Dhalai district
Dhalai district is an administrative district in the state of Tripura in India. The district headquarter is in Ambassa. As of 2011, it was the least populous district of Tripura, despite being the largest.
History
Dhalai District was created in 1995 by bifurcating North Tripura District and including part of Amarpur Sub-Division of the South Tripura District. It was created keeping in view the administrative exigency of providing development and good governance to the largely Tribal and inaccessible areas. The district is named after Dhalai River which originates in the district.Geography
In the North-eastern part of Tripura, the district covers an area of about 2426 km2. It is mainly between two hills: Atharamura Range and Sakhan Range. More than 70% area is hilly and forest covered. The terrain is mostly undulating and hilly with small water streams, rivers and fertile valleys intervening. Major rivers originating from Dhalai are Dhalai, Khowai, Gomati and Manu. Major hills are Atharamura, Longtharai, Kalajhari and part of Sakhan.The district headquarters at Ambassa is about 85 km from the state capital Agartala. The district is bordered by Bangladesh on the northern and southern sides.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is exploring for natural gas reserves in the district in Salema block. The district falls in Seismic Zone 5 of India and is prone to landslides, thunderstorms and lightning strikes in summer and rainy seasons.
Climate
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Dhalai district has a population of 378,230, roughly equal to the nation of Maldives. This gives it a ranking of 564th in India. The district has a population density of. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 22.78%. Dhalai has a sex ratio of 945 females for every 1000 males and a literacy rate of 86.82%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 16.31% and 55.68% of the population respectively.At the time of the 2011 census, 41.57% of the population spoke Kokborok, 35.08% Bengali, 9.07% Chakma, 2.06% Hindi, 1.87% Garo, 1.60% Halam, 1.47% Manipuri, 1.43% Odia, 1.20% Bishnupuriya and 1.07% Mog as their first language.
Parliamentary constituency
Dhalai shares the Lok Sabha constituency of Tripura East. The Member of Parliament of 16th Lok Sabha for this constituency is Rebati Mohan Tripura. The state of Tripura sends a single member for Rajya Sabha, currently Smt. Jharna Das Baidya.Administrative divisions
Governance
Administration
The district has a Zone of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, headed by a Zonal Development Officer. The police department is headed by a Superintendent of Police. Sub-jails are in Kamalpur and Gondatwisa. The Sub-divisions are headed by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate and Collector, who is in charge of revenue, elections, land records, birth and death registration, tribal welfare and law and order. At the R.D. Block, a Block Development Officer is administrative head who implements all the government development schemes in the villages like MGNREGS, Indira Awaas Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan etc. At the village level, the Rural Panchayat Secretary assists Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat in administration.Publicly elected representatives under Panchayati Raj Institution
There are two Municipal Councils at Ambassa and Kamalpur and 137 Gram Panchayats or Village Committees headed by a chairperson. At the Rural Development Block level Block Advisory Committee and Panchayat Samiti headed by a chairperson. Zilla Parishad is the apex institution at the district level headed by a Sabhadhipati.Development initiatives
There are development schemes and programmes implemented in the district. The notable among these are , , National Rural Livelihood Mission, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, , Backward Regions Grant Fund, , Swachh Bharat Abhiyan .Educational institutions
The district administration claims 96.79% literacy, largely attributed to the primary schools built and running in almost every habitation. However, according to Census 2011, the literacy rate was 86.82%: 92.45% for males and 80.83% for females creating gender gap of 11.62%.The primary school system, up to class 8 is mainly supported by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme of the Government of India. It is managed by the State Government and TTAADC.
There are . There are four special schools — Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, at 82 miles in Manu Block, and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya at Gondatwisa, Ganganagar and Hezacharra along with . There are residential schools set up by government and missionary organisations. runs the Radhamohan Memorial Ashram School at Sadhu tilla, Ambassa. St. Arnold's Schools are at Dalapatipara, Gandatwisa and Lalchari, Ambassa. Holy Cross High School is at Kathalcherra, Manu block.
There is one Dhalai District Polytechnic, at Kamalacherra, Ambassa, Industrial Training Institute at Lalchari, Ambassa, at Kamalpur, GandaTwisa and Chailengta.
