About District

Short History :

Dhalai District was created in the year of 1995 by bifurcating North Tripura District and including part of Amarpur Sub-Division of the South Tripura District. It was created keeping in view the administrative exigency of providing development & good governance to the largely Tribal & inaccessible areas. The District is named after Dhalai river which originates in the District.

Geography :

Located in the North-eastern part of Tripura, the District covers an area of about 2312.29 sq km. It is mainly located between two hills namely ‘Atharamura range’ & ‘Sakhan Range’. More than 70% area is hilly and forest covered. The terrain is mostly undulating & hilly with small water streams (chharas) , rivers and fertile valleys intervening. Major rivers originating from Dhalai are Dhalai, Khowai, Gomati & Manu. Major hills are Atharamura, Longtharai, Kalajhari & part of Sakhan. The District headquarter at Ambassa is located at a distance of about 85 km from the State capital Agartala. It is connected through National Highway (NH-44) and takes around 2(two) – 3(three) hours to reach the District headquarter from Agartala. Meter Gauge Railway link has already been established at Ambassa. The District is surrounded by Bangladesh on the Northern & Southern sides.

Economy :

Socio-economically it is most backward District of the state. In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Dhalai one of the country’s 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is the only District of Tripura which receives grants from the Union Government under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF). Aan overwhelming 76% of the workers are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Practice of Jhum cultivation (shifting cultivation) still continues in many parts of the District by the tribals residing in the deeply forested hills. The fertile Valleys are mostly occupied by the non-tribals, mostly Bengalis and are the primary centers of economic activity in the District. 25% of the households in the District are classified as Below Poverty Line (BPL).

Strengths:

The Strengths of the District are its huge natural resources, fertile land, conducive climate, adequate and well spread rainfall, high literacy rate & strategic location of the District being well connected by the National Highway (NH 44). If all these resources are utilized properly, rapid development can be achieved but for lack of required infrastructure and inaccessibility of many tribal areas the District is still very backward.

Administrative Divisions :

The district is divided as follows :