Udumalaipettai

Udumalai, also known as Udumalaipettai and Udumalpet (iɖimalaɪppeːʈʈaɪ), is a town in Tiruppur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Udumalaipettai is located 535 km (332 mi) south west from the state capital, Chennai and 72 km (45 mi) away from Coimbatore, the second largest city in the state. It is famous for spinning mills. It is the headquarters of Udumalaipettai taluk and as of 2011, the town had a population of 61,133. Udumalpet town is under Udumalpet Legislative Assembly constituency. The municipality was established in 1918 and upgraded to second grade municipality in 1970. It was declared as a first grade municipality in 1979 and further upgrades to selection grade municipality in 1984. The extent of the municipality is 7.41 km2 of which 6.582 km2 is urban and 0.828 km2 is rural. The city was part of Coimbatore district until 2008 when it became part of the newly formed Tiruppur district, a change which was opposed by the residents. Udumalai is surrounded by Western Ghats on three sides. The average altitude of the town is 1208 feet above MSL. The topography is undulated and the general slope is from west to North. Black clay soil is the predominant soil of the area. The town gets major rainfall during the south west monsoon period. The average annual rainfall is 501.40 mm. Black and red soil types are found in the town. The soil contains more of alumina and gypsum. While black soil area is utilized for agriculture, the areas with red soil have more urbanized uses. According to 2011 census, Udumalaipettai had a population of 61,133 with a sex-ratio of 1,041 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 4,939 were under the age of six, constituting 2,489 males and 2,450 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 8.67% and 0.07% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 83.85%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 17,132 households.