Papum Pare

The Papum Pare District the capital district of Arunachal Pradesh is situated in the North–Eastern part of India. It is located in between latitude 26 55’N and 28 40’ and longitude between 92 40’ and 94 21’. The district headquarter is located at Yupia, which is situated about 20 kms from Itanagar.

It is a land of lush green forests, deep river valleys and beautiful plateau. The land is mostly mountainous with Himalayan ranges. Trees of great size, plentiful of climbers, hundreds of variety of orchids, cane and bamboos are found in the district.

The district occupies an area of approximately 2875 sq km inhabited by a population of 121750. There are 274 villages and 2 towns in the district. Itanagar, the capital of the state is situated in this district.

The district is divided into two administrative subdivisions – Sagalee Sub-Division and Itanagar Capital Complex Sub-division. There are nine administrative circles- Sagalee, Mengio, Toru, Laiporiang, Kimin, Balijan, Doimukh, Itanagar and Naharlagun.

Kurung Kumey District bound Papum Pare district in the north, Lower Subansiri District in the East, East Kameng District in the west and Assam in the south.

It is the abode of the energetic Nishis who are known in history for their velour. The Mikir, migrants from Assam, also form a part of the local population. The Nishis belong to the Indo-Mongoloid group of people and their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family.

The ‘NYOKUM’ the festival of the Nishi is celebrated during the first week of the month of February.
Itafort- A 13th century ruins of a brick fort, Ganga Lake (Gekar Sinyi), Jawaharlal Nehru State Museum, Zoological Park (Chimpu) and Buddhist Gompa and Theravada Buddhist Temple Arunachal University, Rono Hills are place of interest at Itanagar.

Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, is about 300 kms from Guwahati and connected by Pawan Hans helicopter service and luxury bus services.

TOURISM
Papum Pare district has many places of interest for tourists. This includes Itanagar, Doimukh, Segalee, Kimin. The tourists have to collect Inner Line Permits from designated offices in various places.

Itanagar, situated at the foothills, is the capital of Arunachal Pradesh . The Itanagar township is situated at 350 metres above mean sea level. As a capital town, Itanagar is well connected with the rest of the country by road and air communications. Pawan Hans provides helicopter service between Guwahati and Naharlagun(Itanagar). Deluxe buses are available from Guwahati.

Itanagar has been identified with Mayapur, the capital of the 11th century AD JItri dynasty. At Itanagar, one can find historical fort called Itafort, dating back to the 14-15 centuries, after which it is named. The capital houses the Rajbhawan , the official residence of the Governor has also many worth visiting places in and around Itanagar.

These include legendary Ganga Lake (Gyakar Sinyi). It is a beautiful picnic spot, 6 kms away from Itanagar, a green forest lake surrounded by primeval vegetation, orchids masses on tall trees, tree ferns provides a small taste of the magnificent forests of the state.

Consecrated by the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist temple, a beautiful yellow roofed shrine reflects the extensive Tibetan influence and provides good views of Itanagar and the surrounding countryside.

Jawaharlal Nehru State Museum provides a kaleidoscope of Arunachal Pradesh and one can see wood carvings, musical instruments, textiles, handicrafts and archeological finds, while a workshop in the Handicrafts Centre specializes in traditional cane manufacture. It has a library section also.

Other important places of interest around Itanagar is Donyi-Polo Vidya Bhawan a Premier Publics School, North-Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology(Nirjuli) - a engineering insitute providing innovative way of education, Arunachal University (Doimukh) and Government Piggery and Poultry Farm (Nirjuli), Indira Gandhi Park(Itanagar).

Physical Aspects
The entire Papum Pare district is mountainous forming a part of the Eastern Himalayas. The area comprises of a cross–section of the foothill region adjoining the border of Assam, the lower hills and the lofty mountain extending northwards. The natural vegetation comprises mainly tropical semi-evergreen and sub-tropical evergreen forests. At lower altitudes the vegetation consists of tall trees, shrubs, bamboo, wild banana, cane and various kinds of creepers, and at higher altitudes it is mostly composed of ferns and rhododendrons.

Topography
The physical features of the district can be divided into two parts –
Foothill Region and Hilly Region.

A) Foothill Region: Strips of level area along the foothills adjoining the northern border of Sonitpur and Lakhimpur districts of Assam form the plain belt of the district. In this area the plain ends and hills begin. The foothill region is covered with dense tropical evergreen forest and receives heavy rainfall during the monsoon. This area forms the agricultural land of the district. Kimin, Balijan, Doimukh and Naharlogun are situated in this area.

