG Limited. ONGC is currently working on setting up an oil refinery in Kakinada.

Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd (RGTIL) is building a 1,440 km pipeline from Kakinada to Bharuch (Gujarat) to transport 120 million cubic meters per day (mcmd) of natural gas from Krishna-Godavari fields owned by Reliance Industries [8] across India to the west coast.

In 2002 several edible oil refineries established themselves in Kakinada and the refining capacity has touched 3000 tons per day. Kakinada port is facilitating the imports of crude palm oil, crude soyabean oil. Kakinada has an edible oil refining capacity of more than 3000 MTS per day. Major refineries are Acalmar Oils & Fats Limited (now, taken over by Adani Wilmar Ltd.), Ruchi Infrastructure, Nikhil Refineries Ltd, etc.[9]

The Vakalapudi Industrial park in Kakinada has attracted investments worth over US$ 10 million from bio-diesel companies such as Reliance Industries, Naturol Bioenergy and Universal Bio Fuel .[10] Andhra Pradesh has entered into a formal agreement with Reliance Industries for Jatropha planting. The company has selected 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land at Kakinada to grow jatropha for high quality bio-diesel fuel.[11][12]

Kakianada is home to Andhra Electronics Ltd. , an electronic components manufacturing company, which started operations in 1977.

Kakinada is one of the 4 tier-II cities in Andhra Pradesh where Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) had set up a facility in 2007.[13]

Since the inception of the facility, several companies have started operations in this city and list is growing due to availability of highly educated workforce in the district.

About 15 companies are currently operating in Kakinada and four of them were incubated in the STPI facility.[14]

Infotech Enterprises, a Hyderabad based multinational software company has opened a facility in the STPI, Kakinada in February, 2007 with about 120 employees.[15]

Avineon Inc, an US based technology company that provides geospatial and engineering services, has commenced operations in April, 2008 in Kakinada with a new facility that can accommodate about 100 employees with plans to increase the staff up to 250 employees eventually.[16][17] [18]

Firstobject Technologies commenced operations in March, 2010 with an 18 seater facility on 24 by 7 basis There are also several small to mid-size software companies that operate in Kakinada which include Aaspire Technologies, Traceout Technologies, ForeTell Technologies Private Limited, Nyros Technologies, Meconzee InfoTech and Software Services,3One Technologies, Easty Solutions, etc.

There are about 28 landing centers and also a large fishing wharf in Kakinada. The area surrounding Kakinada is home to several aqua farms.[19] There are also several units that process and export fish, shrimp and other marine products. Recognizing the importance of fishing and aquaculture industry to the local economy, Andhra Pradesh state government established a research and training center on fisheries in 1958 called APSIFT (Andhra Pradesh State Institute of Fisheries Technology) in Kakinada in cooperation with FAO. The CIFE (Central Institute of Fisheries education), a deemed university established by Indian government in 1961 has one of its three campuses in India in Kakinada. The CIFE is the first fisheries university in India and provides post-graduate education and training, to in-service fisheries personnel not only from India but also many African and Asian countries

Several Rice mills exist in and around Kakinada and some of the rice is exported to other countries

Spectrum Power Generation Ltd. has a 208MW Power plant at Kakinada.[20] Very soon, Kakinada will have a floating power plant (FPP). Industry major GMR Energy will be taking over the prestigious 220 MW FPP at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore. GMR will supply power to the State power grid under a contract with the Government.[21] There are several small and large Power Plants in Kakinada.

Economy

Farming in and around Kakinada

Until early 1980s (before the fertilizer companies started their operation here), the local economy was mainly based on Textile industry, auto parts, steel industry related ancillary units, agriculture and fishery industries.

Exports consist of sea food (prawns, shrimp, fish) and related products, agricultural products like rice, corn,[22] oilmeals,[23] processed food products, chemicals, iron ore, bauxite powder,[24] biofuel[10] etc.

Imports consist of chemicals, edible oils, agricultural products [25] (wheat, sugar etc.).

City

This young city with the recent tremendous growth in industrial sector, became a home for major hotels, markets, multiplex theaters and shopping malls as well.

Spencers Hypermarket Kakinada

Markets and Malls

There are several super,hyper markets and shopping malls opened recently keeping the pace of the city growth.

Entertainment and attractions

Apart from the movie entertainments, there are many parks, cosmopolitan clubs, beaches and natural scenic attractions. Its well known for its multiplex and fine cinema theatres within the Godavari Districts.

