Latur


Latur is a city in Maharashtra State — wherein it is the third biggest city of Marathwada Region in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Latur district and Latur Taluka. The city is a tourist hub surrounded by many historical monuments, including Udgir Fort and Kharosa Caves. The people in Latur are called Laturkar. The most spoken language in Latur is Marathi. The city's quality of education attracts students from nearby villages.

History

Latur has an ancient history, which probably dates to the Rashtrakuta period. It was home to a branch of Rashtrakutas which ruled the Deccan from 753 to 973 AD. The first Rashtrakuta king, Dantidurga, was from Lattaluru, the ancient name for Latur. Ratnapur is also mentioned as an historic name for Latur.
The King Amoghavarsha of Rashtrakutas developed the Latur city. The Rashtrakutas who succeeded the Chalukyas of Badami in 753 AD called themselves the residents of Lattaluru.
It was, over the centuries, variously ruled by the Satavahanas, the Sakas, the Chalukyas, the Yadavas of Deogiri, the Delhi Sultans, the Bahamani rulers of South India, Adilshahi, and the Mughals.
Later in the 19th century, Latur became part of the Princely state of Hyderabad. In 1905 it was merged with surrounding areas and renamed Latur tehsil, becoming part of Osmanabad district. Before 1948, Latur was a part of Hyderabad State under Nizam. The chief of the Razakar's, Qasim Rizwi, was from Latur.
After Indian independence and the Indian annexation of Hyderabad, Osmanabad became part of Bombay Province. In 1960, with the creation of Maharashtra, Latur became one of its districts. On August 16, 1982, a separate Latur district was carved out of Osmanabad district.

Geography and climate

Latur is situated 636 metres above mean sea level, on the Balaghat plateau, near the Maharashtra–Karnataka state boundary. It receives its drinking water from the nearby Manjira River, which suffered from environmental degradation and silting in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. As a result of this and lack of implementation of a water management strategy, during the drought of the 2010s the city ran out of water.
Temperature : Temperatures in Latur range from, with the most comfortable time to visit in the winter, which is October to February. The highest temperature ever recorded was. The lowest recorded temperature was. In the cold season the district is sometimes affected by cold waves in association with the eastward passage of western disturbances across north India, when the minimum temperature may drop down to about.
Rainfall : Most of the rainfall occurs in the monsoon season from June to September. Rainfall varies from per month. Average annual rainfall is.

Latur earthquake of 1993

Latur had a devastating intraplate earthquake on 30 September 1993 resulting in a huge loss of life. The earthquake measured only 6.3 on the Richter magnitude scale but around 10,000 people were estimated to have died and 30,000 injured mainly due to poor construction of houses and village huts made of stones which collapsed on people who were fast asleep in early morning hours. It struck southern Marathwada region of Maharashtra state in central-western part of India and affected Latur, Beed, Osmanabad and adjoining districts about 400 km south-east of Mumbai. Latur was almost completely destroyed and life came to a standstill. The earthquake's focus was around 12 km deep, causing shock waves to cause more damage. The number of lives lost was high as the earthquake occurred at 3:53 a.m. local time, when people were fast asleep. After the earthquake, seismic zones were reclassified and building codes and standards were revised all over India.

Demographics

Latur's population, as of the 2011 census, is 683,666.
Most residents of the city speak Marathi, with Urdu and Hindi also being widely spoken.

Administration and politics

Local administration

Latur earlier had a Municipal Council, which was established in 1952. Latur Municipal Corporation is the local civil body. It is divided into five zones. the Municipal Corporation area is about. It was elevated to the status of Municipal Corporation by the State Government in 2011.
The Urban Development Dept., Govt. of Maharashtra expressed its desire vide letter dated 30/10/2006 to notify fringe area of Latur and appoint CIDCO as its Special Planning Authority. CIDCO has submitted its proposal to notify the fringe area measuring approx. 26541.00 ha. inclusive of urbanisable zone of about 16696 ha. Govt. has appointed CIDCO as Special Planning Authority. The notified area covers 40 villages on the fringe of Latur Municipal Corporation. It is envisaged in the project not to acquire 100% land but to adopt minimum land acquisition model for development of infrastructure and growth corridors.
The city is divided in 70 electoral wards called as Prabhag and each ward is represented by a Corporator elected by the people from each ward. LMC is responsible for providing basic amenities like drinking water, drainage facility,road,street lights, healthcare facilities, primary schools,etc. LMC collects its revenue from the urban taxes which are imposed on citizens. The administration is headed by the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation; an I.A.S. Officer, assisted by the other officers of different departments.

