SERCHHIP DISTRICT

Serchhip District is one of the eight districts of Mizoram state in India. The district occupies an area of 1421.60 km². Serchhip town is the administrative headquarters of the district. This district came into existence on 15 September 1998, being carved out of the larger Aizawl District. Because of the way it was created it includes part of East Lungdar Tehsil and part of Thingsulthliah Tehsil.

. Serchhip is the smallest district in the state. The Tropic of Cancer passed through the District and is located in the central of the state of Mizoram.

As of 2011 census, it has the highest literacy rate in India, and is the second least populous district of Mizoram (out of 8), after Siaha.

District Overview

Name of District: Serchhip

Name of District Headquarter: Serchhip

Total Geographical Area: 1421 sq.km

No. of Sub-Divisions: 3

No. of RD Blocks: 2

No. of Census Village 2011: 40

No. of Notified Towns 2011: 3

Major Languages: Mizo & English

DISTRICT AT A GLANCE

Area: 1421 Sq. Kms

Population: 64,937

Literacy Rate: 97.91%

Block: 2

Villages: 40

Village Council: 49

Police Station: 3

Language: 2

PUBLIC UTILITIES

4  NGOs

12 Banks

4 Postal

53 Schools

3 Police Stations

1 Colleges/Universities

2 Hospitals

Health Centre & Clinic - 34

Electoral Overview:

Assembly Constiuency: 3 - 26th Serchhip, 27th Tuikum and 28thHrangturzo

Polling Stations: 77

23 in Serchhip AC, 29 in Tuikum AC and 25 in Hrangturzo AC.

According to draft electoral list published on July 31, 2018, Serchhip district has three constituencies namely; 26th Serchhip, 27th Tuikum and 28th Hrangurzo assembly constituency. There are 77 polling stations; 23 polling stations in Serchhip assembly constituency, 29 polling stations in Tuikum assembly constituency, and 25 polling stations in Hrangturzo assembly constituency.

There are 48,954 voters in Serchhip district, of 24,837 are female voters. Buhkangkawn polling station has the least voters with 81 voters and Thenzawl IV station has higher voters with 1,306 voters.

Electors Population Ratio is 601 and sex ratio is 1042. But, according to census 2011, sex ratio is 982.

Description of the District

North – South = 41 km

East – West = 40 km

Serchhip is adjoined by Champhai District in the East, Aizawl in the North and North West and Lunglei District in the South.

The District is divided into 3 (three) Sub-Divisions viz. Serchhip Sadar, North Vanlaiphai and Thenzawl. There are 2 (two) Rural Development Blocks such as Serchhip and East Lungdar RD Blocks. Altogether there are 42 Villages within the District.

General Characteristics of the District: Serchhip District is occupying the central part of the state with its headquarters at Serchhip Town. The district has been carved out of old Aizawl District vide Government of Mizoram Notification No. A.60011/2/95-GAD dt 29.7.1998. The District with an area of 1,421 sq.km is the 8th among all eight districts in Mizoram.

Location & Geographical Area: Serchhip District is located between 23∘35’N and 23∘ N latitude and between 92∘41 ‘E and 93∘10’ E longitude. The district is located right in the central part of the State. The district is bounded on the north and northwest by Aizawl District, on the west and south by Lunglei district, on the southeast by Myanmar (Burma), and on the east by Champhai District. The district has an average altitude of approximately 1044 mtrs from MSL. Serchhip, the district headquarter has an altitude of 1281 mtrs from MSL. The extension of the district is as follows:

Soil: The Major soil types found in this area is red 7 laterite soil, alluvial soil and hill or brown soil. The topography of the land is mainly moderate slope.

Rivers: There are five major rivers that flow across the district, namely (i) Tuikum (ii) Mat (iii) Tuichang (iv) Tlawng (v) Lau. All these rivers flow from south to the northernly direction. There is no natural pond or lake in the district.

Forest: The total forest cover of the district is 91,235 hectare out of which 408 hectare are dense forest and 794 hectares are open forest. Total forest cover of the district is about 64.17% of the Geographical area.

Administrative Status: Since 15th of September 1998 the district administration started functioning with Serchhip as its headquarters. Serchhip district is the only district in Mizoram which was elevated directly from RD Block status to full fledged district. Other newly created districts of Mamit, Kolasib, Champhai and Lawngtlai were functioning as independent administrative sub-divisions. The Deputy Commissioner, as in case of other districts, heads the team of district level officers like Superintendent of Police etc, who is assisted by various other officers.

Socio Economic Profile – The main occupation of the people of the District dominated by the primary sector is largely agriculture and allied activities.

In the largest town, Serchhip, nearly half of the total workforce is engaged in primary activities. The sectoral distribution of output also reflects the economic condition of these towns. Among the primary activities in small towns, the highest productivity is observed in market oriented cropping (market based gardening), succeeded by market-oriented animal husbandry.

Public establishments and private enterprises act as the principal mechanism of production, because the tertiary sector contributes more than two-thirds of the total output in these towns. Public establishments play a very important role in creating livelihood opportunities. Within the urban economy, the government servants and businessmen often practice crops production in neighbouring areas of the town, in free time to supplement incomes or for getting food items from farms for the household. Many government servants and businessmen own agriculture land. Occupations like animal husbandry, subsistence cropping and animal rearing, foraging, carpentry etc are the major second occupations in these towns. Small scale piggery (only one or two pigs) and poultry farming (only 10-20 fowls) are very popular in the small towns. The complexity of the urban economic structure influences the rural economy. Though the town and the villages are separate places, they appear merged in their ceaseless interactions—the distance and accessibility a barrier, and the human endeavour is to overcome it.