Chikkodi

Chikkodi is a taluk city in the Belagavi district of Karnataka, India. Chikkodi is situated at the Karnataka-Maharashtra border and town is surrounded by hills in all directions. Chikkodi has many district level offices but yet it is not declared as a district by the Karnataka Govt.

Chikkodi ಚಿಕ್ಕೋಡಿ
city
Land	Indien
State	Karnataka
District	Belgaum
Regierung
• MP(Member of Parliament)	Prakash Hukkeri
Elevation	683 m (2,241 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	40,000
Languages
• Official	Kannada
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	591201
Telephone code	08338
Vehicle registration	KA-23

History

Around 200–300 years ago, Chikkodi was called as Chik-kodi (small village) where as the nearby Hirekudi (big village) was bigger than Chikkodi. Overtime, Chikkodi experienced growth due to its famous betel leaves and came to lie on a major road.

Geography

Chikkodi is located at 16.43°N 74.6°E / 16.43; 74.6. It has an average elevation of 683 metres (2240 feet).The town has an area of 18.29 km². and is situated amidst hills, Temperature varies from a maximum of 35⁰ C to a minimum of 18⁰ C, maximum average rainfall annually is 826.64 mm.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Chikkodi had a population of 38,307. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Chikkodi has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 79% and female literacy of 66%..

Economy

Chikkodi taluk has 4 Sugar Factories in its belt..namely

1. Dudhaganga Krishna Sugar Factory, Chikkodi

2. Venkateshwara Power Project Ltd. Bedkihal

3. Om Sugars Ltd. Jainapur

4. Shri Halasidhanath SSK Ltd. Nipani

• Chikkodi Wind Power Project (Doddanavar Global Energy Pvt Ltd (DGEPL): As Chikkodi (Girgaon) is surrounded by hills so there are lot of wind plants on top of hills located around the town for sources of electrical energy.
• Krishna, Dudhaganga, Vedganga rivers made the land fertile and precious for agriculture. Tobacco farming is one of the other major activity in Chikkodi taluk major production is in from the villages namely Galatga, Shiragaonwadi, Khadaklat etc. Nowadays trend of Sericulture is booming in this area.
• Lot of business and trading activities are developing in Chikkodi after it has declared Proposed District place, along with automobile two wheeler dealerships like Bajaj, Yamaha, Hero, Honda, TVS, and four wheeler outlets like Maruti Suzuki, TATA, Hyundai have come. Property prices have gone up heavily.
• The State government has initiated measures to Establish a Textile Cluster in Boragaon, Chikkodi taluk.
• Karnataka’s first Silver Industry Park to come-up in Mangur, Chikkodi taluk.

Banks

Chikkodi has 9 Nationalized & 5 private Banks in the city.

1. State Bank of India

2. State Bank of Mysore

3. IDBI Bank

4. Indian Overseas Bank

5. Union Bank of India

6. Vijaya Bank

7. Axis Bank

8. Federal Bank

9. ICICI Bank

10. Syndicate Bank

11. HDFC Bank

12. Corporation Bank

13. Canara Bank

14. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank

Also lot of Co-operative Society's are there in town..

Places

• Ganesh Temple, near bus stand on top of hill is very famous temple of lord Ganesha.There is one more temple known as Parati Nagalingeswara temple, located about 2.5 km away from the bus stand.
• Yadur - Shree Veerbhardra temple is situated in the holy Shri Kseshtra Yadur,on the banks of river Krishna is located about 20 km from Chikkodi.
• Karoshi - Shree Basavanna temple is situated in the holy place of Karoshi, is located about 7 km from Chikkodi.
• Shantigiri Jain Temple - 10 km from Chikkodi. Considered as one of the highlighted centers of Jain history, Where the shri shantigiri tirth is situated.
• Nagaramunnoli is one village near Chikkodi it is known for its Ayurevedic Medicine.
• Chinchani - Having Allamprabhu Sidd Sansthan Math,Shri Basaveshwar temple (Gudadagind basavan) located near about 5 km from Chikkodi.
• Toranahalli- famous Bhagavan Hanuman temple is present in this village near 10 km from Chikkodi...
• kerur- its a big village in chikkodi taluka and 8 km far away from chikkodi.Lord Shri Aranya sideshwar temple is famous temple in the taluk