State and central administration

Latur contributes one seat to the Lok Sabha. The seat is currently held by Sudhakar Shringare, MP, of the BJP. It also holds one seat for the Assembly - Latur Indian National Congress. In latest constituency arrangements made by Election Commission of India, Latur will contribute one Loksabha seat, and two state assembly seats, i.e. Latur City and Latur Rural.

Prominent politicians from Latur

Latur is called the "city of politicians".
Keshavrao Sonawane was the first minister from Latur region who was in the cabinet of Maharashtra Chief Minister Yashwantrao Chavan and later in the cabinet of Vasantrao Naik, as cooperatives minister, 1962–1967.
The city is the birthplace of other politicians, such as Shivraj Patil and Diliprao Deshmukh.
Vilasrao Deshmukh was born in Babhalgaon village, Latur. He served twice as Chief Minister of Maharashtra state, and twice as Union cabinet minister.
Amidst national political controversy is the death, on 1 December 2014, of judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya of the Central Bureau of Investigation, who was addressing the case involving Amit Shah, the national leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and who was cremated at his native village of Gategaon.
Vikrant Vikram Gojamgunde is the mayor of Latur. He became mayor in 2019. He is the youngest mayor in the state of Maharashtra.

Education and research

Latur has developed into an educational hub for secondary, higher secondary, and university education. The district is known in Maharashtra for its "Latur Pattern" of study, which involves intensive coaching given in the city. Students of junior colleges in Latur have a good record in taking competitive engineering and medical entrance exams.

Basic and higher education

Public schools are run by the LMC, and are affiliated with the MSBSHSE. Private schools are run by educational trusts or individuals. They are usually affiliated with either the state board or national education boards, such as the ICSE or CBSE boards.

University education

Due to more than 140 colleges, the city is known as an educational hub in Marathwada. Many of the students studying in the colleges and the University are from nearby districts. Most colleges in Latur are affiliated with the Nanded University.
The M. S. Bidve Engineering College, Latur, founded in 1983, is one of the oldest engineering colleges in Marathwada. The Maharashtra Institute of Medical Science & Research Latur was founded in 1988 by social activist Vishwanath Karad.
The Border Security Force Training Centre, Chakur and the Disaster Management Training Institute were established in Latur in 2005 and 2008, respectively.
Dayanand Law College was established by the Dayanand Education Society. Established medical schools such as the Government Medical College, Manjara Ayurvedic College are present in the city.
Channabasweshwar Pharmacy College is a degree college that provides diploma, degree, and master courses in the pharmacy field. Other pharmacy colleges are Dayanand College of Pharmacy and Vilasrao Deshmukh College of Pharmacy.
Vilasrao Deshmukh Foundation's College is a degree college that provides diploma, degree, courses in the engineering and pharmacy field. Other pharmacy colleges are Dayanand College of Pharmacy and Vilasrao Deshmukh College of Pharmacy.

Professional education

Latur is home to a branch of the Western India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, along with an exam centre, Information Technology training lab, reading room, and a library for Chartered Accountants as well as for students.

