A STUDY OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND ITS FUTURE PROSPECTS IN SIKKIM
4 dhesis huvmittea for trie Degree of Doctor of inilosopnij (dArts) of tke Llniversiti^ of u\.ortn~^Dengai
by DEBI PRASAD BOOT CENTRE FOR HIMALAYAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH-BENGAL 19 9 1 107iiJb
) ^ V.LV 1391
•*" ' "'
44 ^ * CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
PREFACE
LIST OF TABLES
Lli'-T or r!Oi,.)RES
Li:o OF PLATES
'3l.<">y;:;ARY
•l.= ^Oi OF '••MpiJLAT ; ON
RAT lU
•': h A.ML' OOMMUM • ';"'•
t: :- A L" V OPAT'IONAL 3TURC:TnRi -RAT ION CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
PREFACE Lit'
\ LIST OF TABLES vi i
JLtsT OF FIGURES XI-
LIST OF PLATES
GLOSSARY xiv
CiH&tP¥Elf? Q
INTRODUCTION 1-53
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND . . 9 GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND . . 9 Physical . . 9 Land Use . 16 Transport Po p ul a 11 o n St r uc t ur 0 . 24 DISTR]BUTION .25 DENS ITY .28 Uww Ucjrigi ty . 29 Modefate Dens 1ty . 29 QXMJQ. uiensit.y . 30 MJUL H1.flh Density . 30 GROWTH OF POPULATION .32 BEX RATIO . 33 CASTE AND COMMUNITY .38 LITERACY . 43 OCCUPATIONAL STURCTURE . 45 MIGRATION . 48 CtH&[P¥ECR 00
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TOWNS AND URBAN POPULATION STRUCTURE 5 4- 103
ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF URBAN CENTRES . 5 4 Types of Oricfin . 59 ADH1NI3T8AT1VE . 59 COMMERCIAL . 60 GROWTH AND STRUCTURE OF URBAN POPULATION . 6 2 Growth of Urban Population . 6 5 E>ensity of Population . c^ 7 Sex Ratio Ag e - Sr uc t ur^ . / .- Literacy . 7 3 Caste and Community , 7 5 Religion and Language 7 7' Occupational Structure . 82 Mi gr at i on and Ur banlsati on ,92
CWAF'ITEK QQO
LAND USE AND MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTER 104-125
SHAPE OF THE TOWNS . 106 URBAN LAND USS: . 108 Characteristic Features of Land Use in Different Towns .111 RESIDENTIAL .111 COMMERCIAL . 1 16 ADMINISTRATIVE . 116 OTHER USES . 117 AGRICULTURAL USE . 118 FOREST . 116 OPEN SPACE . 116 INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE TOWNS . 119 CiHAIPTrEK QV
CASE STUDY OF SELECTED TOWNS 24-168
GANGTOK ..,124 LAND USE ...132 LAI«> HAMAGEVmm ..,133 ...136 Commercial ...138 RttSldential ...141 HOUSE-WISE DENSITY OF RESIDENCE ...144 HOUSE TYPE 145 RESIDENTIAL CLASS ...148 Others ...151 Defence ...152 JORETHANG .,.153 NAHCHI ...159 SJNQTHAM ...164
C[H&IP¥ED? y
FUNCTIONAL CHARACTER OF THE TowNS,RttfiAL-tfe:aw^N 169-194 L»« FUNCTIONAL CliAKACTER . ..169 Types of Farwition . . .169 Service Area of tt» To#ns . . . 179 RimAL UI^AN LINKA@E ...181 Factors Affectlr*g Riff^al-Urban Llnkanfe ...181 Extent of the Service Area ,..184 Types of Service Area ...185 HIERARCHIAL ARRANGE*ffiNT OF THE TC^SfNS , . .187 €1HA(P¥E[R VD URBAN AMENITIES AND IteBAN ADMINISTRATION 195-214 URBAN AMENITIES ...195 Social and Public Institutions ...196 HEALTH SERCVICES ... 196 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. ...198 RECREATIONAL ...199 flopping Facilities . . .200 HQUS jL ng ^_ -_^,202 Transport and Commjnication ...206 Water Supply- ...208 Sanitation and Conservency Services . . .-210 Power Supply ... 213 URBAN AOMINISrrRATKM V cw^sPTEfi? mn PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF URBANISATION 21^-244 PROBLEI«S .219 Growth and Distribution of the Towns .219 Land Use .220 Urban Amenities and Urban administration • ^^O PROSPECTS .228 Ctevelopnient under Different Plans .228 URBAN DEVELOPMENT .229 WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE .231 HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ,234 Future Prospects of the Towns .236 Prospective Urbanhood . 240 CDHAOPTTiElP WQOO CONCLUSION 245-253 BlOLIO€»%Af*HV 254-274 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is cu£toma.ry to put on record, the- help aixd assistance- ex i eAci'Sa' trorii iinxe^ to tin-je^ from oaTious so'uT-ce^s. In rwy case-, I f e-e-L It obit gat ov-'y to ac Rnowle^'dgv tn wri t trig the- assistance I I'efcs-ive-d r rofh uar-ious sources m pre-parinf^ ths- disse-T tat lo'ri tit^causs- '^-i thout Such he^lp and assisiancG it wc-xild ?\a'u& been hardly possible- to get th& pi' I extend my thanks to the Librarian and the staff nienbers of the National Library and Asiatic Society Libx-ary, Calcu tta,Indian Insti tute of Public Administi^ation,Sapru Mouse and Na tional Archives,Del hi, Sikkim Insti tute of Tibetology Library.Gan gtok and the Central Library, Universi ty of North Bengal for mak- ing available the needed materials with prom.ptnes3 and care. I also put on record m:y gratitude to Mr.J.M.MaJumder, Documentation Officer-, Centre for Himalayan Studies, Universi ty of North Bengal for technical advice in working out the bibliogra phy and refere nce works of the dissertation. I do not w>ant to miss the opportunity to extend m.y grati tude to Dr.LikKenswar Ghatwoar, Dr.Gautom Biswas, Dr.Saswati Biswas, Dr.Samir Sarkar and Dr. Biswanath Ghosh of North Bengal Universi ty for their constant inspiration to complete ffiy research work. Preface Urbanisation ,an important component of mod e r n i E ? + i on, has just started to appear in the Himalayan ter r i t or i €••£ . Sikkim's largely geographical and historical similirities with the other Himalayan kingdom is likely to render the study of urban trends in Sikkim a broad theoretical singnificance. In other words, study of urban development of Sikkim may lead to the understanding ?f the nature of urbanisation in the Himalayan states. The second objective of the study is specific which focuses on the pattern that is likely to emerge in future on the !:• a s i s of the developing economy of Sikkim. In doing so i *: v; i i ! be essential to undertake a thoKiugh study of existing physical condi tions of the towns and bring out the present limitation in this sphere. Another major objective of this study is to focus on the nature and extent of rtira 1 urban linkages that have emerged thro ugh decades, developing some of the important places into urban c e n t res. Finally, on the basis of a careful m i c r o- 1e v e1 inves tigation into the nature of growth and their spatial interaction pattern that have developed over such difficult physical conditi ons, the study seeks to unfold the nature of dominance of the terr ain and its allied aspects over the human settlements. There is a vast literature in the field of urba nisation but the proti 1 em is that literature is rather very scanty on the processes of urbanisation in the Himalayas in genera I. -\ few articles are available here and there on urban development in the Himaiavas, is mainly devoted to the Western and the NeDal Himalayan iii region. Urbanisation in S1k k i m and the rest oi the c a s t ein h i m a i a - yas has still been a neglected phenomenon and in view of this,the study seeks to fill a major gap in the field of urbanisation spec ially in the landlocked mountain and the under developed countries Methodology Library wo I'k, field survey and labortary work comprise the three parts of the methodology.In the pre-field stage the collection of basic information and data about Sikkim were co llected from publication available in diferrent libraries and sim ilar organizations. This involved the study of books, jovvrnals and and maps etc.On the basis of which an historica1 ,pp1 itica1 ,socia 1, religious and cultural profile of the country could be built up. "^he Census Repo r t s , Gaze 11 ee r s , S t a t i s t i ca i Handbooks . Repo r t E vritt- er'; by foreign visitors in the 17th centuries etc were heavily -iex pend ed- 1.1 pen for this purpose. This was followed by field investigations taken on 3 wide scale, making personal visits to the urban centres for the collection of primary data. Different sets of questionarres were used for obtaining information on the economic and various social activities of the urban people. Besides,ex tensive use of the offi cial records available with different government. organisations were made at this stage supplemented by surveys conducted for get ting correct picture of the urban land use and urban morphological character. The processing and analysis of both secondary