as a Municipality in 1866 with Roche Victoria as its first chairman. It attained the status of Corporation on 5 August 2008 after 142 years of being a municipality. Thoothukudi Corporation is divided into 60 wards after its expansion in the year 2011 and these wards are comprised in four zones—i.e., East, West, North, and South. East zone has 14–16 and 19–33 wards, West zone has 34–47 wards, North zone has 1–13 and 17, 18 wards and South zone has 48–60 wards. The minor port of the Thoothukudi anchorage port with lighter age facilities has had flourishing traffic for over a century. The first wooden jetty of this port was commissioned in 1864. This port was used for export of salt, cotton yarn, senna leaves, palmyrah stalks, palmyrah fibres, dry fish, country drugs, and other goods to neighbouring countries and for import of coal, cotton, copra, pulses and grains. The minor port of the Thoothukudi has the distinction of being the intermediate port handling the highest traffic tonnage of over 1 million per annum. Geography and climate Thoothukudi is a port town situated in the Gulf of Mannar about North of KanyaKumari and its environs form part of the coastal belt which forms a continuous stretch of the flat country relieved here and there by small rock outcrops. The region, surrounding Thoothukudi is liberally dotted with rain fed tanks. Red soils found on the southern side of the Thoothukudi town is composed quartz and variable quantities of fine red dry dust. The port is an all weather one. The bay formed by the Hare Island, Devils point and the main land gives ample protection to the lighters from monsoonal weather. The beach of Thoothukudi is featured with calm breeze and very low waves giving an image of a big river. Thoothukudi is located at . Thoothukudi is located in South India, on the Gulf of Mannar, about south of Chennai and north of Kanyakumari. The hinterlands of the port of the city is connected to the districts of Madurai, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram and Tiruchirapalli. The city mostly has a flat terrain and roughly divided into two by the Buckle channel. Being in coastal region, the soil is mostly clay sandy and the water table varies between below ground level. The city has loose soil with thorny shrubs in the north and salt pans in the south. Thoothukundi experiences a hot semi-arid