The region around the city has fertile soil and irrigation is supported by the river Krishna and its canals. Major crops include sugarcane, rice and mango. Vijayawada is famous for automobile body building, garment, iron and hardware small scale industries. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Auto Nagar Industrial Estate in Vijayawada is one of the largest hubs of automobile industry of Asia. There are about 1500 automobile accessory units in and around the city and about 100,000 workers are employed in these industries. Apart from workers of the city, people from other parts of the state come to work in the industrial estate. The main markets are in the Old City (popularly known as One Town) and near Besant Road. An estimate of nearly INR 10 crores of garment business takes place in the Vastralatha building alone in One Town daily. Garments are mainly sold in Besant Road and Governor Pet, but most upmarket stores have shifted their shops to Bandar Road. The city has many wholesale businesses. They include garments, iron market, pulses, cereals, and other edible products, fancy markets, fertilizers, mango exports, pharmacy and metal.
Vijayawada is surrounded by the Krishna river on the east and west and the Budameru River on the north. The northern, northwestern, and southwestern parts of the city are covered by a low range of hills, while the central, southwestern and northwestern parts are covered by rich and fertile agriculture lands with three major irrigation canals. The topography of Vijayawada is flat, with a few small to medium-sized hills. The Krishna River runs through the city. These hills are part of the Eastern Ghats cut through by the Krishna river. They have very low elevation compared to the average elevation of the ghats. Three canals originating from the north side of the Prakasham barrage reservoir, Eluru, Bandar and Ryves, run through the city. By the virtue of these canals, this city has been in the race for being the Venice of the East with cities like Alleppey(Kerala), Srinagar(Jammu and Kashmir) etc. Several bridges have been built across these three canals over the decades making eligible to vie for the exotic title.
There are “aided” schools in Vijayawada, meaning schools funded by government and private partnerships, such as the Gollapudi High School. Government schools are in areas such as the Jammichettu center, the Patamata high school and Suryarao Peta. Private schools are scattered all over the city. A majority of them implement the Andhra Pradesh State Syllabus for their students. The students, after studying their 10th class, take the Public Examination, which is equivalent of the school-leaving certificate. There are only a few schools accredited to the Central Board of Secondary Education in the city, meaning their class 10 students have to take the All India Secondary School Examination (AISSE) for their school-leaving certificate. Few of the finest schools affiliated to the CBSE include NSM Public School, VPS Public School and Delhi Public School. They’re well known for their education and discipline and extra circular activities like Sports, Music, Drawing, Karate, Dance which help the students in overall growth.
The city is run by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation. The Municipality of Vijayawada was constituted on 1 April 1888 and was upgraded as a selection grade municipality in the year 1960. The municipality was upgraded to a corporation in 1981 with the merger of Gunadala, Patamata and Bhavanipuram village panchayats and two villages Payakapuram and Kundavari kandrika in the corporation in 1985. More than 400,000 people reside outside corporation limits. Many areas on outskirts or yet to be merged into corporation limits. The total area of the corporation is 61.8 square kilometres (23.9 sq mi) and the population of the whole city (along with Vijayawada sub-urban and Vijayawada rural) is more than 2.5 million. It is a city of Jawaharlal National Urban Renewal Mission. The Government is thinking of converting the city into Greater in the name of Mahanagar, merging almost 45 villages of near by.
Vijayawada Junction is the heart of indian railways & also the biggest railway junction in India and contributes the highest revenues in the South Central Railway region. Situated along the Chennai – Howrah and Chennai – Delhi rail route, Vijayawada Junction is the largest railway junction on the South Central Railway network. Vijayawada junction had been given A-1 status by the central government. Madhuranagar, Gunadala, Rayanapadu, Kondapalli, Nidamanuru, Krishna canal junction Ramavarappadu, Kolanukonda, Mangalagiri, Gannavaram are the other railway stations in the city. The railway station has ten platforms for passenger trains and is the only station to have five entrance gates with booking counters in India and it is the busiest station to handle more than 320 trains including both passenger and freight trains per day next to Howrah and Mumbai.