and primary data were made at the third stage following mathematical and statistical principles on the basis of which a large set of U.' tables,maps and diagrams were prepared which have been Included in the thesis. Maps published by the Survey of India and other orga nisations , Survey and Settlement Department, Govt of Sikkim, Geolo gical Survey,Forest Survey etc provided the fundamental base for the preparation of the thematic maps. The study has been divided into eight broad chapters and each chapter is further divided into several sections and sub- -sections covering the specific dimensions of the study. Chapter I introduces the historical and geographical background of the area under study. In the geographical section emphasis is laid on the interaction between natural environment and human habitation as in the Himalayan region the development of settlements is highly inf luenced by the nature of terrain and its allied aspects. In this section,the settlement and population structure of this region is discussed in detail. Chapter II deals with the growth, development and population structure of the urban areas.In the first part detailed account of the origin of these towns and their spatial distribu tion is presented in this chapter. In the second part, growth and structure of the urban population including destribution and den sity, sex and age composition, caste and community,reiigion,1angu- age, occupational character and the role of migration in urbanisa tion are discussed in details. In the chapter III the urban land use pattern and the emerging morphological character of the towns are taken up in detail. Chapter IV provides a detailed analyses on the internal structure of 4 selected towns. Chapter V gives an analysis of the emerging functional V character of the towns and focuses on the rural--urban interaction pattern and the emerging hierarchical arrangement of the towns. Chapter VI makes a detailed study of the various amenities available for the urban communities- At the same time a detailed account of the urban administration of these towns has been presented in this chapter. Chapter Vll goes into the emerging problems and prospects of urbanisation in this region,high1ighting the major pr oblems related to the growth and development of these hilly towns along with the future prospect. In Chapter VI11,which is the concluding chapter, the major findings of the study have been summrised, making observa tions drawn on the basis of the findings. LIST OF TABLES Name of the Tab Ies Page 1. Altitude and Climate in Sikkim ... 4 2. Monthly Temperature in Sikkim ...15 3. Annual Rainfall in Sikkim ...16 4. Landuse of Sikkim:1980-81 ...16 5. Land Holding Pattern in Sikkim:1980-81 ...18 6. Distribution of Cropped Area in Sikkim:1980-81 ...20 7. Agricultural Landuse in Sikkim: 1976/77 and 1980/81 ...22 8. Distribution of Revenue Blocks and Towns in Sikkim:1981 ...27 9. Distribution of Revenue Blocks by Population Size in 1981 ..27 10. District wise Man-Land Ratio (Rural):1981 ...31 11.Rural Density of Population and Land-Man Ratio: 1981 ...31 12.Decadal Variation of Population in Sikkim:1901-198 1 ...33 13.Changes in Sex Ratio in Sikkim: 1901-1981 ...43 14.Relation between Sex-ratio and Rate of Population Growth in Sikkim ...35 15.Caste-wise Sex Ratio inSikkim:l981 ...35 16.Age-Sex Distribution of Population in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh: 1981 ...37 17.Age-Sex Distribution of Population in Sikkim:1981 ...37 18.Community-wise Distribution of Population in Sikkim:1891 and 1931 ...38 19.Distribution of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes in Sikkim: 1981.(in percentage) ...39 20.Religion wise Distribution of Population in Sikkim:1981 ...40 21.Religion wise Growth of Population in Sikkim:1971-81 ...41 22. Distribution of Population by Language mainly spoken in Household in Sikkim:1981 ...42 23. Literacy and Rate of Participation of Workers in Sikkim;1981 ...43 24.Changes of Literacy rate in Sikkim:1971-81 ...43 25,Literacy Rate by the Size of Population (Rural):1981 ...44 26.Changes of Working and Non-Working Population in Sikkim:1971 and 81 ...45 Mi i. 27.Distribution of Working Population in Sikkim:1981 ' ...47 28.District-wise Distribution of Migrants in Sikkim:1981 ...49 29.Migration and Growth of Population in Sikkim:1981 ...50 30.Sex-ratio among the Migrants of Sikkiin:1981 ...50 31.Distribution of Migrants by the Place of Last Residence in Rural Sikkim:1981 ...52 32.Reasons for Migration with the Place of Last Residence in the Rural Areras of Sikkim:1981 ...53 33.Urban Popualation Structure in India: 1981 ...63 34.District wise Distribution of Urban Areas by Size Class: 1981 ...64 35.Size,C1 ass and Decennial Geowth of Urban Population: 1981 ...65 36.Urban Population Composition of Sikkim and Adjoining Territories: 1981 , ...66 37.Density of Population in the Urban Areas of Sikkim:1981 ...68 38.Density of Population in Gangtok:1981 ...69 39.Urban Sex ratio in Sikkim: 1971 and 1981 ...70 40.Caste wise Sex ratio in the Urban Areas of Sikkira:1981 ...71 41.Urban Dependency ratio in Sikkim: 1981 ...73 42.Changes of Literacy in the Towns of Sikkim:1971 and 1981 , ,.74 43.Urban Literacy in Sikkim: 1981 ...74 44.Urban Living Population in Sikkim - Cast wise: 1981 ...76 45.Caste wise Distribution of Urban Population in Sikkim: 1981 ...76 46.Religion wise Distribution of Urban Population in Sikkim: 1981 ...79 47.Decennial Growth of Urban Population by Re Iigion:1971-81 ...79 48.Town-wise Distribution of Population by Language Groups:1981 ...81 49.Distribution of Main Workers in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1971 and 81 ...83 50.Town wise Distribution of Main Workers in Sikkim: 1981 ...84 51,Decedal Growth of Population and Main Workers in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1971 - 1981. ...85 52.Town-wise Distribution Working Populationin Sikkim: 1981 ...86 53. Distribution of Working Population in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1971 and 1981 • ...87 54.Changes of Workers in the Urban Areas of Sikkim:1971-1981 ..91 55.Reasons for Migration in the Urban Areas of Sikkim:1981 ...93 viii iteracy and Participant rate among the fi i g r na tr s 1 n t h e ' J r b a, n Areas i n S i k k i m : 1961 Age-sex Structure of the Migrants in the U r b a n Areas in f Sikkim: 1981 9 4 Age Sex Structure of Migrants i n 1:h1 e IJ r b a n Areas of S i k k i m: 1981 9 5 59, R e a s i5 n for Migration with Place of Last Residence in t h e U r b a n Areas of S i I; k i m : 1981 ... 95 Reasons for Migration in G a n g t o k: 19 6 A ... 96 6 1 Distribution of Migrants with the Places of Last Residence in the ll r b a n Areas of Sikkim: 1981 ... 97 Distribution of Migrants with Places and Period of Movement in the Urbaii Areas of Sikkim: 1981 ... 98 6 3 1 n t e r - C' i s t r i c t Migration in the Urban Areas of Sikkim:1981 . . . 99 64 Ru r a I -U r ban Distribution of Migration in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1981 ...100 6 5 Migrants in Gangtok with Places of Last Residence ; 198A ...100 6 6 Migration and Growth of Urban Population in S i k V: i ni ...102 67 Migrants in G a n g t o !•: with Period of Movement: 1984 ...102 6 8 Area of the Town; in Si k !•: i m . . . 106 6 9 Land Use Patter..n. i..n. t-h e Urban A1 r 1^ed z:, s•- i-oif -f Sikkim^ i 1/ I' i: m • 1976/77-^1981 Q 7 F. 1 /8: . . . 1 12 70 Major Urban Land use in biSikkimk k i m:: 1976/719 / b/ 7 - 1981/-81 ...112 7 1 Land Use Pattern ( Ci e v e 1 o p e d Land) n inth e Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1976/77-1981//8 2 1 1 ^ Residential Density in the U r b =>" Areas of Sikkim : 1971 &- 81 . . . 115 7 3 Land Use Pattern in t; h e Urban Areas of S i k k 1 m 98: 149 . . . lis 74 Co3i m m u n i t y Wise L a n id use Pattern in G a n g t o !•; 19 7' '~'^ 7/7 8 ...134 Site Allotment in Gangtok Municipal it:y Area From :1975 to 1983 ...136 7 6 enure Status of the Livinng g RooR o om r in G a n g t o k : 1984 . . . 143 77 Residential Accommodation of G;a ng tok : 1 96 1 and 19848 . . . 144 7 8 Residential Accommodatioo m m o d a. t i no n ini n Gangtok:198G; 4 . . . 