Nuagada Block

Nuagada
CD Block and Tehsil
Nuagada Location in Odisha, India Show map of Odisha Nuagada Nuagada (India) Show map of India Nuagada Nuagada (Asia) Show map of Asia Nuagada Nuagada (Earth) Show map of Earth
Coordinates: 19°06′00″N 84°02′53″E / 19.100015°N 84.048013°E / 19.100015; 84.048013
Country	India
State	Odisha
District	Gajapati
Established	1st April 1955
Founded by	Government of Odisha
Government
• Type	Local Government (Tier 3)
• Body	Nuagada Panchayat Samiti
• MLA	Shri Dasarathi Gamango INC
Area
• Total	587.86 km2 (226.97 sq mi)
• Rank	4th in the District
Population  (2020)
• Total	57,027
• Rank	6th in the District
• Density	97/km2 (250/sq mi)
Demonym	Nuagadia
Languages
• Official	Odia English
Languages
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	761214
Telephone code	06817
Website	odisha.gov.in

Nuagada is a village and Community Development Block in the Gajapati District of Odisha state in India. The Block comes under the administrative control of Serango and R.Udayagiri Police station.

Mohana (Odisha Vidhan Sabha constituency) (Sl. No.: 136) is its Vidhan Sabha constituency.¹ This constituency includes Mohana block, R.Udayagiri block, Nuagada block and Rayagada block.²³

Nuagada Tehsil commenced operations on 1 April 2011, following its administrative bifurcation from the erstwhile R. Udayagiri Tehsil. The administrative headquarters of the tehsil is located in Nuagada village.⁴

The tehsil comprises seven Revenue Inspector (RI) circles, 19 Gram Panchayats, and 175 villages, encompassing a total geographical area of 463.89 square kilometres (179.11 sq mi).⁴ It is geographically bounded by the R. Udayagiri, Rayagada, and Mohana tehsils, as well as the adjacent Rayagada district. Hilly and highland terrain accounts for approximately 70% of the total land area within the tehsil.

According to the 2011 Census of India, Nuagada Tehsil had a total population of 54,696, consisting of 26,684 males and 28,012 females.⁵ The demographic composition included 228 members of the Scheduled Castes and 42,145 members of the Scheduled Tribes.⁵ The jurisdictional limits of the tehsil contain 174 revenue villages in total.⁵

Nuagada block features a tropical monsoon climate heavily influenced by its higher-altitude terrain within the Eastern Ghats, experiencing cooler winters and slightly lower average summer maximums than the coastal plains of southern Odisha.⁶

• Temperature: Temperatures peak in May with mean highs of 39.0 °C (102.2 °F), while winter minimums drop to an average of 14.0 °C (57.2 °F) in January due to seasonal cold waves across the hilly interior.
• Precipitation: The block experiences highly concentrated monsoonal rain between June and September, yielding an average annual precipitation total of 1,495.2 millimetres (58.87 in) distributed over roughly 71 rainy days.⁷

Nuagada block has an educational infrastructure comprising 93 elementary schools, 13 high schools, and 3 higher secondary school located in Khajuripada. Private education in the block includes the De Paul School in Khajuripada, which operates as a branch of the De Paul School in Brahmapur.

The economy of Nuagada block is primarily agrarian, with a significant reliance on rain-fed agriculture and the collection of minor forest produce due to its hilly topography.

Agriculture supports the livelihood of the majority of the population, though arable land is limited by the rugged terrain of the Eastern Ghats.

• Cropping Pattern: The block falls under the North Eastern Ghats agro-climatic zone. The primary Kharif crop is paddy, cultivated mainly in the valley bottoms and terraced slopes.⁸ In the upland areas (dongar land), farmers cultivate ragi (finger millet), maize, and arhar (pigeon pea).⁹
• Horticulture: Due to the conducive hill climate, the block has seen a shift towards horticultural plantations. Major plantation crops include cashew nut, mango, and pineapple, which are promoted under the National Horticulture Mission to provide sustainable income alternatives to traditional shifting cultivation.¹⁰

With a substantial tribal population, the economy is heavily supplemented by the collection of Minor Forest Produce (MFP). Key gathered items include kendu leaves, mahua flowers, tamarind, and hill broom grass, which are sold through local tribal development cooperative societies.¹¹

The Nuagada Panchayat Samiti oversees the implementation of poverty alleviation schemes, including the MGNREGS, to generate wage employment during the non-agricultural lean season.¹²

The block has a total of 17 Government Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and 3 Government Hospitals, providing healthcare services to the local population.

Nuagada Community Development (CD) block contains multiple Gram Panchayats (G.Ps), which are further subdivided into individual villages for local governance. The headquarters of each Gram Panchayat is highlighted below in bold text.⁴