The city is divided into 59 political wards. Each ward of the Municipal Corporation is represented by an area corporator. An elected body headed by the mayor performs the administration of the corporation. The Commissioner acts as the executive head and oversees the day-to-day functioning of the local body. The Commissioner is an IAS officer of Joint Collector rank appointed by the State Government. It has a dedicated Sub-Collector’s office for administration of State and Central Government programmes. The staff strength of the Corporation is over 5,000. Vijayawada is one of the three cities in Andhra Pradesh to be provided with its own Police Commissionerate. The Vijayawada City Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, who is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of DIG rank along with two Deputy Commissioners of Police who are also IPS officers.
Vijayawada is an important link connecting the three regions of Andhra Pradesh and is a major transit point. Two National Highways, the NH-5 from Chennai to Kolkata and the NH-9 from Machilipatnam to Mumbai, pass through the city connecting it to other parts of the country. National Highway 221 connects the city to Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh. It is connected to other areas of the state by state highways and district roads. Pandit Nehru bus station is the second largest bus station in Asia next to Chennai. The APSRTC-run city buses (Metro Express, City Sheetal (A/C Buses) and Ordinary) and auto rickshaws are the main mode of public transport. A BRTS buses are also operated as well. APSRTC is running more than 450 city buses in city to various destinations.
Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao Government College of Music and Dance, a premier institute in Vijayawada provides interested students in the performing arts of the state of Andhra Pradesh. Supported and guided by renowned personalities from the field of music and dance, it offers rigorous training in traditional musical instruments of Saraswati veena, Tabla, Mridangam, Nadaswaram, Violin, Vocal Music, dance form of Kuchipudi and other traditional dances. After successful completion of the various courses, the institute honors the students with certificates with a proper grading system. The Institute organizes several cultural events to display the artistic caliber and creative imagination of the excellent performers of the city.
Vijayawada ( pronunciation (help·info)) is the commercial city of Andhra Pradesh and the third largest after Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, with an area of 261.88 km2. The city has a population of 1,021,860 (2011 Census), while the population of the metropolitan area is 1,491,202. The name Vijayawada, meaning “Land of Victory”, is derived from the presiding deity, Kanaka Durga, also called Vijaya.It is also believed that rulers of orissa after conquering the land named it as “vijay bahuda”,depicting “return after victory” .The city is also popularly known by its historic name Bezawada, which is used by the Indian Railways in assigning its railway station code “BZA”.
The industrial estate in Kondapalli, an industrial suburb, is spread over 450 acres (1.8 km2) and is base to more than 800 industries. In addition a 1800MW Vijayawada thermal power project (VTPS) and 368.144 MW gas-based LANCO power plant which is under expansion to 768.144 MW are located here. In March 2011 Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) announced that it signed an agreement with APGENCO for setting up a 182 MW plant at Vijayawada as a technology demonstration project. Kondapalli suburb also houses Andhra Pradesh Heavy Machinery & Engineering Limited (APHMEL) factory besides being a hub for storage, bottling and transportation of petroleum products.
There are many tales behind the origin of the name Vijayawada. At first it was named as Chandrala which comes under the family of Gajapathis which means victory and later Legends have it that this was the place where Arjuna was blessed by Shiva, on Indrakiladri Hill. In another legend it is stated that Goddesses Durga killed the demon and relaxed in this place for some time. As she was victorious (Vijaya), the place got the name as Vijayawada (Vijaya: victory and Wada: city/place/location) which literally means “City of Victory”. The Epic of Mahabharata refers to Indrakiladri hills as the place where Arjuna secured “Pasupathastra” from Lord Siva.