145 79 C o nlo t ruction of ResidentiaRes i d e n t i la House Wa i n G a n g t o k : 19 61 and 1984 . ... 146 Cofvs t r uc t i on of I Roof of Partly or Whol iy Uccupied Residential House as DDwellin w e g in G a n g t o k : 19 61 . . . 146 81, Community wise L an d Use Pattern in J o r e t h a n g : 1977/78 . . . 155 82 Community wise Land Use Pattern in Namchi: 1977/78 ... 161 83.Distribut ion of Population and Different Urban Amenities in Sikkim:1984 173 SA.Types of Shops in the Urban Areas in Sikkim:198A 176 85.Service Area of the Towns by Different Function in Sikkirn 186 86 . D is t r ibut ion of E>ifferent Types in the Urban,Areas in Sikkim:198A . 190 67. Health Service in the Urban Areas in S i k !•; i m • • . 197 68.Educationa1 Facilities in the Urban Areas of Sik im : 1984 . . 198 89.H ouse1ess and Institutional Population and Households in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1981 203 90.District wise Distribution of Houses in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1981 203 91.Decennial Growth of Population and Housesin the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1971-81 :04 92. Water Storage Ca.pa.jScity of the Towns in Sikkim: 1971 and 1979 . 20 9 9 3 . n> i s t r i b u t i o n of Latrines in the U r b a n Areas of Sikkim: 1979 .211 9 4, Types of Latrine in the Urban Areas of S i k k i m : 19 7 9 . 212 9 5.E1e c t r i f i c a t i o n in the ' J r b a n Areas of S i k k i m : 19 7 9 213 96.Urban Status in Sikkim: 1981 . 214 97.Gangtok Municipal Finance Report : 1978-79 - 215 98.Complete List of 'Bazar'with Existing Service Facilities in Sikkim:1981 . 241 99.Bazar with ! nfrastructura 1 Facilities for Future Urbanhood 24; X List of Figures .S i k k i m: Geographical Location .S i k k i m and its Surrounding Country: Places of Geographical and Historical Impcrtance . S i k kirn: R i v e r s . i^ a k e s . (^ 1 .^ •:• i e r s a i- d F e a k s . 5 ; k '•: i m : Relief an c' A r e a s o f H u m a n 3 c 11 i o m e n t . S i k '; i rn ; P hi y s i c a 1 L) i v i s i o n s . S i 1: 1< i m : Broad Land Use .S i k k i m: Trans p o r t an a IJ r b a n C e n t r e s . ? i !•: k i m : Rural Accessibility , Fikk i •v : Ci i s t r i !; -j '. i o n c^ i Population : 1 9 6 i • . ,-" i k I-' ! 11 : Dens i t V of prip.:j 1 a t i or-i :: . ." -: ;•»:' d •! 1 0 d T r i k <^- - o p 'J i a f i o n i v- r i !•; K i "TI : I 9 8 1 :.:-:! k ;•: i ;"n : Routes a n i3 I ni r- ••"• r t a, n t r" 1 a c e s ; 1 6 9 8 •^ . ;" i k !•' 1 m : Bazars with ui e e k : v M a r k e i : 1 9 3 1 ^ . k i !•: k : o : G r ^^ w t h 'j f P o o "j '-. 3 M o n and Sex Rati o .-. . G a na '_ ok : r>ens i. *.y of F o pu ; a t ; C; n : 1 98 1. 7 , S i k k i m : 1J r ba n Sex Pyramid ( L> i s t r i c t w i s e ' : 1 96 1 ''-. S i k k i m : U r b a n 0 c c u p a f i o r i a 1 S * • .s r c *: u r e ' [J i s t r i c '- wise 3. G 9 n g'o k : 0 u t i i n e Map ,^":'. G:/a, 1 sh i n g lOutline Map • . J ;^ r ,. Mia ng : Gu+ line '-la p . /" . '1 :• '•;;; a r : C i u t line Map •? . !~-l a m':. ki i : 0 u t 1 i n e Mao -•- Nayar. azar :i"i.jtiine Map. ." . R a n g pji- : 0 u t i i n e Ma p ^ 5 . S i n j? 1 h a m : ij u t i i n e M a o :i'.Gangtok: Land Use in i 9 7 7 / 7 e ( WN bouLK Pir<><-at) :9 . Gy a i 5 h i n g : La nd Use in 1976-''7 7 and 196 4 : 9 . .] o r e t: h a n g : i, a n d Use in 1 9 7 8 / 8 C' • '~>, M a n =; a n : L a n d IJ a e in i 9 7 6 ^ 7 7 and 1964 -^- 1 Namch i : !_, a n d use in 1979 ''tt C' .^ '~' fiayabaz ?r:Land Use in 1978/79 ai 190A 33 R a n g p iD : L a n d Use in 19 / 6/7 7 a n d 1 9 8 ^ - ^ ' * b i n C t h a r!i:L3nd \) s e in 1961/32 and 198/i rr. c: G 3. n g t't' k :Land U.:e m 1 984 (.>V^ ^o^*^ V«<^ ,-; - i .i nrett. ^. ng:Land Use in 198-^ -,, 7 Namch i ; L, and l- s e in 1984 ~ o (j 3 n g t Q k : S u m m a r y o t C h a n g e i i- L a ri d U s e : 1 9 ~1 and 3 9 G a n g t o -'• rDensity per Residential House- 1981 /j.'j Spatial Arrangement of the Shops G a n g t o k a ••_ Spatia i Arrangement of the Shop s J o r e t h a n g and N a y a ba; ^4 ti. Si?a t i a ' Arrangement of t h e Shops S i n g t h a m and P. a n g p o '^ .3 Spa t i a ' A r r a n g e m e n t o f t h e S h o p s G y a ! s h i n g . si a n g a n a n d :nch a ii S i k kin): Frequency of Bus S e r v ices Dai ly 1 -^5 . S i k k ) fTi : Service Area of tiie Towns A 6 . S } k k i m : Urban Hierarchy ^i 7 • S i k k i m : Towns a n d Bazars List of Plates l.Town over River terrace (Jorethang) 2.Town over River terrace (Singtham> S.Hill top town (Gyalshing) 4. Panoramic view (Gangtok) 5.High rise building (Gangtok) 6.High rise building (Singtham ) 7.High class resident (Gangtok) 8. Town fttom the river bed IJorethang) y.M.G.Marg (Gangtok) lO.lj/eekly Market Place (Singtham) 11.Lai Market (Gangtok) 12.Market Day (Gyalshing) 13.Tire wise residential expansion (Gangtok) 14.Recent development beyond town boundary (Namchi) 15.Poor class residences (Rangpo) 16.P o o r class reside n c e s (Gangtok) 17 . L. C' n g view o f P. a n g {j o 18 . C h a. II g i n g Land use ( G a n g t o k I 19. Land erosion for violation of civic rules (Gangtok) 20,Land erosion for violation of civic rules (Gangtok) XL I I GLOSSARY Bazar: Market place Bus tee; A cluster of rural houses C h o r t e n : Tomb Jhora; Nepalese term for rivulet and streams Naia: Open narrow drain Kazi: Hereditary Landlord Ma rwaT i : Thie term ' marwa r i ' i s derived from the Marwa r district of Rajasthan in India. In India,al1 the trading communities of Rajasthan and even the trading communities of North and North-Uest India are commonly known as Marwaris. In Slkkim they are general ly known as the Kayas. Gumpa : Tibetan term for monastery C h u : Tibetan term for river Khoia: Nepalese term for river La; Tibetan term for pass Hat: Weekly market Gaddi: Wholesale shop for agricultural products, both the sale and purchase, without any show room but they have godown or warehouse XI V C[HftlP¥E[R D INTRODUCTION Sikkim.the 22nd state of Indian Union,covers an area of abou* 7,096 sq.km. on the southern slope of the Eastern Himaiaya. Sikk 1 p is located between 27°04 A6 and 26°07 48 north latitude and 88"^ • " o ' • 00 58 and 88 55 25 east longitude and forms somewhat rectangular in shape (113 km, long and 64 km.wide). The state is bounded t-n—thp west by Nepal, in the north by China (Tibet), in the east by Chin? (Tibet) and Bhutan and in the south by the hii. division of Dar- jeeling District of West Bengal [Fig.-13 Ail the three sides of the state is bounded by the high Himalayan ranges where the Great Himalayan range in the north forms the boundary between Tibet an • Sikkim; the Dongkya Range on east separates Sikkim from the Chumbi valley of Tibet; and the Singalila range on the west forms thr boundary between Sikkim and Nepal. The boundary between Sikkim and West Bengal on the south is marked mainly by the rivers (Rammam khola, Great Rangit, Rangpo chu and Rishi khola), except in south eastern corner CFlg.l]. Urban development in Sikkim is the focai theme of this study. And before going into any detail about the urban development, it will be worthwhile here to focus on the his torical and geographical background of the state. SIKKIM GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION Fig- 1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The urban development of any country cannot be under stood without going into the history of that country. In fact,past events leave t'heir shadows deep enough to be reflected in the course of life that is followed, the former often having a decisive role in setting the pattern for future. Sikkim is no exception to this rule and its geographical location -- unique for any country of its size --has had much to do in shaping its future. Sandwiched as it has been by much larger powers in all sides-China in the north, Bhutan in the east,Nepal in the west and India in the south Sikkim had always been at the receving end of political thrusts from all sides. As a result,the tiny, strategically important state located in the Eastern Himalaya, has witnessed a steady socio-economic and political change through the centuries. Due to her strategic loca tion, it could not but absorb the influence of changes taking place outside its boundary. Sikkim, the erstwhile small Himalayan king dom, does not appear in the historical complexities of the Himala yan border country until the early 1960s.The early history of this country,prior to this,is mostly legendary and mythical. According to some Lepcha and Limbu legends, the Lepchas, the Limbus and the Magars were the early settlers of this state and they had their own religion but not Buddhism . The modern history of this state begins with the consecration of Phuntsong Namgyal in 16if<2 as the temporal and religious king (Chogyal) by three Lamas from Tibet at Yaksum--the first capital . [Fig.23 He was born near Gangtok and Si.nha.,AG. Politics in SikkimiA SoctoLogical Study. Farida.ba<4,Thomaon. i<»75. Risley.HH. Th« a«z«tt*r of Sikkim. Calcutta,B«ngal s;ecr*tariat Pr«afi. t0C»4 M?" .