Social,
Environmental & Economic Sustainability
Our analysis of the rank of the district
Backwardness : 60
Disability : 510 (Census 2001)
Minority : Does not figure in MCD
Literacy Ratio : 298 (Census 2001)
Sex Ratio Rank : 299
(Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : C
(HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 - 2006)
Water : Occurrence of High Arsenic in Ground Water
Challenges of the district : Our research with local communities
Dhemaji is very backward as compared to other districts
of Assam.
Lack of clean drinking water is a major issue faced by us
The communication links are not maintained. It is disrupted.
People are very ignorant due to lack of education
Health infrastructure needs lot of improvement.
Brief About Dhemaji District
The entire Dhemaji district area was originally inhabitated
by various indigeneous tribes like Mising, Sonowal Kachari, Bodo
Kachari, Deori and Laloong. In addition to this different tribes
e.g. Ahom, Rabha, Tai - Khamti, Konch, Keot, Koiborta, Brahman,
Kayastha, Kalita etc. were migrated during different moments of
time span.
There are a number of mythological and hypothetical believes
regarding the origin of the name "Dhemaji". One of the
most popular believe is that - there was a river which used to
change its course very frequently and resulted unanticipated flood
covering different parts of the area. Hence the river was believed
to be a kind of evil spirit. The Assamese version of the words
flood and playing are "Dhal" and "Dhemali"
respectively and therefore the area when flood is a perennial
phenomenon may be called as a playground for flood i.e., in Assamese
it became to be "Dhal Dhemali" with the ellapsation
of time the word "Dhal" was omitted and also the word
"Dhemali" started to be pronounced as "Dhemaji".
Initially, the present geographical area of Dhemaji district
was a part of the then Lakhimpur District with its headquarter
at Dibrugarh. In 1971 Dhemaji was declared as a Sub-Division,
Including Jonai and Dhakuakhana (Presently under Lakhimpur District)
14th Aug/1st Oct, 1989 Dhemaji was declared as an independent
district covering Jonai and Dhemaji (Sadar) Sub-Divisions.
Geography
The Dhemaji district came into being on 14th August / 1st October
1989. It comprises of erstwhile Dhemaji and Jonai sub-division
and parts of Machkhowa mouza and Bordoloni. Forted by arch shaped
Arunachal hills on the North and the East, the district emerges
from the foot hills and streches to the Brahmaputra river with
Subansiri one side and the river Siang on the other. Geographically
situated between the 940 12' 18'' E and 950 41' 32'' E longitudes
and 270 05' 27'' N and 270 57' 16'' N latitudes, the district
covers an area of 3237 Sq. Km and is a basically plain area lying
at an altitude of 104 m above the Mean Sea Level.
Physiography of Dhemaji District
The Brahmaputra Valley is of the nature of a “ramp” valley developed
during the simultaneous upheaval of the Himalayas on the North
and North East and the Patkai ranges on the South and South East.
The region is prone to earthquake and shocks of various intensities
are felt from time to time. The great earthquake of 1950 brought
a trail of devastation causing loss to both life and property.
The frequency of earthquakes in Assam is closely related to the
geology of the region.
The geological setting of Arunachal Himalaya and evolution of
Tertiary Himalaya:
Tectonically the Himalayan extension of northeast India is being
divided into Himalayan mountain ranges in the north and the Arakan
Yoma range in the east. The mountain belts merge together at its
eastern extremity through an arcuate bend (syntaxial bend) where
the NE-SW trend of the Himalaya seem to have ridden over the NNE-SSW
trending Arakan Yoma orogen. The northern limit of the Himalaya
is marked by a lineament along the westerly flowing Upper Indus
and easterly flowing Tsangpo (Upper Brahmaputra). This lineament
is known as Indus Suture. The Outer Himalaya, also called as Foredeep
Folded Belt or Siwalik Range, mostly and extensively covers the
western extremity of the range, but appears as a narrow strip
on the Southern Arunachal Pradesh. This Foredeep Folded Belt in
the West of Arakan Yoma Range comprises the low-lying hills of
Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur and comprises of Neogene sediments.
The Indus Suture Zone is highly deformed and is characterized
by the presence of nearly vertical thrust faults. According to
Plate Tectonic theory, the Indus Suture Zone constitutes the subduction
zone along which the Indian Plate collides with the Tibetan Plate
giving rise to the formation of the Himalayan mountains.
About 70 million years ago, there was a sea in the North of Peninsular
India which connected the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal across
the northern parts of the subcontinent. The sea started to recede
towards the west and east during the early Eocene. This trend
of marine regression continued till the final emergence of the
Himalayan Mountains by the end of the Tertiary Period. The rise
of the Himalayas was accomplished in a series of five or more
impulses, intervened by intervals of comparative quiescence. The
collision of the Indian Plate with the Asian Plate retarded the
pace of northerly drift of the Indian Plate. The drift direction
slightly changed. The Indian Plate began its rotational movement,
giving rise to the formation of the syntaxial bend at the northeastern
extremity of the Himalayan Mountains. The Arakan Mountains in
eastern India and their continuation into the Andaman Nicobar
Island were also formed during the Tertiary diastrophism. Six
pulses of diastrophic movement having a widespread impact on the
sedimentation pattern in the Assam Arakan basin have been recognized.
