| Voice of West Garo Hills
District : Dipankar Duttachaudhary
Less awareness among the parents to educate their children
High drop out rate in primary education.
Prevalence of child labour.
Presence of social evils like practice of witchcraft etc.
Gender inequality.
West Garo Hills District
Area, Population & Sex Ratio
Geographical Area : 3715.0 Km2
Population in West Garo Hills (Census 2011)
Total Population
Total : 642,923
Male : 324,900
Female : 318,023
Under 6 population
Total : 112115
Male : 56637
Female : 55478
Disabled population
Total disabled population : 6970
In seeing : 2745
In speech : 1215
In hearing : 907
In movement : 1192
Mental : 911
Rank ( VoiceOfBharat.org Analysis
)
Backwardness : Does not figure in list of 447 backward
districts
Sex Ratio Rank : 411
(Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : C
(HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 - 2006)
Disability : 527 (Census 2001)
Literacy Ratio : 499 (Census 2001)
Minority : Yes
Brief About West Garo Hills District
West Garohills History
The early history of the Garos is shrouded in mystery.
The forefatheras of the Garos allied to Koches, Chutiyas, Kacharis
and Meches came from the north-west. Another tradition ascribing
some support to this theory, maintains that the Garos are descended
from their forefathers in Asong Tibetgori. The Garos in the Kamrup
plain, recount a tradition that their forefathers came eastward
from the Himalayas and reached Gondulghat where they made a brief
halt, and on leaving that place, traversed to Sadiya, from where
they trekked on into the north bank of Brahmaputra. After a long
westward trail, they reached Amingaon. There in the north bank their
life was not secure, they crossed the Bahmaputra river and came
to occupy Kamakhya. They occupied it for some generations until
the Koches came to invade the Garo Kingdom. From Gauhati, wave after
wave of westward migration poured to the Garo outer hills, and later
on penetrated the interior hills of their present abode. Probably
who those crossed the hills and advanced further south to Mymensing
in Bangladesh were the earliest immigrants whereas those who came
later on, now confined into their present settlement at Goalpara
and Kamrup, belonged to the later immigrants.
If critically examined, the ancient history of
Garos would seem to have been a period marked by persistent and
tenacious internal warfare and many blood-feuds seem to seem to
have occurred between families or villages and between neighbouring
Chiefs or Nokmas.
Mediaeval Period
With the passage of time in the medieval period,
while the Garos in the hills were still divided into a number of
petty Nokmaships, the plain tracts along the fringes at the foot
of the hills came to be included in the many Zamindari Estates,
which eventually developed into fewer but larger complexes. During
the mediaeval era and the Mughal period, the more important estates
bordering the Garo Hills were Karaibari, Kalimalupara, Mechpara
and Habraghat in Rongpur district, Susang and Sherput in Mymensing
district of Bengal and Bijini in the Eastern Duars.Early records
describe the Garos as being in a state of intermittent conflict
with Zamindars of these large estates.
Modern Period
The contact between the British and the Garos started
towards the close of the 18th Century after the British
East India Company had secured the Diwani of Bengal from the Mughal
Emperor. Consequently, all the estates bordering upon Garo Hills,
which for all practical purposes had been semi-independent were
brought under the control of the British.
Though political control had passed from the Mughals
to the British, the latter, like Mughals, had no desire to control
the Estates or their tributaries directly. The Zamindars were not
disturbed in the internal management of their estates. In fact,
they were entrusted, as they had been by the Mughals, with the responsibility
of keeping the hill Garos in check with help of their retainers.
Thus in the beginning, the intermittent conflict between the Zamindars
and the Garos went on unabated until the situation deteriorated
to the extent that the British were forced to take notice. This
development led ultimately to the annexation of the Garo Hills in
1873. Captain Williamson was the first Deputy Commissioner of the
unified district. The district was bifurcated into two districts
viz. East Garo Hills and West Garo Hills districts in October 1979.
District Profile of West Garo Hills
West Garo Hills is one of the largest district
of Meghalaya located in the western part of the State. The Garo
Hills district was divided into two districts, viz. the West Garo
Hills district and the East Garo Hills district in October 1976.
The erstwhile West Garo Hills district was further divided into
two administrative districts of West and South Garo Hills on June
1992. The district headquarters of West Garo Hills is Tura, which
is the second largest town in the State after Shillong.
Area Profile
The West Garo Hills district lies on the western
part of the state of Meghalaya bounded by the East Garo Hills district
on the east, the South Garo Hills on the south-east, the Goalpara
district of Assam on the north and north-west and Bangladesh on
the south.
The district is situated approximately between the
latitudes 90° 30' and 89° 40' E, and the longitudes of 26°
and 25° 20' N.
The population is pre-dominantly inhabited
by the Garos, a tribe with a matrilineal society belonging to the
Bodo family of the Tibeto-Burman race tribes. Other indigenous inhabitants
are the Hajongs, Rabhas, Koches, Rajbansis, Meches, Kacharis and
Dalus. The district is also inhabited by Bengalis, Assamese, Nepalese,
Marwaries, Biharis and people from other parts of India.
Topography
The West Garo Hills district is mostly hilly
with plains fringing the northern, western and the south-western
borders. There are three important mountain ranges in the districts
of Garo Hills.