Trade and industries

The city is a major sugarcane and edible oils, soybean, grapes and mango production centre. A fine blend of mango with locally grown mangoes was developed as Keshar Amba. Oil seeds was the major produce of Latur region. So for benefit of farmers Keshavrao Sonavane had established Dalda Factory which was Asia's first oil mill set up on cooperative terms.
Till 1990, Latur languished as a city, remaining an industrially backward. In 1960, region of Marathwada was merged with Maharashtra. This was the time when the industrial development of the Marathwada region began, propelled through designated backward area benefits. Latur got its first MIDC setup during the tenure of then Co-operative minister Keshavrao Sonavane. It was only when the MIDC began acquiring land and setting up industrial estates that it began to grow. Many companies have manufacturing plants in Latur, in agriculture processing, edible oils, biotech, consumer durables, plastic processing, and aluminium processing; but the majority are small- and medium-scale agricultural industries, not industrial ones.
Latur has the largest trading centre for soybean in India. The green city is inside what is called 'Sugar Belt' of Maharashtra. The district has more than eleven sugar factories, which makes it among the highest sugar-producing districts of India. It also has oil seeds, commodities and fruit market.
Latur is also known for high quality grapes and houses many state and privately owned cold storage facilities. A grape wine park spread over 1.42 square kilometres has been established near Ausa, 18 km from Latur city. A brand new Latur Food Park, spread across 1.2 square kilometres is under construction at Additional MIDC Latur. Latur is major transport junction to south India.
In Latur, MDA FOUNDATION has gave students from 1to 12 free education for the welfare of the poor and the city.

Latur sugar belt

The Latur region is known as the "Sugar Belt of India". This region houses over eleven large sugar factories. Most of the sugar factories of the Latur sugar belt work on the co-operative basis. Latur got its title "Sugar Belt of India" largely due to the efforts of its cooperative political leader Keshavrao Sonawane, who was instrumental in setting up several co-operative institutions in Latur, Osmanabad, and elsewhere in Maharashtra.

MIDC industrial areas in Latur

, son of Vilasrao Deshmukh, a prominent actor in Indian film industry is from Latur.
Newspapers: Lokmat, Sakal, and Ekmat are the most widely read Marathi newspapers in Latur. Navnirman, Lokasha, Lokman, Marathwada Neta, Punyanagri, Rajdharma, Sanchar, Sarathi Samachar, Tarun Bharat, and Yashwant are some other Marathi daily newspapers available in Latur.
Radio: The city has been sanctioned a FM radio station - All India Radio. But Laturkars are still waiting for the same, as AIR has not yet started functioning in the city.

Transport

Road

Latur is connected by roads with various major cities of Maharashtra and other states. Road connectivity is excellent, and roads connecting to Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Satara, Kolhapur, Sangli, and Aurangabad are being upgraded to four-lane highways. Latur city has one national highway running through it, NH 361.

Intercity

The scheme of nationalisation of passenger transport services was started as early as 1932 by the State of Hyderabad, which was one of the pioneers in the field of public road transport, first in collaboration with the railways and then as a separate Government Department. After the reorganisation of the Indian states and with an effective date from 1 July 1961, the Marathwada State Transport was amalgamated with the Bombay State Road Transport Corporation into the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation. The "Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation" and numerous other private bus operators provide a bus service to all parts of the state.
The "Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation" and numerous other private bus operators provide a bus service to all parts of the state. Private buses have an established network to connect the city with all the major cities in Maharashtra and other states.

Intracity transport

"Latur Municipal Transport" is an intra-city bus service which covers almost all parts of the city and also connects to the more distant industrial suburbs. LMT intra-city buses ply throughout the city including the outskirts and connect different parts of the city and adjoining suburbs together.

Air

Latur is served by Latur Airport, which is near Chincholiraowadi, northwest of the city. The Airport facilities include aircraft fuelling, night landing with navigational aids, aircraft parking, CAT VII airport fire fighting and rescue service. A well equipped terminal building has VIP lounges, departure and arrival lounges, transit suites and snooze cabins, visitors' waiting area, and a cafeteria.

Rail

The Latur-Miraj Railway runs for north-west from Latur city to Miraj on the south-western section of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and was built between 1929 and 1931.
The station is located on the Latur-Miraj section of the Solapur railway division of the Central Railway zone. The Manmad-Kacheguda broad-gauge railway line, which emanates from the Vikarabad-Latur-Road-Parli trunk route at Latur Road, is an important artery of traffic in Latur district. It also serves as a link between Aurangabad and Hyderabad.
Latur has rail connectivity with Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Manmad, Aurangabad, Nanded, Parbhani, Parli Vaijnath, Osmanabad, Mudkhed, Adilabad, Basar, Nizamabad, Nashik and Kachiguda.

Places of interest

Religious sites

Notable people