Bapatla

• Name — Bapatla • Other Name — Bhavapattam, Bhavapattu, Bhavapattanam, Bhavapuri • Type — District Headquarter Municipal City • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — India • Subdivision Type1 — State • Subdivision Name1 — Andhra Pradesh • Subdivision Type2 — District • Subdivision Name2 — Bapatla • Subdivision Type3 — Mandal • Subdivision Name3 — Bapatla • Named For — Bhavanarayana Swamy • Government Type — Municipal council • Governing Body — Bapatla Municipality • Leader Title — MLA • Leader Name — Vegesana Narendra Varma • Unit Pref — Metric • Area Total Km2 — 17.92 • Elevation M — 6 • Population Total — 107,000 • Population As Of — 2011 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Demographics Type1 — Languages • Demographics1 Title1 — Official • Demographics1 Info1 — Telugu • Time Zone1 — IST • Utc Offset1 — +5:30 • Postal Code Type — PIN • Postal Code — 522 101 • Registration Plate — AP–07 • Custom Label Sec1 — Lok Sabha constituency • Custom Data Sec1 — Bapatla (SC) • Custom Label1 Sec1 — Assembly constituency • Custom Data1 Sec1 — Bapatla • Website — https: bapatla.ap.gov.in/, http: bapatla.cdma.ap.gov.in/en, http: manabapatla.info

The town was formerly known as Bhavapattana,< Bhavapattu and Bhavapatta. The names were derived from the Bhavanarayana Temple located in the town. Later, these names became the present name of Bapatla.

The coordinates of the town are and is located at an altitude of 8 mts from the coast of Bay of Bengal.

The town has tropical climate with the average annual temperatures recorded at 28.4 C. Hot summers and cool winters are observed due to its proximity to the coast of Bay of Bengal. It receives both South west monsoon and North-east monsoon as well. The precipitation is very high with an annual rainfall of about 854 mm and the month of October receives a maximum rainfall of 197 mm. It is most affected by the cyclonic storms that occur on the east coast.

As of 2011 Census of India, the town had a population of 100300 with 98,216 households. The total population constituted 54,385 males and 56,392 females —a sex ratio of 1058 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 940 per 1000. Bapatla is second largest populated town in Bapatla District, Chirala Town is the largest populated Town in newly formed Bapatla District. 6,182 children were in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 3,156 were boys and 3,026 were girls—a ratio of 959 per 1000. The average literacy rate stood at 80.67% with 52,106 literates, significantly higher than the national average of 73.00%.

The very first Bapatla district Collector is K.Vijaya krishnan IAS. • 2022-

Bapatla Municipality was established in 1951. It oversees the civic needs of the town like, water supply, sewage, and garbage collection. It is a Grade–I municipality which has an extent of 17.92 km2 with 34 wards.

Kommamuru and Poondla channels of the Krishna Western Delta system provide irrigation water to Bapatla and the surrounding areas.

Bapatla, being a part of Bapatla mandal, falls under Bapatla assembly constituency of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Vegesana Narendra Varma Raju of Telugu Desam Party is the present MLA of the constituency. The assembly segment is in turn a part of Bapatla (SC) lok sabha constituency and the present MP is Tenneti Krishna Prasad of the Telugu Desam Party.

Bapatla district collectorate – Mr. J. Venkata Murali IAS. Bapatla Sub-Division of police – A.Srinivas. Member of Parliament – Krishna Prasad Tenneti Member of the Legislative Assembly – Vegesana Narendra Varma

Aquaculture and agriculture are the main occupations of the coastal areas of the town. Aquaculture involves pisciculture and the farming is dominant with paddy cultivation. The Cairn India have conducted oil drilling onshore of Bapatla which is a part of KG basin stretch. Tourism also plays a role in generating revenue with the presence of Suryalanka Beach near the town, operated by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation.

• The Clock Tower, built in 1948, was demolished for road extension and started to be rebuilt in December 2017. • The town has various religious structures depicting the presence of different worshipers, such as Bhavanarayana Temple and Centenary Baptist Zion Church • The Suryalanka Beach connected by the Beach Road of the town hosts the Bhavapuri Beach Festival every year.

The town has a total road length of 165.50 km. Until 1963, private Bus Services were the sole source of transport in Bapatla. APSRTC started operations in 1964 with its bus services to various parts of the state from Bapatla bus station. The town has frequent buses to Vijayawada, Guntur, Ponnur, Repalle and Chirala. • The National Highway 216 passes through the town, which connects Digamarru and Ongole. State Highway 48 also known as Guntur-Bapatla-Chirala (G.B.C) Road passes through Ponnur and connects the town with the district headquarters, Bapatla district. • Bapatla railway station is located on the New Delhi-Chennai mainline & Howrah-Chennai main line of Indian Railways. It is a –A category station and was recognized as an Adarsh station in the Vijayawada railway division of South Central Railway zone.

• Illustration — Bapatla Engineering College The primary and secondary school education is imparted by government, aided and private schools, under the School Education Department of the state. The mediums of instruction followed by different schools are English and Telugu. The town has many schools, colleges and universities. The Agricultural College was established on 11 July 1945 by Government of Composite Madras State. It is the oldest of all the colleges under Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University. College of Agricultural Engineering & College of Food Science and Technology under Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Bapatla Polytechnic College, and Bapatla College of Arts & Sciences, Bapatla Engineering College, & Bapatla Women' Engineering College under Nagarjuna University are other prominent ones.

An automatic weather station of India Meteorological Department is located in the town which records the temperatures. BPT 5204 (rice variety of Sona Masuri), BPT 2270 (Bhavapuri Sannalu) and BPT 2231 (Akshaya) were developed at this rice research unit. There are also a number of research institutes of this agricultural university, such as the AICRP on Betelvine, and a cashew research station.

Suryalanka Indian Air Force base on the shore of the Bay of Bengal is located near Bapatla. The base carries out activities such as testing missiles and guided weapon firing range.

• Stanam Narasimha Rao, Indian Theatre Artist and Cinema actor, well known for his female roles in the first two decades of Indian cinema, and a Padmari awardee • Komaravolu Sivaprasad, whistle singer • kanuparthi Vara Lakshmamma, was a Freedom Fighter, writer & Social Activist. She established Stree Hitaishini Mandali. • Nori Gopala Krishna Murthy was a popular Civil Engineer known for his contributions to Koyna Hydro Electric Project and Bhakra Nangal Dam. He was honored with Padmasri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.