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Salem District Profile

  • Salem district is bounded by Villuppuram district in the East, Erode district in the West, and Dharmapuri district in the North and Namakkal district in the South.
  • The District lies between 11º 21' 30’’ N to 11º 59' 00”N Latitude,77º 38' 00” E to 78º 50' 00” E Longitude and has an areal extent of 5245 sq.km.

Physiography and Drainage:

  • Salem district is characterized by undulating terrain and major part of the Eastern Ghats falls in the district.
  • The Shevroy hills, Yercaud part of the Eastern Ghats is located at an altitude of 1900m the highest peak in this district.
  • The terrain between plains and the hills are generally 150 to 400m above MSL with a low lying plain in the western side of the district.
  • River Cauvery is the major river which traverses at the western part of the district.
  • The major tributaries are Sarabanga and Thirumanimuttar. The Vasishta Nadhi and Vellar also drain in the Eastern part of the district.

Rainfall:

The average annual rainfall and the 5 years rainfall collected from IMD, Chennai is as follows:

Actual Rainfall in mm Normal Rainfall in mm
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
1006.5 712.7 927.5 967.9 1167.6 954.8

Geology:

Rock Type Geological Formation
Hard Rock Charnockite, Gneiss, Granite,
Pegmatite, Pyroxenite and Alluvium

Ground Water Level:

The Ground Water levels from the 41 number of observation wells of TWAD have been analysed for Post-Monsoon and Pre-Monsoon. 5 years average Ground water level in m Below Ground Level for pre and post monsoon is as follows:

Jan
2017

May
2017

Jan
2018

May
2018

Jan
2019

May
2019

Jan
2020

May
2020

Jan
2021

May
2021

5 Years
Pre Monsoon
Average

5Years
Post Monsoon
Average

14.5

15.2

9.9

13.0

11.2

15.1

9.0

12

6.8

8.0 11.2 8.9

Sustainability:

With a view to enhance the Sustainability of the drinking water sources, recharge structures are being implemented by TWAD Board under various State and Central Government assistances.

The Recharge Structures implemented so far in district is as under.

Categorization of Firkas:

The status of Categorization of firkas as of March 2020 for the District in is shown below.

Categorisation based on Extraction (as on 2020) No. of Firkas Firkas
Over Exploited (>100%) 34 Alagapuram, Attur, Belur, Edappadi, Ernapuram, Gangavalli, Kadayampatti, Karippatti, Kattukkottai, Kondalampatti,
Konganapuram, Malliyakarai, Mecheri, Mettur, Nangavalli, Omalur, Palamalai, Pethanaickanpalayam, Poolampatti, Pottaneri, Suramangalam, Salem Town,
Sankari East, Sankari West, Semmandappatti, Thalaivasal, Tharamangalam, Thirumalaigiri, Valasaiyur, Vazhappadi, Veeraganoor, Veerapandi, Vembadithalam, Yethapur
Critical (90%-100%) 2 Karupur, Panamarathuppatti
Semi Critical (70%-90%) 2 Kolathur, Patchamalai
Safe (<70%) 6 Arunoothumalai, Kalrayanmalai, Puthur, Thevur, Vellakkadai, Yercaud
Others (Poor & Saline) 0  
Total 44  

Rural Habitations

Total No. of Rural Habitations: 6123

Partially covered 587(10-39 lpcd )
Fully covered 5536(40 lpcd and above)