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Journal of Global Resources Volume 5 July 2017 Page 28-33

ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

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SPACING OF RURAL SETTLEMENTS IN NAGAUR DISTRICT, RAJASTHAN: A SPATIAL ANALYSIS

Varun Binda

Assistant Professor (Geography) St. Wilfred’s P.G. College, Jaipur (Raj.) India

Abstract: The study of settlement has been one of the most significant themes of human geography. Settlement Geography describes and explains the settlements location, size and shape, form and structure. The main objective of this study is to identify the regional patterns of size and spacing of rural settlements in Nagaur district and to explain the pattern through areal co-variance of characteristic determinants or associated areal attributes, and final to evaluate the manner in, and the extent to which the spatial pattern of spacing contributes to the character of areas. The formulae for determining the spacing of rural settlements is based on the density of rural settlements referred to the rural area. The significance of spacing of rural settlements to theoretical geography through its important contribution to the character of areas, and to applied geography through the problems of socio-economic development cannot be over-emphasized.

Key words: Regional patterns, Spacing, Inhabited, Areal attributes.

Introduction

The term settlement refers to manmade habitats on the earth surface. In other words,

settlement is organized colony of human beings consisting of buildings in which they live or

work or store various things and street on which their movements take place. The study of

settlement has been one of the most significant themes of human geography. The term

“settlement geography” is derived from the German” siedlunge geographic” (R. L. Singh

1978) which involves the study of visual imprints made by man upon cultural landscape in

the process of occupation. Settlement Geography describes and explains the settlements

location, size and shape, form and structure. There are many factors like physical, social,

economic and cultural which affects distribution, size, spacing and morphology of different

settlements. According to Mukerjee, the covariance of spacing of rural settlements depends

on such fundamental factors as fertility of land, productivity of agriculture, nature of crops,

distribution and availability of water, density and size of rural population, mode of living,

relative strengths of tribal population and several other factors. Research on this topic have

been done by many scholars special reference to Rajasthan like Bose, A.B. (1962),

Mukherjee, A.B. (1963), Misra, V.C. (1967), Sen, A.K. (191967), Sharma, R.C. (1972),

Mishra, R.N. & Sharma, P. K. (2003) and Sharma P.K. (2015).

Objective and Scope

1. The main objective of this study is to identify the regional patterns of size and

spacing of rural settlements in Nagaur district.

2. Explain the pattern through areal co-variance of characteristic determinants or

associated areal attributes and final to evaluate the manner in, and the extent to

which the spatial pattern of spacing contributes to the character of areas.

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Location of Study Area

Nagaur district is located in the heart of Rajasthan State (24°37’ to 26°00’ North latitudes

and 63°05’ to 75°22’ Eastern longitudes) has an area of 17,718 sq. km. with a population

density of 157/km² (2011). The district is administratively divided into ten tehsils viz. Degana,

Didwana, Jayal, Ladnun, Merta, Nawa, Nagaur, Khivnsar, Makarana and Parbatsar (Fig 1).

Methodology

The formula for determining the spacing of rural settlements is based on the density of rural

settlements referred to the rural area. The formula used for the computation of spacing of

rural settlements in a tehsil is as follows:

S=A/N

Where A is rural area in square Kilometers, and N is the number of inhabited villages.

This formula is useful for both the rural area and the number of the inhabited villages in the

computation of spacing. This is also used for calculating the spacing of settlements in

Rajasthan on basis of Census data of 2011 and derived under mentioned spacing value of

each district of Rajasthan.

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Table 1: Spacing of Rural Settlements in Nagaur as Compared to that of other

Districts of Rajasthan (2011)

# Districts Area (sq. km.) Villages Spacing (km.)

Rajasthan State 342239 44962 7.61

1 Ajmer 8481 1123 7.55

2 Alwar 8380 2072 4.04

3 Banswara 5037 1517 3.32

4 Baran 6955 1229 5.66

5 Barmer 28387 2464 11.52

6 Bharatpur 5066 1534 3.3

7 Bhilwara 10455 1843 5.67

8 Bikaner 28466 925 30.77

9 Bundi 5550 883 6.23

10 Chittaurgarh 10856 1737 6.25

11 Churu 16830 909 18.51

12 Dausa 3432 1114 3.08

13 Dhaulpur 3033 825 3.68

14 Dungarpur 3770 980 3.85

15 Ganganagar 7984 3034 2.63

16 Hanumangarh 12645 1913 6.61

17 Jaipur 14068 2199 6.40

18 Jaisalmer 38401 801 47.94

19 Jalor 10640 805 13.22

20 Jhalawar 6219 1615 3.85

21 Jhunjhunun 5928 945 6.27

22 Jodhpur 22850 1846 12.38

23 Karauli 5530 892 6.20

24 Kota 5446 885 6.15

25 Nagaur 17718 1589 11.15

26 Pali 12387 1041 11.90

27 Pratapgarh 4117 1006 4.09

28 Rajsamand 4768 1059 4.50

29 Sawai Madhopur 10527 818 12.87

30 Sikar 7732 1184 6.53

31 Sirohi 5136 487 11.55

32 Tonk 7194 1192 6.04

33 Udaipur 13883 2496 5.56

Source: Computed by author.

Spacing of Rural Settlement

It is obvious that a state as vast and varied in its spatial character as Rajasthan would

display an equally striking variation in spacing of rural settlements. This is effectively

revealed in the range of variation from a minimum of 2.63 km in Shri Ganganagar to a

maximum of 47.94 km. in Jaisalmer, and in which the maximum is more than eighteen times

the value of minimum (Table 1). For Rajasthan as a whole the spacing of rural settlements

comes to about 7.61 km, Compared to the Rajasthan average, Nagaur has a spacing of

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11.15 km, which is almost one and a half times that of the former. The value in Rajasthan is

fairly similar to those of Barmer (11.52), Pali (11.90), and Sirohi (11.55).