•. jjds the descendant of Khye-Bum-Sa who had formed blood- brotherhood with the Lepcha chief Thekangthek and had been ruling over the Chumbi and the Tista valley for three centuries prior to 1642 . Phuntsong Namgyal established centralised authority in Sikkim for the first time and divided the country into twelve (12) Dsongs each headed by a Lepcha chief or Limbu chief 6 years,the Bhutanese vacated Sikkim except the southeastern cor ner of the country (beyond Rhenock) . In apperciation of the ser- Sinha,AC. Politica in Sikkim;A Sociological Study. Faridab«ul.Thor>Mion AP7S. Xbtd. p. 14. 5 Shuklo^SR. SikkiWKth* story of integration. N*w D*lhi>S. CKand. A0?4S. p IS. Jong near Shigatzi in Tibet . In 1717,Gyurme Namgyal succeeded his father*. During his r eg ime, Lirabus were neglected and they joined Nepal. Thus, Sikkim began to lose the Limbuana country . His son, Namgyal Pendho, ascended the throne in 1733 and Tenzing Namgyal, t^*^ grand son of Gyurme Namgyal, succeeded as king in 1780. During thm regime of Tenzing Namgyal, Bhutan (1770) and Nepal (1774-75 an: 1788-89) invaded Sikkim. Bhutan occupied the land east of Tista, now constituting the Kalimpong sub-division of Darjeellng di«t- rict. Between 1774-75, Nepal Invaded Sikkim and occupisd most of its territory west of the Singalila Range - CFlg. 21. In l''75,ih« boundary between Nepal and Sikkim was fixed at the Sangochu,S»nf^ Dzong, Malliyang and Lha chu (The Kankai river of Nepal, a wester** tributary of Mechi river) by a teritorial settlement negotiated 12 between Nepal and Sikkim at the intervention of Tibet Betwe^tn 1779-80, Nepal broke the settlement of 1775 and by 1789 th^y occu pied the land lying south and west of Tista river, including Rsb- danse and the acton compelled the Chogyal to flee with his family Rtsl©y,HH Th« Oazetleor of StkVam. Coilcutta^Bangal S«cr«tari,at Fr«ss. 1804. Ibtd. p. 15. Ram Rahul. TH« Himalciya a.f» a. Frontier . N«u D«Lhv,V<-kci«. 1078. p. 40. Dci8,N.Th« N«pal«a« of North Cast. Indva and Polttica. Singalila range and the Mechi river became the boundary between Nepal and Sikkim C Fig. 2]. After this war, the British began to penetrate into the affairs of Sikkim.In 1828,Captain Lloyed was deputed to Sikkim frontier in connection with the dispute on the western border and he, for the first time,brought to the notice of the Governer Gene- 17 ral of India that Darjeeling area enjoyed a strategic location . In 1835, the British got hold of Darjeeling area in connection with the British - Nepal negotiation for Lepcha refugee trouble in Sik kim*®: Thi« settlement of Darjeeling advanced rapidly and by 1850 it became a popular administrative and business centre in the entire Eastern Himalayan region.In 1850,the British government seized the terai region of Sikkim and the land lying between Rammam river and the Great Rangit river in the north-west and the Tista river in 19 Ri.al<»y,HH. Tho Ocizett««r of Slkkitn. Ca,Lculta,B«nga.L S«cr«larval Press. 1804. p. IS. 14 / Ibvd. p. lO. 15 Orov»r.BSK. Sikkim and India. N»v D«lhi,Jain Brother*. 1P74. p 15.^ Ram Rahul. Th© Himalaya a« a Frontier. N<»w D»lhi,Vika». 1078. p 42. 17 Riel<»y,HH. Th« Oaz«ll«r of Sikkim. Calcutta. 1004. p 20 10 Ram Rahul. Th© Himalaya as a Frontcor. K«w D«Lht,Vi.kas. 1P78. p 43, 1$> the east ,which constitutes the rest of the present Darjeeling dis trict except Kalimpong sub-division CFlg. 23. The relation between Sikkim and the British deteriorated since the cessation of Darjee ling*. In 1860, the British marched into Sikkim and finally a new treaty was made in March 1861 with Sikuyang Namgyal, who succeeded his father in the same year. Sikkim became a British protectorate in terms of this treaty which, at the same time, checked Tibetan influence in Sikkim for sometime, although Sikkim's relation with Tibet and China remained undefined. As dictated by the treaty,the Chogyal accepted the right of British India Government to const ruct roads through Sikkim leading upto the Tibet frontier. The traty further made provisions for the encouragement of free trade between Sikkim and India, development of trade between India and Tibet through Sikkim,survey of the country and the shifts of capi- tal from Tumlong to Gangtok . According to this treaty, the Cho gyal was to stay for at least nine months of the year in the coun try. After this treaty the British became more powerful in Sikkim and they encouraged the Nepalese to settle over the large virgin 21 tracts, particularly in the southern and eastern parts of Sikkim The western part of Sikkim was already occupied by the early Nepa lese immigrants who started gradually settling there since the establishment of Gorkha power in Nepal Sidhyong Namgyal handed over the throne to his bro- ther Thotub Namgyal in 1875. He settled with the British officer 10 Rlaley,HH. Th« a 27 forming the boundary between Tibet and Sikkim .CF^g. 2], With the appointment of the political officer (1889) a new chapter opened in the history of Sikkim. He set up a state council for internal administration,made provisions for conducting land settlement, forest and mineral survey, took measures for the improvement of communication by building roads and bridges across the Tista and the Rangit.He opened Post and Telegraph offices,hos- pitals, schools; he encouraged the development of cottage industry 23 IbCd. p 3 Until 1 the independence of India there had been no important event in the history of Sikkim besides the fact that Sikkim was included in the list of Indian States in 1935 under In- dian Act . In 1948, India and Sikkim formalised a "Standstill Agr eements* which remained valid till 1950 and a new treaty signed in terms of which Sikkim became a protectorate of India in view of so its strategic location . During the post--independence period the country had gone through a series of political movements resulting in the appointment of a senior Indian officer as Dewan (chief min ister) in 1949 to run the administration. Two general elections were held successively in 1954 and 1961. In November 1962, China attacked India from the north--east, and a state of emergency was declared in Sikkim. Since then the border between Sikkim and Tibet was closed which stopped the age-old trade between India and Tibet and other bordering states. After the fifth election the administration collapsed amd due to political agitation Chogyal handed over the responsibi lity of law and order to the IndianArmy. H(iwever,the law and order 2B Sinha. AC. PoLtlics un Si.lcki.ni:A Soctologlcal Study. Fciridaibad. l<>75, p 20 29 Ham Rahul. Th» Himalaya cwi a Frontier. N»w D*lhi. l Q began to deterioratete after the sixth general election and the Government of India amended the Indian Constitution to accord Sikkim the status of an Associated state of the Indian Union and provided for its representation in the Par Iiament.On the 14th May, 1975,Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Union of India. GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND Physical Sikkim covers the western most part of the Eastern Himalaya. This part of Himalaya may be treated as a distinct physical unit as it is bounded by two north-south running ranges on either side of east and west, which is uncommon in any other Himalayan state. In the west,the mighty Singalila range runs south from the Kanchenju nga massif and forms the boundary between Nepal and Sikkim [Fig,3] In the east, the Dongkya range forms the border between Sikkim and Tibet (China). The central Himalayan axis extends between Kanchen junga and Chomlhari (on the Bhutan-Tibet border) through Pauhunri (at the northern end of the Dongkya range) with which the northern border between Sikkim and Tibet roughly coincides, Sikkim covers the upper catchment area of Tista basin, considerably deepened and widened by the main river and its large affluents. Structurally,it is an anticlinal valley and Kanchenjunga represents the core of an enormus recambent anticline . A series of peaks are situated along 31 Chatter j**.