POPULATION

According to 1971 census the Bhandara District accommodates 1, 585, 580 persons (m. 798, 072 ; f. 787, 508) as spread over its three tahsils. The following table gives the tahsil wise distribution of population in the district in 1971.

Table No. 1

TAHSILWISE POPULATION OF BHANDARA DISTRICT, 1971.

The population of the district increased  by 16.67 per cent in the decade 1901-11 mainly due to the recovery from the famine and scarcity condition in the earlier decade. In the following decade in addition to the scarcity conditions, the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 took a heavy toll, and the population increased by only 4.65 per cent. The condition improved in the following decades and the population increased by 14.87 per cent during 1921-31, by 16.83 per cent during  1931-41 and by 11.26 per cent during 1941-51. During the 1961-71 decade the population increased by 24.59 per cent which was the highest decadal rate observed in the last eighty years. In might be due to control of epidemics and other diseases since1960.

The 1951-61 decade variation for the district and each of the tahsils was as follows :-

Sakoli tahsil, entirely a rural area, recorded the highest variation of 20.9 per cent. Itiadoh scheme of construction of earthen dam initiated in the Second Plan and building of Sakoli-Lakhandur road also might have attracted quite a large number of workers from the adjoining district or tahsils.The decade variation during 1961-71 was 24.59.

The net percentage increase since 1901 for the district division and the state is given in the following statement :- 

The density of population for Maharashtra State, Bhandara district and its tahsils for 1961 and 1971 is as follows :-

The following table gives the urban population of the district at each census and its variation since 1901 besides the variation in population each town in the district.

Table No. 2

    TOWNS CLASSIFIED BY POPULATION IN 1971 WITH VARIATION SINCE 1901.

*M- Municipality.

†Treated as town for the first time in 1961

The following table shows for the district and for each tahsil the number of inhabited villages and their population for each class of villages.

TABLE No. 3

VILLAGES CLASSIFIED BY POPULATION, 1971.

TABLE NO. 4.

POPULATION BY MOTHER-TONGUE, GONDIA DISTRICT, TAHSIL & TOWN 1961.

TABLE No. 5

TAHSILWISE POPULATION BY RELIGIOUS GONDIA 1971.

The proportion of Christians and Jains has increased during the last seventy years. The percentage of Hindus has gone down from 98.06 per cent in 1951 to 81.10 per cent in 1961 because some persons belonging to Hindu Scheduled Castes returned their religions as Buddhist or Nav-Bauddha. The combined proportion for Hindu and Buddhists has increased over that of 1901. It was because a large number of tribal people who have returned their religion as Hindu had in 1901 been classified as Animists and grouped under the head "Others". The proportion of other religions has accordingly decreased from 9.90 per cent in 1901 to only 0.08 per cent in 1971. 

The percentage decadal growth rate during 1961-71 is shone in the following statement :-

 In all 20 castes were notified as Scheduled Castes in the district but only 18 were reported in 1961 Census and 17 at the time of 1971 Census. The following two tables show the cast wise and tahsilwise population of Scheduled Castes :-

TABLE No.6

SCHEDULED CASTES POPULATION, BHANDARA DISTRICT, 1971.

TABLE No.7

TAHSIL-WISE SCHEDULED CASTES POPULATION GONDIA 1971.