B) Hilly Region: The mountainous area of the district forms the hilly region, which is covered with thick and dense forests. The area has very limited agricultural land and most area except the river valleys. However jhum cultivation is practiced on the gentle slopes in this area.
River System

The Pare, Panior and Dikrong are the main rivers of the district
A) Panior: The Panior river rises from a high mountain called Khoren Putu lying to the northwest of Sagalee.
A tributary called Pareing also feeds the river formed by two streams – Nirpung and Nirke. The Panior known in the plains of Assam as Ranga-Nadi falls into Brahmaputra. The Ranga-Nadi Hydro Electric project is built on this river.

B) Pare: The river Pare originates from the Senkeng Gekah range lying about 40 km away from Sagalee. It flows to the east for about 50 km before it meets the Nirochi and Pachin rivers. The main tributaries of the Pare river are Pang and Namte coming down from the nearby hillock.

C) Dikrong: Dikrong drains the southern part of the district. The Par, Nirochi and Pachin rivers form it. It flows from the west to the southeast, and passing through Itanagar region and merges with Brahmaputra in the Lakhimpur district of Assam.

The major rock formation in the district can be grouped into tertiary, gondwana, unfossiliferrous sedimentary and metamorphites. The hilly region comprises shales, sandstones, phyllites, quartzite and others. The valleys and low lands have dominantly colluvial and alluvial mixed materials.

Flora
The altitude variation ranging from 170 meters to 800 meters and varied climatic conditions have bestowed the area with three different types of forests:

1. Tropical evergreen forest
2. Tropical mixed evergreen forest
3. Secondary forest

Tropical Evergreen Forest
The dominant trees forming the upper canopy of primary forest are
Terminaliya myriocarapa, dalbergia assamica, altangia excelsa, castonopsis griffithii, quercus lanceolata, q lapacea, alangium Chinese and diospyros taposa.

The middle layer is represented by Talauma hodgsonii, calicarpa arborea, and cronron joufra.

The third layer comprising small trees and shrubs include Grewia multiflora, rubus insignia, trevasia palmate, boehmeria glomerulifera, livistona etc. The ground layer consists of herbs chiefly Blumea balsamifera, Chloranthus, officinalis, floscopa scandens, calamus teptopaddix, angiopteris evecta etc. Lofty trees are loaded with epiphytic orchids like Liparis longipes, Dendrobium, D Cathcartii and Eria paniculate etc.

Tropical Mixed Evergreen Forests
It extends from the foothills unto the height of 600 meters comprising mainly Stereosperum, Suaveolens, bombax ceiba, Schima wallichi etc.

Secondary Forest
The important plants of this area include Dendrocalamus bamiltonii intermixed with Musa sp forming secondary forests and it extends unto 500 meters. Besides, Buddleia Asiatic a, ptris enciformis cyathea spinulosa, Osbekia nutans, Scoparia dulcis, Urena lobata etc. are common component of this forests.

Fauna
The various wild animals found in the district are elephants (elephas maximus linnacus), samber (cervus unicolor Kerr), Barking deer (munticus muntjak Zimmerman), and wild boars (sus scrofa linnaeus).
The common primates found in the southern region are the macaque (macaca assamenis MoClelland) and Capped langur (Presbytis pileatus Indian Travel Agent offers Visit India and explore India.
Blyth).

The insectivorous and rodents are very common. Indian Travel Agent offers Visit India and explore India.The commom varieties are the long tailed tree mouse (vandeluria oleracia benneth), the house rat. Various types of squirrels viz Palla`s squirrel (calloscirus pallas), giant flying squirrel (petaurista petaurist pallas) and the malayan giant squirrel are also found.

Birds
Jungle fowl, hornbill, dove, parakeet, snipes, swifts, cuckoo, owls, kingfisher, trogon, barbets, woodpeckers, mynas, jungle crow, tree pie etc. are found in the district.

People
The Nishis or Nishings are the local inhabitant tribe of the district. Also the Mikirs, who are the migrants from Assam, form a part of the local population. Indian Travel Agent offers Visit India and explore India.The Nishis were known as DAFLAS till few decades ago. But the locals felt the term derogatory and thus discontinued using it. Moreover the word originated from the people of plain areas who had the initial contact with the hill tribes.

The Nishis belong to the Indo-Mongoloid group of people and their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family. They believe in the supremacy of the DONYI POLO , the sun and the moon. However, now many people have adopted other religions also. Indian Travel Agent offers Visit India and explore India.