«r. Fhyaio^ra.phy. 9 Fig- 3 with Kanchenjunga (8586 m), Kabru (4810 m),Pandim (6691 m),Narsing (5825 m) and Siniolchu (6888 m). Tectono-stratigraphica11y Sikkim has been classified 32 under fdJur tectonic belts : (i) The Foothill Belt; (ii) The Inner Belt;{iii} The Axial Belt; and (iv) The Trans-axial Belt. A narrow strip of Gondwana rocks in the foothill belt is exposed in Rangit valley in the form of a "Tectonic Window". Sikkim is predominantly occupied by the unfossiI iferous metaraorphic and crystalline rock groups under the Inner and Axial Belts. The Inner Belt is made up of Precambjrian Dal ling and Darjeeling group of metased imen ts and with minor development of Buxa group of rocks. The Axial Belt ex poses the crystallines of the Central region and the intrusive granite. The higher region to the north and beyond, covered under the Trans-Axial Belt, has not yet been throughly investigated. A number of important and some less important eco nomic minerals occur in the state like copper (Rangpo,Dikchu,Pec- hekhani, Rorathang,Jugdumb and Tukhamiss), Dolomite (Rangit valley and Namchi), Graphite (Chitry and Chapthang), and Coal of Gondwana group (Rangit valley and Namchi area). Other geological resource's are Phyrites, Lime gravels, Tungsten,TaIc,Magnesite and Rock Phos phate. A number of thermal springs are known in Sikkim like, Yum- thang,Tarum,Ralung-Ralap,Sakyong and Penthang hot spring. Among the three broad physiographic zones of the Himalayas - the Siwalik, the Inner and the Central zone - the last two zones form the Sikkim Himalayas. The average height of this 32 India. Planning Commission. Ropori of High L«vel T«am for Land Uo« Plan of Sikkim. Nov D*lhi,loai. p 14) 10 mountain state ranges between 300 m and more than 6000 m. with an overall slope towards the south. CFlg. 43 A great contrast in ele vations between the valley bottoms and the mountain peaks can be observedT everywhere in the state. The geological structure and the processes of erosion have a strong influence on the surface confi guration. The landscape of this state presents a complex mixture of glacial, fluvioglacial and fluvial processes. The entire state is an anticlinal river basin (Tista) which has been divided into several 1 ar ge, e 1 onga^ted, sub-parallel tributary valleys. The state may be divided into four distinct geomorphic zones - (1) the per petually snow covered area; (2) the rugged mountain including mor- 3 in and cirques; (3) the ridge between the large river systems and {4} the valleys and river terraces along the major rivers [Fig.53. The northern snow -capped zone with snow line ran- ging between 4500 m to 5000 m covers about 33 per cent of the total geographical area of the state. All the high mountain peaks, including Kanchenjunga, and all the glaciers are situated in this zone and it is the source region of all the major rivers. The total number of glaciers is estimated to be about 200 and they are of various sizes and shapes . Among them Zemu (26 km.), Simvu (9.5 km.) and Talung (14.5 km.) are the most important. Cirques,creava- ces scree and glaciated lakes (Khora chu and Green lake) of diffe- 39 csKotLiAr )•• . ap>PVsyaio9r aphy. rig- 4 rent sizes are common fertures of this area [Fig. 33. Human inter ference is totally absent in this zone except few pastures used for grazing animals in the summer. • The long ridges form the watershed between the two major river systems and there are several such ridges in Sikkim, particularly in the southern part, and this zone covers about 20 per cent of the total geographical area. The longest ridge forms the watershed between the Rangit and Tista. Some of the important peaks are situated in this zone namely,Longjong (4710 m),Lungthung (3835 m),Karsang (3726 >n) and Anden (3696 ml.The areas of moraines and cirques are located at the periphery of the perpetual snow co vered zones. In such a highly dissected topography, the ridge-tops offer the only favourable sites available for human settlements. Some of the important bazars and towns (Gangtok and Namchi) are situated in this area.CFlg. 53. The rugged mountain zone occupies the area between 300 m and 5000 m comprising about 40 per cent of the total geo graphical area. This zone is highly dissected but the favourable slopes in the southern part are considerably used for terrace cul tivation. Some bazars, including Mangan and Gyalshing, are located in this zone CFig. 53. The valleys cover the area along the major rive>-and are mainly confined to the southern part of the state. This narrow strip of land is nothing but representing the river terraces of the major rivers and covers only 7 per cent of the total geogra phical area. The average height of this zone varies from 300 m to 600 m , and such areas are densely occupied by human habitation. The la SIKKIM PHYSICAL OMStONS o to Ba»«d on Ploooinj Conwiitiiefi* H«part 1991 Fig- 5 major roads traverse this zone and some of the most important ba zars including Singtham, Rangpo, Nayabazar and Jorethang towns are located here (Fig. 51. * Sikkim covers the upper catchment area of the river Tista that flows southward. The river Tista originates from Pauhu- 37 nri glacier (north of Dongkya ridge) in the north- east corner of the state CFlg. 3],and meets Zemu chu (originating from Zemu gla cier in the north-west side) at Chungthang,from where the river is generally known as Tista. Dik chu, Rangni chu and Rangpo chu from the east and Rangyong chu from the west are the main tributaries of the Tista. The Tista is a fast-flowing river,its peak velocity reaching 10 m/sec with an estimated discharge of 24000 cumec . The Rangit,the main tributary of Tista,rises from the base of Kanchen- junga and flows southwards upto Nayabazar. Here it meets with the Rammam khola and turns eastward and joins Tista near Mel 1i bazar. A large number of long flowing tributaries meet Rangit and most of them join from the west. They are Rathang chu.Reshi chu.Kalej kho la and Relli chu. Besides,there are numerous small rivers and ri vulets in this state, and taking all them into account,they make a very high drainage density which varies between 6.6 km and 14 km per sq. km. of the geographical land 37 Mukhc^xuthyoL, flC. Th* Tislo. BaaircStudy of FLuvicil a«omorpKolo9ry. Ca.LouttcL,K. I*. Bagchi ,l$>e2. p 4 tf ChXA. v» tK« Tvb4»t«irt word for ri.v*r oirvd KholCL i.* tVv» N*po.l**« word for rCv*r. India. Flanntng Commission. Report 13 in a hilly state like Sikkim, the rapid change in topography and altitudinal aspects, climate in general and micro climatic phenomenon in particular are highly unperdicatab1e. Such micro-climatic conditions occur due to altitudinal variations and physiographic complexitiy, such as the direction of ridges and lo cation of slopes on the windward or leeward side, the degree of slope and its aspects (sunny or shady aspects), the intensity of the forest cover and proximity to glaciers. In Sikkim, climatic type varies from sub-tropical to Alpine with changes of altitude CTable- 1> For instance,temperature varies with altitude and slope aspects. Temperature normally decreases with the increase of alti- titude but the phenomena like 'inverson of temperature',is not un common in such a complicated terrain. Due to the non-availability Table - 1 Altitude and Climate in Sikkim Elevation in metres Climatic type Below 1000 Sub-Tropical iOOO - 2500 Temperate 2500 - 4000 Sub-Alpine Above 4000 Al pine sourco:Hukhopadhya, SC. The Tista Basin. 