India 2018

636 India 2018
In the 12th and 13th centuries, gradual contacts with the Ahoms of present
day Assam was established but this did not have any significant impact on the
traditional Naga way of life. However, in the 19th century the British appeared
on the scene and ultimately the area was brought under British administration.
After Independence this territory was made a centrally administered area in
1957, administered by the Governor of Assam. It was known as the Naga Hills
Tuensang Area. This failed to quell popular aspirations and polilical unrest
began. Hence, in 1961, the area was renamed as Nagaland and given the status
of state of the Indian Union, which was formally inaugurated in December
1963.
Agriculture
Nagaland is basically a land of agriculture with about 70 per cent of the
population depending on agriculture. The contribution of this sector is very
significant. Rice is the staple food. It occupies about 70 per cent of the total
area under cultivation and constitutes about 75 per cent of the total food
production in the state. The major land use pattern is slash and burn cultivation
locally known as jhum. Total cultivable area is 7,21,924 hectares.
Forest
Out of the total land area of 16,579 sq.km, forest area occupies approximately
8,62,9.30 sq.km. There are Rangapahar wildlife sanctuaries in Dimapur district,
Fakim wildlife sanctuaries in Tuensang district and Singphan wildlife
sanctuaries in Mon district, Intanki National Park in Peren district and
Zoological Park in Dimapur district.
Power
The state has an installed generation capacity of 27.84 MW only from small
hydro electric power projects against the requirement of 95 MW. The main
source of power is from the Central Sector Power allocation.
Irrigation
The state has so far been constructing minor irrigations to divert small hill
streams to the valleys and terraced field for rice cultivation covering an area of
82,150 hectares.
Transport
The state is connected to the rest of the country with airport and railway stations
at Dimapur and National Highway-39 which passes through the state from
Dimapur via Kohima to Manipur. This NH-39 is soon to be an international
route under the Look East Policy of the central government. The rest of the
state is connected only with roads covering about 24,709 km, this includes the
NH-61 and state highways. The state is also inter-connected with postal services
in all district headquarters, telephone line and mobile services.