Salem, Tamil Nadu


Salem is a city located in the banks of Thirumanimutharu river in Salem district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located about northeast of Coimbatore, southeast of Karnataka state capital Bangalore and about southwest of the state capital, Chennai. Salem is the sixth
largest urban agglomeration in the state by population and the fifth largest city in Tamil Nadu by area which covers an area of. Salem city also ranked second out of the 114 cities that participated in the ease of living survey 2019-2020 conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs which makes it the second best place to live in the entire country.

History

The town and the surrounding hilly regions were part of the Chera dynasty and was part of the trade route with the Roman empire. It was later governed by Poligars, who built temples and forts in and around the city. It was part of the Vijayanagara empire before being captured by Hyder Ali during the early 18th century, after the Mysore-Madurai war. It was ceded to the British in 1768 and the area became part of the struggle between Kongu Nadu led by Dheeran Chinnamalai and the British. Salem became part of Salem district since independence in 1947. Salem district was the first district to be formed in India on 4 April 1792 that spread over 7,530 sq.m comprising the present day Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri. Alexander Reed was the collector of Salem district from 1792 to 1799.

Geography and climate

Salem is located at, at an average elevation of 278 m. The city is surrounded by hills: Nagaramalai on the north, Jarugumalai on the south, Kanjamalai on the west, Godumalai on the east and the Shevaroy Hills on the northeast. Kariyaperumal Hill is in southwestern Salem. The Thirumanimutharu River flows through the city, dividing it in two. The fort area is the oldest part of Salem.
Salem lies in the foothills of Shevaroy hills which houses the famous hill Station 'Yercaud'.
Salem has a tropical savanna climate. January and February are generally pleasant; the hot summer begins in March, with the year's highest temperatures during April. Pre-monsoon thunderstorms occur during April and May. The Southwest monsoon season lasts from June to September. The northeast monsoon occurs from October to December.

Administration and politics

Salem is the headquarters of Salem district. The town was constituted as a municipality in 1867, and was upgraded to a special-grade municipality in 1979 and to a municipal corporation on 1 April 1994. The Salem municipal corporation has 72 wards, each with an elected councillor. The functions of the municipal corporation are divided into six departments: general administration and personnel, engineering, revenue, public health, city planning and information technology. All six departments are governed by a municipal commissioner. Legislative power is vested in the 60-member council, headed by an elected chairperson and assisted by a deputy chairperson.
Law and order is maintained by the Salem city subdivision of the Tamil Nadu Police, headed by a Deputy superintendent. Special units include prohibition enforcement, district crime, social justice and human rights, district crime records and a district-level special branch headed by a superintendent of police.
Salem is a part of the Salem North, Salem West and Salem South assembly constituencies delineated in 2008. The city elects the three members to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. Present MLAs are R. Mohan Raj from Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam, M. K. Selvaraju and G. Venkatachalam from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Until 2008, the city was part of the Salem I and Salem II assembly constituencies. Since 1977, the ADMK party won the Salem I assembly seat five times ; Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won twice, and the Indian National Congress won in 1991. Since 1977, the ADMK won the Salem II assembly seat three times and the DMK also won three times ; the Janata Party won in 1977 and Pattali Makkal Katchi won in 2001.
The city is part of the Salem Lok Sabha constituency consisting of six assembly constituencies: Omalur, Salem North, Salem South, Salem West, Veerapandi and Edappadi. Since 1952, the Salem parliament seat was held by the Indian National Congress eight times, by the ADMK four times, by DMK three times, and once each by an independent and the Tamil Maanila Congress. The current Member of Parliament from the constituency is from the DMK.

