Shelgaon Rajgure

Geography

The Shelgaon Rajgure is located in the eastern part of the Washim District in Risod Tehsil.It at a distance of 2 km east of Masla Pen village which is located at a distance of 16 km north of Risod and 88 km south of Akola on Akola-Risod State Highway. Kas River flows to the south which falls into Penganga River at a distance of 1.6 km to the south-east. It is bounded by village of Gowardhan to the East, Masla Pen to the West, Kinkheda, Linga Kotwal and Pen Bori to the south and Keshavnagar and Waghi Budruk to the North. To the south are the plain of River Kas and River Penganga, while to the North are hilly tract and Highland. Soil of River Kas and River Penganga Valley is Black Soil which is very fertile. The average elevation of the village is 635m. Agriculture is the main occupation of the peoples . Well irrigation and water from Wells is the main source of water for the irrigation for the village and regions to the south, while water from dam which is located in Highlands and well irrigation is main source of water in regions to the north.

Climate and agriculture

The climate of Shelgaon Rajgure is generally hot with sometimes the temperature reaching 45 °C. Shelgaon Rajgure has the monsoon type of climate with seasonal rainfall. Most of rainfall is received during the monsoon season. The average annual rainfall is 793 mm. The winters are cool and dry, with sometimes the temperature falling till 8.6-degree Celsius. Then comes the summer, which is very hot. At the noon the temperature rises and it becomes very hot with much less humidity.

Agriculture is the main occupation of the peoples in Shelgaon Rajgure. Nearly all its labour force is engaged in agriculture. The land is fertile with Black Soil. Important crops cultivated include soybean in monsoon season or Kharif season and gram, wheat, tur and Jowar in winter or Rabi season. groundnut, moong, dadar, sesame, vegetable, onions and flower are also cultivated in small amount. soybean and gram are the chief crops. The amount of rainfall received each year varies greatly. In hilly arias to North of village, there exist a small dam, providing water for irrigation to those regions. Otherwise irrigation is completely dependent on wells which are numerous in the village. Farms located near River Kas mostly use river water for irrigation.

Transportation and communication

Transportation facilities in the village are well developed. It is connected by road to all the major towns. It is located on Mehkar-Mangrul Zanak-Masla Pen road. This was formerly Single-Lane Tar Road which is now being converted into Double-Lane Road. Most of the work is finished except in few patches of road. This road meets Akola-Risod-Parbhani State Highway at village of Masla Pen 2 km to the west of Shelgaon Rajgure. It directly connected by road network to Risod, Washim, Malegaon(Washim), Akola, Hingoli, Parbhani, Aurangabad, Amrapali, etc. Private Transport vehicles operate on Dongaon-Masla Pen-Risod route. This private vehicles operate at a frequency of 10-15 minutes. MSRTC ( Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation) buses connect Shelgaon Rajgure to Risod, Mehkar, Washim, Akola(from Masla Pen), Aurangabad, Jaana, etc. Telecom Operators Idea Cellular and BSNL have good coverage. They provide 3G data connection.

Peoples and Culture

Entire population is composed of Marathi peoples. There are no linguistic minorities in Shelgaon Rajgure. Marathi is de facto and official language. There are two main religions of Hinduism and Buddhism in village. Hindus form the majority and are usually better off than Buddhist in terms of income, quality of life, education, etc. Buddhists are mostly dalit converts. Education used to be very poor a decade ago. But due to opening of new English-medium school in the region in last decade has improved the quality of education. Bhavana Public School, Degaon(6 km) and Sunrise English School, Risod(18 km) are two prominent English-medium schools in this region. Diwali, Ganeshotsava, Pola, Gauri Puja, etc are main festivals which are celebrated every year.