Hotels

Hotel Aishwarya Grand Kakinada

With several industrial units coming up in and around Kakinada under KSEZ and the establishment of PCPIR between Vizag and Kakinada, the hotel industry has grown in leaps. Hence it is a home to several star hotels and resorts.

Health Care

Apollo Hospitals Kakinada

Kakinada has many health care facilities supported by both the government and private institutions. It is one of the major cities on the coastal andhra region in providing excellent medical and health care facilities. Some of them include Christian Cancer centre, Apollo Hospitals (Super speciality) and the G.G.H (Govt General Hospital with Super Special facilities) providing free health care to people across the coastal districts.

Education

Kakinada is a major hub fulfilling the growing educational demand of people within the district. The past decade has witnessed exponential growth and many residential colleges have established themselves to offer quality secondary education. There are also several professional colleges in and around the city offering courses in Engineering, Medical, IT and Management at the graduate and post graduate level.

JNTU university Entrance
JNTU university Kakinada

However, the pride of the city is the widely recognised and sought after Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University offering Engineering education and the Rangaraya Medical College, one of the best medical colleges in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Apart from these, Kakinada has become a circumlocution of several educational institutions.

Andhra University Post Graduate Centre (called as A.U.M.S.N PG Centre), is another important college for higher learning in Kakinada. The campus has been carefully nurtured in academic and service activities since its establishment in November 1977. At present the center is ideally located in between 214 National Highway and Kakinada Port – Samalkot ADB Road in a 50.93 acres site at Thimmapuram village. The Campus is at a distance of nine kilometers from Kakinada Town Railway Station. The environment and facilities at the Centre are very conducive to learning. [26]

Some of the institutions that are currently offering wide variety of courses in Under Graduate(Bachelor's) and Diploma curriculum are:

Note: Some of the institutes are not located in Kakinada, but are in a radius of 40KM from Kakinada.

Shri 'Chaitanya' Satyanarayana Raju is the Founder Chairman of Chaitanya Group of Educational Institutions in Kakinada. The Institutions consist of several Engineering Colleges, Degree and PG colleges, Management, Science and Technology, Arts Colleges and iti colleges and Schools. A noted school in Kakinada town is Sri Chaitanya E-Techno School. An excellent school in Kakinda Rural is Srikanth Public School and DLR degree and PG college .

Recently JNTU Kakinada Constituent Engineering College at Kakinada was upgraded into a full university - JNTUK. Presently it has two university campus colleges, one in Kakinada and another in Vizianagaram. And there several engineering colleges in the coastal andhra region, which are under the affiliation of JNTU Kakinada. The first Vice-Chancellor is Dr. Allam Appa Rao. Affiliates include: The All India Council for Technical Education maintains a list of technical colleges throughout India, found at <http://www.aicte.ernet.in/>

Schools

There are more than 600 Schools in Kakinada some of the important schools are

Tourism

Lord shiva temple in Kakinada

Kakinada is also a place of interest for Tourists as well.Below is the list of places to visit in and around Kakinada.

Rajiv Gandhi beach park,Yanam near Kakinada
Greenery in Konaseema, near Kakinada

People

People from Kakinada can easily be identified by their characteristic Godavari Telugu accent. They have gained a reputation for being hospitable, polite and cultured in their interaction with people.

The Godavari Telugu accent places emphasis on respecting elders and strangers. To achieve this, people of this region normally use the grammatical forms of Telugu that convey respect which is not found in Telugu usage in other parts of the Andhra Pradesh. The educated and the young understand English and use it as a mode of communication with people outside the state. However Hindi is spoken by a very small percentage of population.

The city of kakinada is a major educational center with several schools, colleges and Universities. A large part of the younger generation are migrating to the cities and out of the country in search of opportunities that meet their scale of ambition. However, there are significant parts of the society that ride the boom by expanding their businesses and investments. The local population is supplemented by immigrants who leave their villages to seek work and opportunity in this bustling city. Sir Cocanada is a prominent CCDB member who shows unmatched affection towards his city.

People of Kakinada enjoy spending the hot summers in the shallow waters of Bay of Bengal. As tides are not intense and as the water is shallow people enjoy playing in the waters of Bay of Bengal. Devi Multiplex, Janmabhoomi Park and Vivekananda Park are other places people here love to hang out.