Economy

Salem is a major textile centre in Tamil Nadu, with more than 125 spinning mills, weaving units and garment units. Until the 1960s, it had less few spinning mills. Private handloom weaving began to increase in the region after the 1960s and during the 1980s, the textile industry expanded with major spinning mills and dyeing units established supporting the industry.
The area also houses a number of sago factories for the production starch. In Salem district, of land are devoted to cassava and 650 industrial units are engaged in tapioca processing. In 1981, the Salem Starch and Sago Manufacturers Service Industrial Co-operative Society was established to promote the sago industry and nearly 80 percent of the national demand for sago and starch is met by SAGOSERVE. In and around Salem cassava yields are 25–30 tons per hectare, one of the highest in the world; the national average is 19 tons per hectare, and the world average is 10 tons.
The Salem Steel Plant, a unit of the Steel Authority of India, produces cold-rolled stainless steel and a hot-rolled stainless-carbon steel alloy. The plant is being expanded and modernised, with plans for steel-melting and continuous-casting facilities. The Southern Iron and Steel Company have their first integrated steel plant in Salem for the production of TMT corrosion-resistant bars and alloy steels.
The Salem region is rich in mineral ores, with some of the largest magnesite and bauxite deposits in India. Public and private magnesite factories include Burn Standard and Company, Dalmia Magnesites and Tata Refractories.
Salem Mango belt contributes the economy in large scale by exporting mangoes to foreign countries and supplying mangoes all over India. The Leigh Bazaar is the region's largest market for agricultural products. The Tamil Nadu government and the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu are planning a IT park in the city. The Steel Authority of India is planning a steel special economic zone in its Salem plant, and an electrical and electronics industrial estate is in the Suramangalam area of the city.
Salem has the presence of following Multi National Corporations.
1. Capgemini
2. First American Financial Corporation
3. Whrilpool Warehouse
The Tamil Nadu government is trying to get Hindustan Aeronautics Limited onboard to set up a manufacturing unit at Salem as the state has been chosen for establishing the Centre's ambitious defence corridor project with Salem being one of the nodes.

Demographics

Salem had a population of 826,267 in the 2011 census. There were 987 females for every 1,000 males, significantly higher than the national average of 929.The main language spoken is Tamil.Kannada is spoken among Devayanga community. A total of 79,067 were under age six: 40,570 males and 38,497 females. The city's literacy rate was 76.37 percent, higher than the national average of 72.99 percent. Salem had 215,747 households and a total of 332,147 workers: 1,599 farmers, 3,040 agricultural labourers, 32,597 in household industries, 278,892 other workers, 16,019 part-time workers, 165 part-time farmers, 544 part-time agricultural workers, 1,937 part-time workers in household industries and 13,373 other part-time workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Salem had 89.79% Hindus, 7.48% Muslims, 2.36% Christians, 0.11% Jains, 0.02% Sikhs, 0.01% Buddhists, 0.2% following other religions and 0.02% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

Religious places

Salem has a number of Hindu temples. The Kottai Mariamman Temple, dedicated to the goddess Mariamman, has an annual five-day festival during the Tamizh month of Aadi. The temple's gopuram is made up of seven tiers. Sugavaneshwarar Temple is dedicated to Shiva, and according to mythology the sage Sugha Brahmarishi worshiped here. Arunagirinadhar sang a song about Muruga in the temple, which was built during the 13th century by Mamannan Sundara Pandiyan. Kottai Perumal Temple, Skandhashram., Kothandaramar Temple and Sithar Koil are also in Salem. Oothumalai Murugan Temple, Pandurangan Hill Temple, Kumaragiri Hill Murugan Temple and Kariperumal Karadu Hill Temple are in the hills in Salem. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has built a temple in Karuppur, near the city. Salem Ramanujar Manimandapam is located near Erumapalayam.

Shopping and recreation

Salem's traditional shopping areas are in the Town area, with major retailers in Bazaar Street, Car Street, ARRS Silks, First Agraharam and Chinna Kadai Street. Shevapet and the Fort area are noted for hardware and furniture, and Leigh Bazaar in Shevapet is the main wholesale market. Reliance Shopping Mall, the city's largest shopping complex is situated near Five Roads. Other malls in the city are Nirmal Skywin mall and Kandaswarna Mega mall. Kurumbapatti Zoological Park and Anna Park are government-run parks. Paravasa Ulagam and Dream Land are amusement parks in the city. Mookaneri and Kumaragiri Lakes within the city limits is a popular tourist place and bird watching destination.