1982 p 105 of sufficient climatic data, it is very difficult to go into the details of temperature condition of the state.At Gangtok,the state capital,the maximum temperature from July to August varies between 22 c and 28 c and the minimum temperature in December and January ranges from 3 c to 5 c on an average. Gyalshing is slightly hotter than Gangtok whereas Lachen is very cool CTable - 23.At Lachen the maximum temperature is in between 17 c and 18 c in the month of 14 July to August and minimum temperature goes down to -3°c to-4°c in the month of December and January. Rainfall is heavy and well dis- . Table - 2 Monthly Temperature in Sikkim Gangto k (1818 m) 1 Gyalshir >g (1524 m. ) 1 Lachen (2697 m) Month Mean d ai ly temp.1 Mean dai ly temp. iMean dai ly temp. Maximum 1Minimu m | Maximum 1M i nimum 1 Maximum Mini. January 13.9 4.2 16.9 5.9 6.9 -3.9 February 14.6 5.5 17.3 7. 1 7.8 -4.2 March 18.8 8.5 21.8 9.9 10.3 -1.5 Apri 1 21.7 12.0 24.9 13.5 14.3 2.0 May 22.3 13.9 25. 1 15.6 16. 1 4.8 June 22.8 16. 1 25.4 17.7 17.0 7.8 July 22.8 17. 1 25.9 18.4 17.8 8.4 August 22.9 16.7 26. 1 18.3 17.2 8.7 Septembei 22.7 15.7 26. 1 17.3 17.0 6.8 October 21.9 12.3 24.5 14. 1 14.4 3.6 November 18.5 8.6 21.2 10.0 10.5 -1.6 December 15.7 5.8 18. 1 7.5 7.9 -3.6 ANNUAL 19.9 11.4 22.8 12.9 13. 1 2.3 Source: Report of the High Level Team for Landuse Plan in Sikkim. Planning Commission,Govt. of India.1981. p 6. tributed during the months from May to September (monsoon months) of which July is the wettest month. Rainfall is moderate in the months between April and October and the average number of rainy days per year ranges between 100 and 184 days . On the whole, the southern part of the state receives more rainfal1--annual rainfall ranging between 2000 mm and 3600 mm -- than the northern part as precipetation in the form of snowfall is common in the northern part CTable - 35. 41 India.. Ploinning Commiaaion. Itaporl of High L*v«l T*cifn for Liand use of SikkCm. N«w D«lhi.l^ei. p 5 ,i##i» «*rt*-. 107195 Str tj#4 »<* » •^«''« ' m^ Table - 3 Annual Rainfall in Sikkim Station Altitude Annual Rainfal1 Number of Rainy • (metres) (milimetre) days per year Gangtok 1818 3494.5 163.7 Gyalshing 1524 2392.5 127.0 Lachen 2697 1652.4 161.3 Gnathong 3757 3289.6 183.7 Dentam 1372 2338.5 134.7 Damthang 1981 2197.0 137.8 Mangan 1310 3239.9 160.5 Rongli 823 3220.6 147.8 Yoksam 1780 2619.6 146.4 sourc«: Roport of the High Level Team for Land use of Sikkim Planning Comroissiom ,New Delhi,1981. p 5 Land Use The total area of Sikkim is 7096 sq.km (as per Agricultural Cen sus) of which 36.15 per cent of the land is under forest, 25.4 per cent is classified as barren and uncultivated CTable - 4:3,10.3 per Table - 4 Land Use of Sikkim: 1980-81. Area in Percentage to Land Uao Category hectares the total area Barren and Unculturable Land 180,250 25. 40 Forest 256,533 36. 15 Permanent pasture,Grazing and Culturable waste land 72,937 10. 28 Land put to Non-agricultural use 85,362 12. 03 Land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves 5,450 0. 77 Land under operational holdings 109,068 15,,3 7 (Agricultural land) TOTAL 709,600 100,,0 0 sourc*: Agricultural Census of Sikkim, 1980-81. cent pasture and grazing and only 15.4 per cent is under agricul ture; The bappen »nd unculturable land,including alpine pasture,is mainfy confined to th^ hiflher northern part of the state. Forest 16 covers the highest proportion of land and is distributed through out the state, except in the high mountains and the perpetually snow-covered area CFlg. 6].The entire forest area has been divided into si'k distinct zones as follows t 1. Lower Hill Forests (Below 900 m. ) 2. Middle Hill Forests (900-1800 m.) 3. Upper Hill Forests (1800-2450 m.) 4. Conifer Forests (2750-3350 m.) 5. Rhododendron (2450-3355 m.) 6. Alpine Pasture (Above 3700 m. ) Among the forest land, 20 per cent is poor, 40-45 per cent is fair and only 35-40 per cent is considered to be good About 2,201 sq.km. of forest is kept reserved, 104 sq.km. is kept as Gochoran or past^ure land and 285 sq.km. remain as khas or ve sted with the Government . Land put to non--agricultural uses is only 12.03 per cent which is mainly occupied by settlements (rural a nd urban), roads and other activities. In spite of several prob lems of land degradation, like landslides and mass wasting causing serious damage to extensive patches of agricultural land,about 300 sq.km. of forest land has been included under operational holding during the last four years. Agriculture is the mainstay of the people engaging about 63 per cent of the working force (1981),but only 15 per cent (1090.7 sq.km.in 1980/81) of the total land is is under operatio- «Xn 17 SIKKIM BROA^__LAND USE \. X' x^- n '. '. '. "Jperpetuol Snow Pianoi'iiy Cor-.n'issionRepo Census ol India 1981 Fig- 6 nal holdings and only 75.9 per cent of the holding area is under net cultivable area . Sikkim is the state of small land holdings, about 45.5 per cent of the holdings having land below one hectare; 42.7 pe»r cent having one to four hectaresjand 10.3 per cent having four to ten hectares CTable- S>.Thus,about 45 per cent of the hol ding area is under the holding class of one to four hectares, only Table - 5 Land Holding Pattern In Sikkimi1980-81. < in per cent) Size Class Number of Total Area Total Cro I rrigated (in Hect.) Holding of Holding pped Area Area Below 1 45.45 10.94 12.77 20.80 1 4 42.71 45.20 48.46 50.68 4 ---10 10.29 30.80 27.71 23.30 10 - 50 1.53 11.45 9.38 5.22 50 and above 0.02 1.61 1.68 __ TOTAL lOO.OO 100.00 100.00 lOO.OO Sourc*: Agricultural Census of Sikkim. 1980-91. 11 per cent is under the class of below one hectare. The average size per holding is only 1.95 hectares. It was about 2.55 hectare in 1976-77 for the state as a whole when the lowest average size in the East district was 1.7 hectare and the highest in the North district was 7.7 hectare. In Sikkim about 37.4 per cent of the total ope rational area is under the holdings of Scheduled tri.be communities where as 1.6 per cent is owned by the Scheduled castes and, the 49 India. C*rMus lOSl. Sikkim. Pi ISA & B: District C*r««u« Moindbook. Villo/g* ana Tovn Directory. 18 rest is owned by the other communities. The scheduled tribe popu lation has about 0.55 hectare per head (1981) where as the average holding per head in the state is only 0.34 hectare Most of the cultivable land in the country is terr aced and the farmers have settled in their holdings and have esta blished a regular cropping systems. Crescent shaped, narrow, bench terraces running across the mountain slopes constitute the agri cultural land holdings. Agricultral land occurs from an elevation of 300 m. to 3000 m. but most of the land lies below 1800 m. Cul tivation on 30 per cent to 40 per cent slope is very common and as altitude rises above 1500 m. agricultural lands having slope of 60 per cent to 70 per cent are not uncommon In such a dissected topography changes of climate is very sharp at even a short dista nce and the seasons are suitable for growing a large variety of crops like cereals, large cardamom, potato,ginger and other horti cultural crops. At present (1980-81), about 81.8 per cent of the total holding area is under crops of which 98.5 per cent is used for food crops,including food grains like maize,rice,wheat and mi llet etc. and cash crop like large cardamam, ginger, potato and orange etc. and vegetables CTable -6^. Oil seeds and soyabeen occupy only 1.5 per cent of the cropped area.Maize uses about 46.4 per cent of the total cropped area which is followed by rice (13 per cent). Wheat (2.7 per cent) and millet (2 per cent). Among the P*r h*ad land calcuLat*d from lOSl C«r)«u« 19 CTable - 6) Distribution of Cropped Area in Sikkim:1980-81 Crops Area in Hectare Percentage to the total area Maize 41404 46. 42 Rice 11640 13.05 Wheat 2434 2.73 Millet 1801 2.02 Other Food Grain 3976 4.45 [Total Food Grain^ 612S5 68.671 Large Cardamam 21097 23.65 Ginger 1266 1.42 Potato 1036 1. 16 Other Food Crop 3191 3.58 I Total Food Crop 87845 Q8.481 Non-Food Crop 1355 1. 