Rajiv Gandhi Park – It has roller skating rink, Bungee Trampoline, and a garden. K.L.Rao Park – It has Boating, swimming pool, and a garden. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar & Raghavaiah park – The main attraction is the hanging bridge connecting the two parts of the park on ether side of the canal. Mahatma Gandhi park – This is the oldest park in the city located in I town. The park is fully crowded in the evenings .It has a gym, used by a lot of people. G.V.S Sastry park – This park is located near Satynarayanapuram old Railway station and the park is done in an innovative way. The main attraction is the skating ring used by many children in this park.
Water, drainage and waste collection services are provided by Vijayawada Municipal Corporation. Fire fighting services are maintained by the Andhra Pradesh Fire Services Department. There are at present five fire stations here. India Post provides physical mail services as well as many private courier service providers. Other Utility companies serving Vijayawada include Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum ( Petrol,Diesel, Gas); Southern Power Distribution Company (electricity); Bhagyanagar Gas Limited( CNG, PNG); Airtel, AirCel, BSNL,Idea, MTS, Reliance Communications, TATA DOCOMO, Uninor, Vodafone 3G networks available.
Today, the city is home to many of the most well-recognized educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh and mother of the corporate education. It is well connected to other regions by road, air and rail, and has the second biggest railway junction in India. As the commercial capital of Andhra Pradesh, Vijayawada is politically active, sociologically dominant, agriculturally rich, and is an industrial transportation hub. Vijayawada has been recognised as a Global City of the Future by McKinsey Quarterly. It is also India’s one of the most promising cities for the future, and 159th fastest developing city in the world.
Vijayawada is the main center of movies, also referred as “Cine Rajadhani” means “Capital of Films”. First theater of the state “Maruthi talkies” was built in the year 1921 at One-town. There is a belief in Film industry that the stamina and run of the films depend upon the talk in Vijayawada which shows the citizens interest towards films. Telugu films have the biggest market here with a market share greater than 95% followed by Hindi and English. There are around 45 theaters in Vijayawada including 2 multiplexes. 4 multiplexes are going to start their operations next year.
Cricket is the most popular sport, with national-level matches played at Indira Gandhi Stadium. A new international stadium is being built in a 20-acre (81,000 m2) site in Mangalagiri which will be the venue for international and Ranji matches. Only one international cricket match was played between India and West Indies on 24 November 2002 at Indira Gandhi stadium. It was won by West Indies. On 12 December 1997 Women’s Cricket Worldcup only a group match was played between England Women’s Cricket Team and Pakistan Women’s Cricket Team, and it was won by England.
All major streets are connected with the Local Public Bus Transit (City Buses) operated by APSRTC. It is the first city in the south to introduce CNG buses in its fleet. Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is planning to launch Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) with dedicated bus corridors. The initiative, however, is mired in procedural delays. Motor-driven auto-rickshaws and manual-driven cycle-rickshaws are the other alternative means of transport within Vijayawada. Private lorries, cars and two-wheeled vehicles are common.
The city has originated on the northern bank of the river Krishna. It was ruled by different dynasties from time to time, including the Gajapathis of Orissa, Eastern Chalukyas and the great ruler Krishna Deva Raya. By the time of construction of anicut over the river Krishna in 1885 AD, it took shape as small settlement on the eastern side of the Indrakiladri hills. In late 19th century the Gajapathis of orissa were settled in a small village named vurimi (krishna dist)
Buckingham Canal originates from the southmate, with hot summers and moderate winters. The peak temperature reaches 47 °C (117 °F) in May–June, while the winter temperature is 20–27 C. The average humidity is 78% and the average annual rainfall is 103 cm. Vijayawada gets its rainfall from both the southwest monsoon and northeast monsoon. It was nicknamed “Blaze-wada” for its scorching summer heat by the British.
Dr Nori Ramasastry Government Ayurvedic College, popularly known as Dr NRS Government Ayurvedic College is located in Vijayawada, Krishna District. Dr NRS Government Ayurvedic College was established in the year 1956 and is affiliated to NTR University of Health Sciences and is approved by All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE). The college conducts courses in Ayurveda at Bachelor’s level.