Sports

, built originally for cricket, also hosts athletic meets, football, Volleyball and basketball. Salem District Cricket Association has 47 teams in league cricket. The city has 2 international standard turf grounds. The Green Valley Sports club Cricket ground is on the outskirts of Salem city. The state chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami inaugurated the Salem Cricket Foundation Stadium with international standards on 10 February 2020 in the presence of former cricketer Rahul Dravid and former ICC and BCCI president N. Srinivasan built at a cost of in Karivepilapatti near Vazhapadi. This newly inaugurated ground is the home ground for Salem Spartans, a TNPL team and also the second home ground for the Indian Premier League team of Chennai Super Kings.
Mariyappan Thangavelu from Salem is an Indian Paralympic high jumper. He represented India in the 2016 Summer Paralympic games held in Rio de Janeiro in the men's high jump T-42 category, winning the gold medal in the finals.

City based teams

Cuisine

Thattu vadai settu is a savory snack and popular street food, similar to chat, which originated in Salem and is now also available in Chennai. The sandwich consists of two crunchy thattai discs with fillings such as crispy beetroot, carrot and other vegetables, with green and red chutney as toppings. Norukkal Mix, another snack is smashed murukku mixed with chutney, groundnut, coconut, sliced tomatoes and Chillipowder. Egg Settu, Murukku Settu and Maanga Settu are the varieties available in thattu vadai settu.

Transport

Road

Salem has six arterial roads: Omalur Road, Cherry Road, Saradha College Road, Junction Main Road, Trichy Road and Attur Road. Three National Highways originate in or pass through: NH 44, NH 544 and NH 79.
Salem is the headquarters of the Salem division of TNSTC. The city has two major bus stations: the MGR Integrated Bus Terminus in Meyyanoor and the Town Bus Station in the town area. Intercity and interstate routes and private buses originate at the Central Bus Stand, and local buses originate at the Old Bus Stand. The Anna Flyover is the oldest in the city, and the Trumpet Interchange was built in the realignment of NH 544 to ease traffic towards Coimbatore. A new double-decker flyover runs within main city centres like New bus stand, 5 roads, saratha college road, 4 roads to ease congestion on these roads. It is the longest double-decker flyover in Tamil Nadu covering a length of 7.87 km.
The Town Bus terminus is being upgraded into a double decker bus terminus, the first of this kind in the state under the smart City scheme
. The terminal building of the New Bus terminus is also reconstructed under the smart City scheme.
A new bus port has also been proposed for the city at Jagirammapalayam near IT park with an area of about 61 acres. This includes a bypass road to connect the Ayothiapattinam area of the city with the bus port.
Other bus stands include the Omalur bus station and Attayampatti bus station in the outskirts of the city.

Rail

is an A-1 category ISO-14001 certified railway junction located in Suramangalam area, west of the city. In 2005, the Railway Board approved the creation of a Salem railway division from Palakkad and Tiruchirapalli divisions. It is the fourth-largest of the six Southern Railway zone divisions. Salem Railway Junction has been rated as the cleanest station among the divisional headquarters railway stations and also the ninth cleanest railway station in the entire country, according to a survey report published in June 2017. Other major railway stations catering to the city include Salem Town,Salem Market,Omalur Junction, Karuppur railway station and Ayothiapattinam railway station.

Air

is located on the Salem-Bengaluru Highway in Kaamalapuram about from the city. Airports Authority of India opened the airport in 1993 for commercial operations. Kingfisher Airlines flew from Chennai but ended its service in October 2011 due to low occupancy. Trujet started services to Chennai in March 2018 as a part of the Udaan scheme by Government of India as well as Air Odisha gives connectivity to Bengaluru and Pondicherry from June 2018. The nearest major airports are Tiruchirappalli and Coimbatore.

Education

Salem has several educational institutions with Arts and Science colleges affiliated to Periyar University founded in 1997.
Salem has one sister city:
As of 2014, there was talk of reviving the now-stagnant Sister City project launched in 1964 with Salem in Oregon, USA.

Notable people

Politics

The Salem city was formed on 1 November 1866. Salem City Municipal Council celebrated its Centenary in 1966. Fittingly the Municipality was upgraded into a special grade Municipality on 1 April 1979.The Centurion Municipality was declared as the SALEM CITY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION from 1 June 1994. The date of formation of Salem city is recognised as Salem day and it is celebrated by the people all over the city. The 154 years old Salem city celebrates its birthday every year on the 1st of November.