Tura Range:
This is one of the most important mountain ranges
in the West Garo Hills. The Tura range is about 50 kms. long and
extends in the east-west direction from Tura to Siju in the South
Garo Hills district. The mountain peaks that are located in this
range are Tura Peak, Nokrek Peak, Meminram Peak, Nengminjok Peak,
Chitmang Peak The highest peak of this range is the Nokrek (1412
m.) lying 13 kms. south-east of Tura. To the west of the Tura range
low hill ranges run from north to south, and to the north of the
Tura range hill ranges run parallel to it, gradually increasing
in height till they meet in the south.
Now the entire Tura range comes under the management
of Nokrek National Park. These high ranges are strictly protected
as Catchment areas right from the time of British Administration
in Garo Hills. There is no human habitation in the heart of these
ranges which has now became an ideal home to various flora and fauna.
Arbella Range:
Arbella Peak is 999 metres high. It lies on the
northern side of Asananggre village on the Tura Guwahati road. Most
of the peaks in this mountain range fall in the East Garo Hills
district.
Ranggira Range:
This mountain range lies on the western fringe
of the district and ends in Hallidayganj village. The height of
this peak is 673 metres.
River Systems:
The Tura range form watersheds in the West Garo
Hills district, from which the rivers flows towards Bangladesh plains
in the south and the Brahmaputra valley in the north and the west.
The important rivers of the north group are the Kalu, Ringgi
and the Didak. The important rivers of the southern group are the
Bhogai, Dareng etc. The Tura range is also the source of the Simsang
(Someswari), one of the major rivers of Meghalaya, whose valley
is of the most important feature in the South Garo Hills.
Someswari: This is the largest and the second longest
river in the whole district. The river is locally known as Simsang.
It starts from Nokrek mountains and runs towards the east, passing
through Rongrenggre, Williamnagar the headquarters of East Garo
Hills district, Nongalbibra, Siju, Rewak and lastly Baghmara the
headquarters of South Garo Hills district. The upper course of this
river is not navigable due to the high number of cataracts and numerous
huge stones. However the lower course has many deep pools and falls.
They are Mirik, Matma, Kan’chru Suk, Jamiseng, Warisik, Bobra, Goka
etc. The chief tributaries are Chibok, Rongdik, Rompa and Ringdi
rivers.
River Simsang or Someswari
Jinjiram: It starts from Derek village and its
main tributary starts from Upot Lake. It runs towards the east connecting
with Gagua river, then runs through the border of Goalpara towards
Phulbari and reaches Hallidayganj where it enters the Goalpara district.
It is the longest river in the Garo Hills districts.
Kalu: Locally this river is called Ganol. Its sources
start from Tura peak and runs towards the west through Damalgre,
Garobadha and Rangapani before it enters Goalpara district. Its
chief tributaries are Dilni and Rongram rivers.
Didak: It stars from Anogre village and runs through
Garo Hills district before it enters into Goalpara district.
Bogai: Locally known as Bugi. Its source starts
from the southern side of Nokrek mountains and runs through Dalu
village and enters into Mymensingh district in Bangladesh.
Rongai: Starts from Arabela peak and runs through
Ringgegre village and then falls into Jinjiram river. Locally known
as Ringge river.
Dareng or Nitai: The source is on the southern
side of Nokrek mountain. It runs southwards through Silkigre and
enters into Bangladesh. It has many famous deep pools like Warima,
Rong’ang, Bamon etc. where Bamon is the deepest. The chief tributaries
are Kakija, Daji and Rompa.
Climate
The climate of the district is largely controlled
by South–West monsoon and seasonal winds. The West Garo Hills district
being relatively lower in altitude to the rest of Meghalaya, experiences
a fairly high temperature for most part of the year. The average
rainfall is 330 cms. of which more than two-thirds occur during
the monsoon, winter being practically dry. The district have mostly
dense tropical mixed forest, and a small patch of temperate forest
in the higher parts of the Tura range.
Communication
Tura, the headquarters of the district, is well
connected by road with other places in the district as well as with
the rest of the Meghalaya and Assam. Buses by Meghalaya Transport
Corporation and other private transport services run regularly connecting
Tura with all important places in the districts of Garo Hills and
also to Shillong (323 kms), the capital of the State. Regular day
and night bus services are also available from Tura to Guwahati
(220 kms), the capital of Assam, which is also the nearest railhead.
There are also regular bus services connecting Tura to Siliguri,
a city in North Bengal. Also the place is connected to Dhubri in
Assam by road and river transport.
Helicopter services are available from Tura to
Shillong and Guwahati.
The National Highway 51 connects Paikan on National
Highway 37 in Assam with Tura, the district headquarter which extends
further to Dalu, near the Bangladesh border.
There are City Bus services in and around Tura
for the convenience of office goers and others. Taxi & Auto
services are also available.
Infrastructure
There are 7 degree colleges in the district. There
is also a Law College and a College of Teacher's Education (B.Ed
College) at Tura. There are 8 higher secondary schools, around 110
secondary schools, and upper primary and primary schools
in almost all the villages. There also exists a Public School and
Kendriya Vidyalaya at Tura. Other than that there are vocational
institutes at Tura like Regional Vocational Training Institute (RVTI)
and ITI. Monfort Centre for Education is also providing education
to the physically handicapped persons, which also provides training
to the teachers to properly equip them to educate the physically
handicapped students. At Tura, there is a campus of North
Eastern Hill University. Recently a Home Science College has been
set up in the District.
The district has 7 Hospitals, 14 Primary Health
Centres (5 underway), 4 State Dispensaries, 5 Community Health Centres,
82 Health Sub Centres and a Nursing School.
Doordarshan Kendra and All India Radio, Tura transmits
programmes covering local issues, featuring local people, in the
local language.
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