Educational Institutions

• CLE Society's M.K.Kavatagimath Kannada & English Medium Primary and High School
• GSES's English Medium Primary and High School
• CTE Society's R.D. Kannada & Marathi Medium Primary and High School
• CTE Society's R.M. Kannada & Marathi Medium Primary and High School for Girls
• CTE Society's English Medium School (CBSE)
• St. Francis of Assisi school (ICSE)
• Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Kuppanwadi, Chikkodi taluk
• Chikkodi also has Government primary schools for boys and girls in Kannada, Marathi and Urdu Medium
• CTE Society's R.D Composite PU college of Arts, Commerce & Science
• KLE's PU college of Arts,Commerce & Science
• KLE'S B.K College of Arts,Commerce & Science (BA,Bcom,Bsc & Mcom)
• KLE Independent Pre-University Science College
• CTE Society's Smt. A A Patil College of Arts & Commerce (BA,Bcom) for Women
• CTE Society's College of Physical Education (BP.Ed)
• CTE Society's R D Job Oriented Course (JOC) College
• CTE Society's R D College of Education (B.Ed, D.Ed)
• CLE'S college of Education (B.Ed, D.Ed)
• APTECH Computer Education Institute running since 1995.
• Chauson College of Education (B.Ed, D.Ed)
• Chikkodi also has two Industrial Training Institute (ITI) Colleges
• Government First Grade College, Chikkodi
• Adarsha PARA MEDICAL Institute
• J.R.D Bate PARA MEDICAL Institute
• KLE's Colleges of BBA,BCA and BBM
• Smartkidz Play School - Play Group, Nursery, Smart Jr.(LKG), Smart Sr. (UKG), Chikodi
• KLE's Law College
• KLE's C.B Kore College of Polytechnic
• KLE's College of Engineering and Technology
• Bachpan Play School
• Kendriya Vidyalaya, Chikkodi
• Government Tool Room & Training Centre (GTTC)..

There is also a proposal to start Govt. Medical College in Chikkodi.

Dispute regarding District status

Belgaum district is the largest district in the karnataka so bifurcation of district is must. Bifurcation of Belgaum district, which includes a total of 14 taluks, has been a long pending issue. Karnataka Govt. has already provided the district level offices to Chikkodi which would help in the development of neighbouring taluks of Chikkodi, Hukkeri, Athani, Raybag, Nipani & Kagawad. But as of now no decision has been made regarding bifurcation of Belgaum district and also not declared Chikkodi as a separate district status by Karnataka Govt.

List of District Level Offices in Chikkodi :-

1. Revenue Subdivision Office - 5 taluks

2. Regional Transport Office (RTO)[KA-23] - 6 taluks

3. Chikkodi Loksabha Constituency - 8 MLA's

4. NWKRTC Divisional Office - 6 bus depots

5. Chikodi Postal Division - 5 taluks

6. District Health & Family Welfare Office - 8 taluks

7. Educational District (DDPI) Office - 8 BEO offices

8. District Irrigation Office - 6 taluks

9. Police Department (DCP/DYSP) Subdivision - 10 police stations

10. Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) - 5 taluks

11. Karnataka Public Works Department (PWD) - 8 taluks

12. Zilla Panchayat Executive Engineer Office - 8 taluks

13. Judicial District - 8 taluks

14. Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services Department - 8 taluks

15. Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) Division office - 8 taluks

16. District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) - 8 taluks

17. Excise Department Chikodi Subdivision - 6 taluks..

The attempts of the Government declaring Additional Superintendent of Police (SP) post for Chikkodi..

Transport

Majority of public transport in Chikkodi connecting surrounding villages and towns is through city buses run by North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) from Chikkodi bus depot. Auto rickshaws are commonly available for commuting inside the city.

Road

Chikkodi is well connected by road via three State Highways and all are exits at National Highway 4. The State Highways passing through Chikkodi are:

1. SH 18 (Mudhol to Nipani),
2. SH 12 (Vijayapur to Sankeshwar) and
3. SH 78 (Ichalakaranji to Hattargi).CHIKODI

The State Highway 12 has declared the National Highway that is from Sankeshwar to Vijayapur via Gotur-Chikkodi-Kagawad-Athani-Tikota.

NWKRTC runs buses from Chikkodi to all corners of Karnataka as well as neighbouring states.

And also there are many prominent private bus services like VRL, SRS, Manish and Sea Bird Travels which operates daily night from Chikkodi to Bangalore.

Ganesh Travels which operates daily night from Chikkodi to Kundapur, Udupi and Mangalore.

Rail

Chikkodi has a railway station at Chikkodi Road Station located at a distance of about 20 km (near Kabbur). This station falls under South Western Railway Zone (Hubli). Hubli Junction (UBL) and Miraj Junction (MRJ) which come under South Western Railway Zone and Central Railway Zone are the closest railway junctions to Chikkodi Road Station. They are well connected to major cities like Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Goa, New Delhi and Chennai.

Air

The closest airport to Chikkodi is Belgaum Airport and Kolhapur Airport located at a distance of about 70 km and 60 km respectively. Belgaum is directly connected with Bangalore and Kolhapur is directly connected with Mumbai.

References

• http://www.chikkoditown.gov.in/