Gross Pattern in Nagaur

As a higher level of generalization based on the interpretation of district data a gross pattern

of spacing of rural settlements can be easily identify. The district data of 2011 are given in

Table 2.

Table 2: Spacing of Rural Settlements in Nagaur District of Rajasthan (2011)

# Tehsils Area (sq. km.) Villages Spacing (km.)

1 Didwana 1647.31 190 8.67

2 Ladnu 1257.50 100 12.58

3 Makrana 1115.18 134 8.32

4 Parbatsar 1108.98 117 9.48

5 Degana 1907.32 205 9.30

6 Jayal 2081.16 140 14.87

7 Merta 2297.28 201 11.43

8 Nagaur 3060.14 193 15.86

9 Nawa 1559.86 217 7.18

10 Kheenvsar 1684.79 92 18.31

Source: Data computed by the author

The table reveals the following features of the gross pattern of spacing:-

(I) Of the 10 tehsils in the district of Nagaur as many as 5 have spacing values larger than

the district average of 11.15 km. Of these 5, 4 are located in the western part of Aravalli, in

the desert or semi-desert environment. The values of spacing range from a minimum of 7.18

km. in Nawa in the eastern part of district to a maximum of 18.31 km in Kheenvsar in the

western part of the district. Most of the tehsils having smaller spacing values than the state

averages are located within or east of the Aravallis.

(II) In all the five tehsils comprising the physiographic division of Nagaur dry area and

extending west of the Aravallis the spacing of rural settlements is wider to much wider than

the average for the district. The values of spacing range from a minimum of 7.18 km in Nawa

to a maximum of 18.31 km in Kheenvsar. The spacing in the extensive area located west of

the Aravallis is the largest in the district.

Detailed Spatial Pattern in Nagaur

The detailed spatial pattern emerges from Fig. 2 in which the data of spacing for tehsils have

been plotted using the choropleth method. Three categories or type of area were identify in

the series of data of spacing. For purpose of discussion the three categories of areas, those

with high and very high values (more than 15 km), moderate values (10 to 15 km) and low

and very low values (less than 10 km).

(i) Area of High and Very High Spacing Values

In Nagaur and Kheenvsar tehsils, extending mostly on the western pediments of the

Aravallis is an area of high and very high values of spacing. This area lies in the desert or

semi-desert environment. In this area water scarcity is also found and ground water is very

low. All settlements are located near the source of water. Due to desert condition transport

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and communication facilities are not well developed. The general trend of the belts of varying

spacing values is north-east south-west following the classic regional grain of the Aravallis.

The region is sufficiently distinctive in the attributes of agriculture and mode of living as to be

constituted into an agrarian region.

(ii) Areas of Medium Values of Spacing

The medium values of spacing are found in the middle part of district. Almost everywhere

spacing is associated with moderate rural density. Baring a few tehsils most of these have

moderate to small-sized villages. Depending upon the physical and cultural controls there

are local variations in the value of spacing. This area is extended from North to south in the

central part of district, Ladnun, Jayal and Merta tehsils. There are many pockets in these

tehsils, which have rich aquifer.

(iii) Areas of Low and very Low Values of Spacing

The Eastern part of district lies in this category. Where, ground water is found near upper

surface, in good quality and quantity. These tehsils are Didwana, Nawa, Makrana, Degana

and Parbatsar. The other factors which are also responsible for the low spacing of the

settlements in these tehsils are mining of marbles and salt production. This area is located

near the State Capital of Rajasthan so the means of transports and communication facilities

are highly developed.

Conclusion

Rural density is inversely correlated with spacing of rural settlements. This is supported by

the observation that the rural density decreases and spacing of rural settlements increase

from east to west in Nagaur. In the area of low rural density the threshold rural population

needed to support aggregation and a maximum spatial, economy of utilization of

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environmental resources has to be spread over a large area and concentrated at fewer

points resulting in an increase in the spacing of rural settlements. Size spacing direct related

to the geographical and atmospheric conditions of the particular area. Nagaur district is

mainly part of “Thar Desert” and semi desert or desert type climate are found. Some others

factors are also responsible for uneven spacing of Nagaur district are source of livelihood,

ground water, mean of transport and other basic facilities which is useful for mankind.

References

1. A.B. Bose, (1962) A short Note on the Human Profile of the Arid Zone of Rajasthan, Nat.

Geo. Journal of India, Vol.8, Part 2, pp. 157-163.

2. Census of India, (2011) District Census Handbook, Nagaur, Directorate of Census

Operation, Rajasthan, Jaipur.

3. District Statistical Outline: (2013) District Nagaur, Directorate of Economics and Statistic,

Govt. of Rajasthan, Jaipur.

4. R.N. Mishra, & Pawan Kumar Sharma, (2003) Study of Rural Growth Centers for in

Marusthali Region, Journal ANNALS, Vol. XXIII, NAGI, New Delhi.

5. Mukerji, A.B. (1956) Jat Settlements and Habitations, Ind. Geog. Jour., Vol. 31, Nos. 3 &

4, pp 102-116.

6. A.K. Sen, (1966) Settlement Patterns in Rajasthan, Man in India, Vol. 3, pp.215-225.

7. R.C. Sharma, (1972) Settlements Geography of the Indian Desert, Kumar Brothers, New

Delhi.

8. P.K. Sharma, (2015) Micro-Level Appraisal of Spatial Dimensions of Rural Settlements,

International Journal of Research in Geography (IJRG) Volume 1, Issue 2, 2015, PP 18-

21.