From a tectonic point of view, Assam-Arakan basin is classified
as Foreland basin. The Assam-Arakan basin is located between two
thrust belts. The Tertiary sediments of the Upper Assam belong
to two distinct depositional facies – a relatively shallow water
shelf facies and a deep-water geosynclinal facies. Between the
Himalayas and the Naga-Disang thrust complex occurs an autochthonous
zone, the Foreland Spar containing sediments ranging in age from
Eocene to Pliestocene. These are intersected by a number of gravity
faults. Further east in the Patkai Range Tertiary sedimentation
took place under deeper water conditions punctuated by slight
emergence at some places. The sea receded southwards towards the
end of the Oligocene. Miocene sedimentation took place mostly
under fresh water to brackish conditions. Oligo-Miocene was also
the time when the deposits of Assam-Arakan basin were overthrusted
towards the northwest over the northeastern extension of the Indian
Shield. The outermost of this thrust, the Naga thrust belt consist
of a succession of six thrust sheets (Evans, 1932; Berger et al,
1983). The whole discussion leads to the conclusion that the whole
of northeast India is a tectonically active zone due to presence
of active thrusts, fault planes and very fragile loose sediments,
steep slope angle leading to frequent landslides in the hilly
areas. The courses of rivers are also influenced by these active
tectonic lineaments.
The district is in a strategic location where steep slope of
Eastern Himalayas abruptly drop forming a narrow valley, which
widens towards the western side. Numerous drainage systems originating
from the hills of Arunachal Pradesh flow through this narrow valley
ending at the mighty river Brahmaputra. In general the slope of
the triangular district drops from northern and eastern corners
towards south and western sides. After the confluence the three
mighty rivers i.e. Dihing, Dibang and Lohit from their hilly course
to the valley exert tremendous impact of peak runoff at the eastern
most corner of Dhemaji district, making the district vulnerable
to annual flooding. After the great earthquake in 1950 the Brahmaputra
riverbed is rising continuously due to deposition of sand carried
down from upstream. This has led to the formation of a saucer
shaped low-lying zone in the plains of the district.
Physiographically, the area can broadly be divided into three
district units :
Piedmont zone: The foothill zone near the northern and eastern
parts adjacent to Arunachal Pradesh
Active flood plain: Near the river Bramhaputra and other major
tributaries.
Low-lying alluvial belt: Covering the middle plain zone i.e.
the saucer shaped built up zone. Innumerable beels and swampy
areas are common features.
Soil
The general and average soil character of cultivable land in these
districts is mainly alluvial and composed of mixture of sand (coarse
to fine) and clay in varying proportions. The general geochemical
characteristics of the soil is highly acidic. However, new alluvial
soils formed due to inundation of land by river at intervals contain
more percentages of fine sand fine silt and are less acidic. Such
soils are often neutral and even alkaline. Large expanse of low-lying
land characterized by heavy clayish soil with a high percentage
of nitrogen is good for rice cultivation. Abundant rainfall and
excessive humidity through out the year also greatly favor cultivation
of rice in the district .The soil around the Subansiri and Ranganadi
rivers are sandy coated with silt which is good for cultivation
of winter crops, such as raga, and mustard, potato etc.
The soils of this district can be broadly classified into three
different zones viz. The foothill soils, active flood plain soils
near the river Bramhaputra and the low-lying marshy lands. A more
detailed description is given below:
Demography
Dhemaji district shelters a population of 571944 as per 2001 census,
which includes 294643 males and 277301 females, sex ratio being
936 females per thousand males. The average density is 176 per
Sq. Km. The Schedule tribe and schedule caste population of the
district works out to be 47.24% and 5.33% respectively of the
total population.
The urban population is only 1.85%, which indicates the predominantly
rural character of the district. The literacy rate is 41.69% while
the female literacy rate is 13.6%. The rate of growth of population
in the district between 1971 and 1991 was 104.48%, which incidentally,
is the highest, recorded in the state. The annual rate of growth
of population worked out to be 5.22% compared to the overall state
growth of 2.62%.
In general there is a huge chunk of Other Backward Classes (OBC)
population comprising of Ahoms, Chutiyas, Konches etc. The Schedule
tribes include Mishings, Sonowal Kacharis Bodos, Deoris, Lalungs,
Hazongs, Ex-tea garden community makes up only a negligible part
of the total population. The principal languages of the region
are Assamese, Mishing, Bodo and Bengali. The principal religion
is Hinduism. However, Christianity and Islam are also practiced
to a limited extent. there is almost no record of Communal violence.
Land Utilisation
Dhemaji and Lakhimpur district have extensive plain areas, suitable
for cultivation but due to improper land use planning and unplanned
constructions a huge chunk of land becomes water logged due to
rain water as well as excessive flood water. Some of these areas
dry out during winter while some remain as ditches, cesspools
or waterlogged ‘beel’ areas. Both these districts have a good
number of ‘beels’ and marshes covered with thick and dense population
of weeds, water hyacinth, water lily etc. ranging in height from
ten to twenty feet. In addition, some areas are sand casted by
flash floods caused by embankment breaches.