Healthcare
is being implemented in the district.Dhalai has a District Hospital at Kulai in Ambassa block, sub-divisional hospitals at Kamalpur, Gandacherra and Manu. In addition to them, Primary Health Centers, Community Health Center and Health Sub-centers are in the villages. Multi Purpose health Worker, Auxiliary Nurse and Midwives and Accredited Social Health Activist deliver healthcare services at village level.
Private practitioners of allopathy and homoeopathy are present in the district. Traditional health practitioners called "Uja/Uza" work with locally available medicinal plants and some rituals, but the practise has declined greatly due to availability of modern healthcare.
The district is in humid and forested region and is highly prone to diseases like malaria, diarrhoea and Japanese encephalitis. In summer 2014, there was a large outbreak of malaria across the district.
Security and border management
Having an international boundary with Bangladesh has led to deployment of Border Security Force battalions. The district also has other paramilitary units of Central Reserve Police Force, Assam Rifles and state government's . Armed Forces Act, was operational in the district when insurgency was rampant in the state. However, security units have successfully managed to reduce the insurgency in the region leading to step-by-step reduction in the area under operation of AFSPA, finally being lifted from entire state in May 2015.The 3rd Battalion of TSR is at Kachucherra in Ambassa block. Units of this battalion are given the responsibility of security of railway track, security in Kathalbari-Sikaribari region among other.
Infrastructure
Transport
National Highway 44 runs from Guwahati-Shillong in the northeast to center and then to west towards Agartala. Work had begun but currently stopped for National Highway 44-A connecting Manu to Aizawl, Mizoram.The district has meter gauge rail connectivity on the Lumding-Agartala line with stations at Manu, and Ambassa. There is a non-functional airstrip at Kamalpur.
runs bus service from Ambassa to Agartala, Kamalpur, Gandacherra. Nearly 330 habitations, out of a total of 1037, are not connected by any motorable road, about 95 of them being in the Gandacherra region. There are many individual private operators who run local transport services to block headquarters, villages and to Agartala. Private transport companies also run bus service from Ambassa to Shillong and Guwahati.
Transport in the urban regions of Ambassa and Kamalpur are run by auto-rickshaws and cycle-rickshaws. All the transport services are regulated by transport unions of drivers and owners.
When militancy was rampant in the district and AFSPA was in force, travelling on the highway happened in batches with patrol squad of paramilitary forces on the ends of the motorcade. Although such procedures are stopped now, paramilitary forces exercise foot patrol of important roads.
Electricity
is the provider of grid-connected electricity to the district. Unconnected habitations and border outposts are serviced by by solar photovoltaic systems. There is less load-shedding in towns but long hours of load shedding is done for rural areas. The distribution network often gets disturbed due to storms and trees falling on distribution lines.Drinking water
of the manages the drinking water supply in the district. Schools and Anganwadi Centers have been specifically targeted to improve drinking water supply as well as attendance to these institutions. Most of region suffers from excessive iron content in the groundwater which necessitates installation of iron removal plants. 579 habitations have partial coverage of drinking water supply and 16 habitations have reported drinking water quality problem. A water treatment plant is set up in Kulai near Ambassa.Most of the rural areas get drinking water from deep tube wells, handpumps, ring wells with a few having overhead water tanks. Many villages need drinking water supplied by tanker in the dry season and 59 such distressed pockets have been identified. Private contractors and government run tanker supply services. Many tribal inhabitations use water from open streams and ponds for drinking, cooking, washing utensils and clothes, and bathing. Water-borne disease diarrhoea is common due to mixing of human excreta into drinking water source in many villages.
Packaged drinking water of brands "Twimuk", "Tribeni", "Eco Freshh", "Blue Fina", "Life Drop" and "Aqua Zoom" among others is consumed in government offices, restaurants etc. Filters of many types and brands, in addition to locally manufactured ceramic filters, are sold although their acceptance in rural areas is less. Halogen tablets are distributed by the administration to reduce microbial content in water, which is sometimes consumed as a medicine directly in some areas or its use discontinued due to the smell it imparts to drinking water.