52 TOTAL 89200 100.00 Source: Agricultural Census of S 1 kk i m. 1 980-81. cash crops, large cardamam takes about 23.6 per cent of the crop- ped area and this is mainly concentrated in the North district Cropping intensity is closely associated with the altitude as a result of which mu1ticropping is found generally at low altitude, double cropping at mid altitude and mono-cropping at high altitude.The rainfall is high and the number of rainy days is also large which favours cultivation during pre-kharif, kharif and rabi seasons even without irrigation depending upon proper choice of varieties and manipulation of sowing dates. In Sikkim.only 10.7 per cent of the holding area under irrigation which is exclusively used for paddy cultivation . Despite the natural advantage of climate, agriculture is not very successful because of unsuitable nature of terrain,steep slope,acidic soil (50 per cent having pH 5 40 Iridloi. Minia t ry of Comm«rc». Carckamom Boourd. R*port on IritArnciL Moxk*t Surv«y of LaroTA Cardamom. Cochi n. ioea. 50 Sikktm. Agricultural C»n»u8 l««0-ei. ao or below,45 per cent pH 5 to 6 and the rest with pH 6 or more) and SI low land capability . For instance, agr icul ture is a very difficult and tedious task, needing very hard manual labour and the produc- tion per unit area - in the case of food grains- is not comparable with that of in the plains. The state is not self-sufficient in 52 regard to her requirements of food grains . Food grains are the major items of import in this state whereas it exports a large amount of large cardamom,ginger and orange. In fact, Sikkim is the lagrest producer of large cardamam in India with an output of 53 3530 tonnes in 1980-81 . In spite of environmental difficulties mentioned above, agricultural development has taken place during the last five years - between 1975/76 and 1980/81 - where both the production per unit area and area under operational holding inclu ding different crops has increased CTable - 7) Transport In Sikkim transport system is entirely dependent on roads. The network of roads is thus the basic requirement for the socio-eco nomic development in such a hilly terrain where roads follow the river valleys and elongated ridge-tops. Till recently the means of transport were very poor and people had to rely on briddle paths and on human and animal transport. 5* . . Plannvrig Gommt.ast,on Report. lOet. p 8 Xbtd. p 2S 53 India.. Mi ni« try of Gomm*rc«. Gafdanvom Board. Loigr* Cardamom Pockogo of Proctico. Oangtok. < 10081-82>. ai Table - 7 Agricultural Landuse in Sikkim: 1976/77 and 1980/81 (Area in Hectare) 1976-77 1980-81 Number of Holding 31061 56198 Area of Holding 79062 (100.0) 109068 (100.0) Net Cultivated Area 65427 (82.7) 82749 (75.9) Total Uncultivated Area 7022 (8.9) 14715 (13.5) Land not available for ^^^2 (8.4) 11604 (10.6) Cultivat ion Total Cropped Area 61760 (78.1) 89200 (81.8) Total Irrigated Area 10327 (13.1) 11640 (10.7) sourco: Agricultural Census of Sikkim. 1976/77 and 1980/81. Fig. within brakets show percentage to the total holding area, Automobile transport begins in true sense in 1944 when the Government of Sikkim established a 'Truck Development' department and used ttucks on the nationalised roads when 10 Ford trucks were put into sevice between Gangtok and Rangpo and from there to Kalimpong and Gelekhola via Tlsta bazar . In 1950,the Railway Out Agency was opned at Gangtok and Rangpo, and the truck routes were extended upto Siliguri.In 1954,the seven year Develop ment Plan was introduced with the aid of India. At that time there were only 40 km. of long truck road, connecting Gangtok and Rangpo and another 292 km long roads of other types in Sikkim. By 1954, the passenger service had been extended upto Siliguri and Darjee- ling consisting of Land Rovers and Jeeps. Between 1955-56, 'Truck Deve 1 opmertt' became a permanent, separate department and was renamed as Sikkim Nationalised Transport . Since the Indo-China war (1962), a number of roads have been constructed for defence pur- 5^ Sikki m. Sikkim NalioneiliaAd Transport. Silv*r Jubl«« <1044- 22 poses and are mainly confined to the North and East districts. By the end of the first plan period (1954-61),the passenger and goods services were opened between Gangtok and Nathula road, and from Gangtok'services were extended upto Mangan by North Sikkim High way. In the second plan period motor service was introduced bet ween Jorethang-Namchi, Legship-Gyalshing and Jorethang-Sombaria. At the end of 1979-80, the state had 872 km of roads of various categories of which 547 km are surfaced road and 325 km unsur- faced . Besides, there are another 140 km of National Highway (NH 31A) running between Rangpo and Gangtok,from Gangtok to Chung- thang,the latter known as North Sikkim Highway,in Sikkim CFig. 71. According to 1981 Census, about 157 inhabited reve nue blocks (35.7 per cent) are directly connected by bus services CFig. 83 Besides,there are 77 inhabited blocks (17.5 per cent) having bus services available within 5 km from their locations and about 270 revenue blocks (61.3 per cent) are approached by pucca roads . Among the districts, accessibi1ity is good in the East dis trict [Fig. 83. There is a good network of bus services in Sikkim and most of the services originated from Gangtok followed by Jore- thang. In 1982-83, there were 130 trucks and tanK_^ers and 70 pass- SB enger buses under Nationalized Transport Service in Sikkim Apart from bus services, there are regular jeep services which playes a dominating role for the movement of goods and passengers, particu- 5 23 SIKKIM .i \ TRASPORT AND URBAN CENTRES r^ I. N Bosed on Census 1991 Fis- 8 larly where bus services are not at all available. The frequency of bus and jeep services increases in the days of weekly markets. Population Structure Population structure is the most important aspect of urbanisa tion, In Sikkim.the highly dissected topography coupled with his torical incidents and cultural complexes has resulted in an uneven distribution of population which is highly dispersed in character. According to some Lepcha and Limbu legends,the Lepchas, the Limbus and the Mangars are the early settlers of Sikkim while the Bhutias are the early immigrants. The Bhutias have Tibetan culture!, speak Tibetan language and pursue a combination of pastoral ism and semi- settled agriculture, and are settled, mainly on the higher alti tudes. The reasoning behind it is the conformity of ecology with the homeland of this community. The Bhutias are mainly settled here since the consecration of the first king of Sikkim (1642) and have been the traditional ruling class. On the other hand, the Nepalese have mainly immigrated since the penetration of British powers particularly after the 1861 treaty though they had started to settle in Western Sikkim since the Gorkhas came into power in Nepal. In the later part of the 19th century they started sett s' ling down in the southern part of Sikkim . They belong to three main sub-cultural stocks namely, the Kiratis, the Newaris and the Gorkhas. Among the Kiratis, the Limbus, the Lepchas, the Rais,the 5C» Dois.N.Th* N*pcil*«* of Horlh-Ca«t India otnd lh« Politics. 