Churachandpur district General information
.The Statehood in 1972 saw Manipur divided into five districts, simply called CENTRAL, WEST, EAST, NORTH and SOUTH Districts. The Central District comprised of the whole of the Imphal Valley and Jiribam Sub-Division, which in the 1980s was further divided into the three valley districts of Imphal , Bishenupur and Thoubal.The East, West, North and South Districts later became the hill districts of Ukhrul, Tamenglong, Senapati and Churachandpur, respectively. A fifth hill district, Chandel, was carved out from the erstwhile East and South Districts. These five are home to twenty-nine (29) recognised Scheduled Tribes of Manipur.Among the hill districts, the fastest growing district headquaters and hill-town is that of Churachandpur. It is truly an island of peace, tranquility, prosperity and progress. Here all the communities of Manipur, nay the whole of India, live happily in small but noticeable sizes amongst the more populous tribal folk belonging to Chin, Kuki, Mizo, Naga and Zomi ethnic groups - a mosaic of tribes, well laid out and glowing with life.
Geography
Churachandpur District, in the southwestern corner of Manipur, has an area of 4570 sq.km. Its location is 23055' to 24030' North and 92059' to 93050' East. It is a hilly district with a very small percentage of the area being plain. As per the 1994-95 satellite imagery, the total built up area is 6,726 Ha. ( Urban - 585 Ha. and Rural - 6,141 Ha.) and the cropland area is 9,928 Ha. A large portion of the area is either under current jhum or abandoned jhum: 29,323 Ha and 190,447 Ha. respectively. There is no primary forest in the district and the secondary forest including mixed bamboo forest, covers an area of 118,092 Ha. The area under wasteland is 98,424 Ha. and the total area of the water bodies is 2,144 Ha.(2,072 Ha. of river/streams and 72 lakes/tanks/ponds). The road network covers an area of 3581 Ha located in and around the district headquarter. The maximum temperature is 370C while the minimum is 10C. The highest rainfall is 3080 mm (Tinsong) and the lowest is 597 mm (Geljang). The maximum humidity is 100% and the minimum 61%. The beauty of the landscape is supplemented by the climate which is temperate and salubrious. The winter extending from November to February is cold, particularly in the hills but days are bright and sunny. The monsoon months stretch from May-June to September with heavy showers almost throughout the period. The spring and summer months are mildly pleasant despite high humidity. However, the low temperatures ( ranging from 300-350C) prevents sultriness that is so common in eastern India. The climate imparts the people with considerable stamina and hardiness through the lack of rains during non- monsoon months and the consequent decline in water flow in the major rivers during that period makes the state a mono-crop economy.
Demography
According to the provisional data of 2001 census, the total population of the district is 2,23,866. The literacy rate in the district is quite high, the percentage being 64.38 ( 72.6% in male and 56.4% in female). Unlike most parts of the state and the country, the sex ratio is in favour of the female gender: 1034 per 1000 male. With the improvement of the reach of medical facilities, the birth rate, death rate and the infant mortality rate have gone down.
Economy
The district is inhabited by several tribes, mainly belonging to the Kuki-Chin-Mizo group. Each tribe has a distinct social order as well as community laws .The system of hereditary chiefship as well as community ownership of village land is prevalent in the district. In case of hereditary chiefship the chief is all-powerful as he controls not only the economy of the village through his ownership of the land but exercises social control over the households in the village. An overwhelming majority of the tribal population has converted to Christianity . Christianity has not materially changed the social order but was the critical faith in bringing to an end the head-hunting wars and savagery that characterized early tribal societies. Education rapidly spread through English medium schools. In the last hundred years the society has undergone radical change from the past.
All tribal societies are patriarchal, but the women are not discriminated against. They play a significant role in agriculture and animal husbandry, besides being actively involved in weaving.
Division
The district is divided into 5 Revenue Sub-divisions, namely Churachandpur, Singngat, Thanlon, Parbung(Tipaimukh) and Henglep. There are 6 Tribal Development Blocks. The Revenue sub-Divisions are contiguous with the Tribal Development Blocks except for Churachandpur Sub-Division where there are two Blocks namely Churachandpur and Samulamlan. The Sub-Divisional Officer also functions as the Block Development Officer.