Ravangla
Rabong or Ravangla is a small town with an elevation of 8000 feet located, near Namchi City in the Namchi district of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is connected by state highway to other major towns in the state and lies between Namchi, Pelling and Gangtok. It is the starting point for the trek to Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary. It is approximately 65 km from the state capital, Gangtok, and 120 km from Siliguri, West Bengal. The name is derived from the Sikkimese language. ‘Ra’ means wild sheep, 'vong' translates to a rearing place, and ‘la’ means a pass.
Geography
Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Pandim, Mt. Siniolchu, Mt. Kabru are some of the major peaks visible from Ravangla.Flora
Upper parts of Ravangla sometimes experience snowfall during winter. During the months of April–May, the area is surrounded by many flowers including orchids and rhododendrons.Fauna
Ravangla attracts many Himalayan birds. Verditer flycatchers, blue-fronted redstarts, grey bush chats, dark-throated thrush, blue whistling-thrush, green-backed tits, and white-browed fantails are common.The forests around Ravangla have other birds like laughing thrushes, babblers, cuckoos, and hill partridges. The rare satyr tragopan can also be spotted in Ravangla.Administrative History
Currently, Sikkim has six administrative districts set up to strengthen governance and administration. However, before 1963, the state of Sikkim was divided into two administrative zone, before the merger with India, which was known as East Zone and West Zone. Each of these two zones was under the control of Revenue Officer appointed by the Chogyal of Sikkim. Justice in the zones was in the hands of the tribal authorities, for example, Zonepal at the district Zone level, Yaplas Feudal Landlord, Pipon, and Mandal Head etc. The Yaplas used to collet land revenue and deposit it in the state Khazana, most of the revenues was collected in the form harvest goods like grains, agriculture and so on.District, as a concept, was applied for the first time in Sikkim in the year of 1963. Hence, the East and West zone was bifurcated into North District, East District, West District and South District. The South District, in which Ravangla is a subdivision, came into being only in April 1963 and Mr. R.B. Mukhia was appointed as first District Officer of the South District. Sikkim merged with India on May 15, 1975, through referendum, the 36th Amendment Act officially recognized Sikkim as the 22nd state of the India Union. After the merger District Collector was designated as District Magistrate and was given powers conferred with powers mentioned in criminal procedures of 1898. The first Collector and District Magistrate of the South District was Mr. Mingma Tshering.
Recent changes in the administrative setup: The Sikkim Act, 2021, enforced from 21st December 2021, added two new districts- Soreng and Pakyong, by carving out West and East districts, to further strengthen the governance and administration. This step was addressed due to the growing population over the years which made the previous administrative set up challenging to deliver smooth functioning of the administration, specifically the public services sectors such as emergency response, disaster management, law and order, doorstep governance and the like.