Kurnool

KURNOOL

Kurnool is a city and municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Kurnool district, state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Kurnool is known as the Gateway to Rayalaseema. Kurnool lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. The Hundri and Neeva rivers also flow through the city. The K.C. Canal (Kurnool–Cuddapah) was built by the Dutch for transportation, but later used for irrigation.

THE NALLAMALA HILLS

The Nallamalas are a section of the Eastern Ghats which stretch primarily over Kurnool. They run in a nearly north-south alignment, parallel to the Coromandel Coast for close to 430 km between the rivers,Krishna and Pennar. Its northern boundaries are marked by the flat Palnadu basin while in the south it merges with the Tirupati hills. An extremely old system, the hills have been extensively weathered and eroded over the years. The average elevation today is about 520 m which reaches 1100 m at Bhairani Konda and 1048 m at Gundla Brahmeswara. Both of these peaks are in a north westerly direction from the town of Cumbum. There are also many other peaks above 800 m.

TUNGABHADRA RIVER

The Tungabhadra River is formed by the confluence of the Tunga River and the Bhadra River which flow down the eastern slope of the Western Ghats. Handri in Kurnool distriict is one of the main tributaries of the Tungabhadra. Many rivulets and streams join these tributaries. Flood protection walls are found along the banks of Tungabhadra river. At Sunkesula, about 25 km upstream from Kurnool, a barrage was constructed around 1860 by the British engineer, hailed as Bhagiratha for Andhras, Arthur Cotton. Originally it was intended to be used for navigation also. As the road and rail transportation increased it is now an irrigation project, for Kurnool and Kadapa districts, carrying water through the K. C. Canal. Recently the barrage was replaced by the Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy Project, a permanent dam. It impounds about 15,000,000,000 cubic feet (0.42 km³) of water and irrigates about 300,000 acres (1,200 km²) of land in Kurnool and Kadapa districts.

ROLLAPADU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Known primarily as a habitat of the Great Indian Bustard, the species has suffered a drastic fall in its numbers in the sanctuary in recent years. it was established in 1988 to protect the Great Indian Bustard and the Lesser Florican and remains the only habitat in Andhra Pradesh for the Bustard which is a critically endangered species.Rollapadu is primarily a grassland ecosystem with mixed forests and thorny bushes. Cotton, tobacco and sunflower are cultivated in the agricultural lands that border the sanctuary.

• WILD LIFE
  
• Foxes, 
• Jackals, 
• Bonnet macaques, 
• Jungle cats, 
• Sloth bears
• Black bucks.
• Russell’s viper, Indian cobra and rattlesnakes. 
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• BIRD SPECIES
• It also houses 132 bird species with the Alganur reservoir near the sanctuary being a haunt for migratory species. Some of the bird species spotted are 
• Bustard
  
• Florican 
• Indian rollers 
• Mynas
• Short toed snake eagles 
• Barheaded geese
• Demoiselle Cranes
• Greater Flamingos.

An increase in the blackbuck population at the sanctuary has been postulated as one of the reasons for the fall in numbers of the bustard and the florican there. Their feeding on the grasses has in turn led to a fall in the numbers of grasshoppers and locusts that constitute an important source of food for the two bird species besides also reducing the nesting area available to these ground nesting birds.