Food

Food Restaurants in Kakinada

East Godavari is famous for traditional Andhra cuisine and Kakinada is no different - mouth watering pickles (Aavakaaya) made from mango, vegetables (e.g. Caulifower Aavakaaya), chicken, shrimp, mutton and even fish. Interestingly, a few people here swear by the pungent aroma and the lingering taste of dried fish (Endu Chepa) and shrimp (Endu Royya).

This city is also famous for its unique Kakinada Kaaja[28] which later was very popular not only in Andhra but also in far away places like Bihar and U.P.[29] Kotiah Sweets (founded in the year 1900) is locally the most famous and possibly the earliest known maker of Kakinada Kaaja, a sweet made from maida and dipped in sugar syrup.

The locals frequent the innumerable carts strategically located at populous street corners to get their share of bhajis and a delightfully tasty mixture of onions, toasted rice, and sev (Pidatha Kindha Pappu).

Kakinada is also one of the few regions in the entire Andhra Pradesh where Chekkarakeli aratipandu (banana) and Kothapalli kobbari maamidipandu (mango) are available. Kakinada is also famous for its delicious pesarattu, a breakfast or brunch item formed into crepes from moong daal (pesara pappu), green chillies, ginger and cumin. These are sold in restaurants as well as street stalls. Pootarekulu is a Very famous Sweet in coastal Andhra, made of thin sugar plates is born in Atreyapuram, near to Kakinada.

Sports

Cricket is the most popular game followed by badminton and athletics. The city is home to a number of local cricket teams participating in various district and zonal events. Kakinada has a cricket stadium used for Ranji Trophy matches. Local games like goleelu(marbles),gootibilla etc.,are also played with great interest.

References

  1. ↑ Frank Byrne, "India: Birthplace of CBM" in Mosaic a publication of the Canadian Baptist Ministries. Winter 2008. p 10.
  2. ↑ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Kakinada
  3. ↑ The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Business | JSW adds muscle to infrastructure arm
  4. ↑ mJunction: Logistics - Kakinada SEZ plans deep-water port
  5. ↑ "EID Parry teams up with Cargill for sugar EoU", The Hindu (25 April 2006)
  6. ↑ "Murugappa group turnover up by 15%", Sify Business (2008-05-06)
  7. ↑ Hemangi Balse, "Reliance gas-find 40 times bigger than Bombay High", rediff.com (October 31 2002)
  8. ↑ "Reliance gets ready to test east-west gas pipeline" (Apr 14 2008) CNBC Money control.com
  9. ↑ "Nikhil, Acalmar edible oil refineries go on stream", The Hindu
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Moneycontrol >> News >> Business >> Bio-fuel is next big bet if crude continues to rise
  11. ↑ "RIL enters bio-diesel farming". http://autofeed.msn.co.in/pandorav3/output/Business/05550e54-7612-43a4-8ab6-d08686d38cf9.aspx. Retrieved 2006-11-15. 
  12. ↑ Reliance?s new biofuel business model to provide fuel with food - Corporate News - livemint.com
  13. ↑ "Andhra Pradesh News: SEZ paves the way for Kakinada to be IT hub" per day
  14. ↑ Khabrein.info
  15. ↑ The Hindu Business Line: Infotech centre at Kakinada
  16. ↑ Avineon opens new facility in Kakinada
  17. ↑ Avineon expanding - Sify.com
  18. ↑ "Andhra Pradesh News : US IT firm opens shop in Kakinada". The Hindu. 2008-04-03. http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/03/stories/2008040351210300.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  19. ↑ The Hindu Business Line: Kakinada gets aqua farming society
  20. ↑ Lehman Bros to take over Spectrum
  21. ↑ "Kakinada to have floating power plant soon" Webindia.com (Apr 6 2008)
  22. ↑ "UPDATE 1-India corn exports up to Sept set to treble-trade". Reuters. 2008-07-21. http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINDEL30591120080721. 
  23. ↑ Oilmeals exports surge 82.05% in Jun`08
  24. ↑ Vedanta to export bauxite powder from Kadinada
  25. ↑ The Hindu News Update Service
  26. ↑ [1]
  27. ↑ "Circar Public School". Circar Public School. http://circarpublicschool.blogspot.com/. Retrieved 28 July 2010. 
  28. ↑ "KOTAIAH'S Foods Pvt. Ltd Since 1900 - KOTAIAHS'S KAJA". Kakinadakaja.com. http://kakinadakaja.com/. Retrieved 2010-04-23. 
  29. ↑ Khaja continues to be the star attraction of Silao

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