24 Mangras, the Gurungs and the Tamangs are the early settlers foll owed by other tribes from the eighteenth century . In 1840,there were 43 per cent Lepchas, 28.5 per cent Limbus and 28.5 per cent Bhutias fn the total population of 7000 in the country .At present the Lepchas and the Bhutias jointly constitute only 24 per cent of the total population where as the Nepalese constitute about 60 to 65 per cent of the total population. In Sikkim, the census started in 1901 (though in 1891 the enumeration was conducted by the then Political Officer) under the Bengal Census authority and till 1971 it was under the same authority. District Census Handbook is available from 1971. The last Census (1981) has been conducted by a separate authority and the complete data have not yet been published. DISTRIBUTION Sikkim covers an area of about 7,096 sq.km. with a population of 3,16,385 in 1981, represents only 0.21 per cent of total land area and only 0.04 per cent of the total population of India. The comparative densities per sq km are 46 (Sikkim) and 221 (India) persons respectively.The population of the state is distributed in 440 inhabited blocks comprising 405 Revenue Blocks, 38 Forest Blocks and 4 Special Blocks (2 Monastaries and 2 Tea gardens) and 8 towns in the four districts of Sikkim CTable - 85. SinhcL.AC. Politics in SikkimiA Sociological Study. Foridaboul.Thomfiori Pr*««. ICTS <51 Markhotm^CR. (^d. ) Narrativ*a of th« Miaaion of Oorga Bogla to Tibat and of thi Journay of Thomoa Manning to Loaha. Naw Dalhi ,Manjuar i Publication,1071. p xc. 25 The relief and climate have imposed harsh living conditions and have restricted movement. Due to the absence of any sizeable flat land,the distribution of population is sparse on the s1 opes*without forming any village in true sense. In Sikkim, by village we mean the Revenue Blocks, the latter being the aggregate of Bxist&& (hamletes), sometimes five or six houses forming such a bxj£t&^. Generally, the river valleys and basins, the river teraces, the spurs, the gently sloping uplands and the road sides offer the most favourable site for human habitation in such a hilly state. As a result,the population is highly dispersed in character, where about 53.8 per cent of the inhabited blocks have a population of below 500 persons and about 85 per cent of the total inhabited blocks have a population below 1000 persons CTable - 93. Compact or large agglomerations of population is rather rare. Only 15 per cent of the inhabited blocks have a population ranging between 1000-1500 persons. Further, about two-thirds of the total geogra phical area, covering the northern part of the state, is devoid of any human activity due to high elevation which remains perpetually snowcovered. Population is mainly confined to areas lying below 1800 m and are generally found concentrated in the southern part of the state, following the river valleys and sometimes reaching upto the adjoining ridge-tops tFig 91. The valleys have a steep, gorge-like character, almost V ~ shaped, and the settlements have developed on the slopes stretching from the top of the valleys and reaching down to the river banks. Thus, slope is one of the impor tant factors in determining the distribution of population as cul tivation requires workable slope and in Sikkim upto 40 slope is 26 SIKKIM DISTRIBUTION OF RURAL POPULATION 1981 (Ore dot represents 50 Persons) Settled Area- Urban Area- River- Infernotional- Notional- Fig- 9 Tabl-e 8 Distribution of Revenue Blocks and Towns in Sikkia: 1981 District Revenue Forest Honas- Tea Inhabited Uninha- Total Total Blocks Blocks tery Estate Blocks habited Blocks Towns Blocks Noith 45 9 . - 61 3 54 i East 114 14 - - 126 2 128 3 South 135 7 1 2 144 1 145 2 Uett 111 8 1 - 119 I 120 2 Total 405 38 2 2 440 7 447 8 Source: Census 1981. Tabl-e 0 Distribution of Revenue Blocks by Population Size in 1981. Population Horth East South Vest Total Size Less than RB 12 16 19 11 58 200 POP 4.9 1.1 3.0 1.5 2.1 200-449 RB 23 40 66 48 117 POP 33.8 14.5 33.8 23.5 24.0 500-999 RB 8 40 50 39 137 POP 20.3 30.0 47.7 37.1 35.7 1000-1999 PR 8 22 9 21 80 POP 41.0 30,6 15.5 38.0 29.7 2000-4999 RB -- 8 .- -- 8 POP -- 23.8 -- -- 8.6 Total RB 51 126 144 119 440 RPop 25675 95520 70611 73496 285301 SourcetCensus 1981 RB ' Nuaber of Revenue blocks POP ' percentage to the total rural population RPop ' Total rural population 27 favourable for cultivation and habitation. General 1y,distribution of settlement is guided by the cultivated land which is again gui ded by the topography. The distribution of cultivable land on the slopes hftis given rise to dispersed settlements which spread as ha mlets and in many cases these lands are occupied by single commu nity. The sunny slopes has played a dominent role in the distribu tion of population in the early phase of settlememt development in such a hilly terrain. As for example, the biggest and the oldest villages of the present-day Sikkim are located on the sunny slopes At persent,however,transport line and urban proximity jointly play dominant role in the distribution of population. DENSITY Density of population varies among the districts and even at the revenue block level. For instance,the East is the most densly pop ulated with 145 persons per sq km and the North is the most thinly populated district having 6 persons per sq km and this wide varia tion is mainly due to the elevation and ruggedness of the topogra phy CTable - 103. As per census 1981, the population is distributed over an area of about 1,710 sq km which includes 405 revenue blo cks,4 special blocks and 8 towns. The forest blocks are not inclu ded here as their area is not available in which only 1.8 per cent of the total population is found. For rural density only the reve nue blocks (405) and special blocks (4) have been considered which cover about 1696 sq kra or 23.9 per cent of the total geographical area containing 82 per cent of the total population with a density 28 Fig- 10 of 153 persons per sq km. However, density varies from 11 to 3500 persons per sq km in the rural areas,as mentioned earlier,and this wide disparity is more due to the non -availability of habitable land, Including cultivable land than cultural and social factors. About 65 per cent of the rural population is living with a density of below 250 persons per sq km and which is distributed over 78 per cent of the total rural areas. The low density is mainly due to the inclusion of large topographically unproductive land while high density occurs in areas with a balanced land use.Besides cul tivated land, transport route, bazars and proximity to the towns favour higher concentration of population. Rural density may be classified into four groups, name 1y, 1ow,moderate,high and very high IFig. 101 Low Dens i ty Cbelow 1001: In Sikkim,about 85 (20.9 per cent) of the total revenue blocks fall into the low density group and are main ly located at high altitudes and in steep valleys.They cover about 36.2 per cent of the total rural area or the habitable area with only 12.6 per cent of the total rural population, thus giving an average density of 53 persons per sq km. This zone covers mainly the outer boundary of the inhabited area which is higher in alti tude and consist of steep slopes together with highly dissected topography. In the entire low density zone, only 52.7 per cent of the total area is under cultivation and this is highly dispersed in nature with sparse distribution of hamlets CTable - lO). Moderate Dens i ty ClOi-250]: About 232 (57 per cent) revenue blocks represent moderate density. This zone represents about 49,8 per cent of the total rural area or the habitable area and about 52.6 29 per cent of the rural population, giving an average density of 162 persons per sq km which is almost equal to the average rural den sity of 153 persons per sq km. In this zone, about 79 per cent of the 1 a*nd is under cultivation. This zone covers mainly the south ern part of the state following the river valleys of moderate slo pe and constitutes about 56.3 per cent of the total cultivated land of the state. High Dens ity C251-500]: Seventy six (18.5 per cent) revenue blocks present high density which, covering 12.7 per cent of the total rural area and 28.2 per cent of the total rural population, gives an average density of 339 persons per sq km. Contiguity in spatial distribution is observed on a small scale in this zone. The reve nue blocks having bazars and tea gardens or occuring near the to wns or the main roads or on gently sloping valleys show high den sity. These pockets are mainly located in the southern part of the state. In this zone about 84.3 per cent of the land is under cul tivation CTable - 113. Very H igh Density C501 and above!: Only 12 or 3 per cent of the revenue blocks have a very high density. These pockets are highly dispersed in character and they are mainly confined to the bazars or on the periphery of the towns. Agglomeration of secondary and tertiary activitiy causes such pockets of population concentration This zone represents only 6.6 per cent of the rural population and covers only 1.3 per cent of the total rural area with an average density of 786 persons per sq km. In this zone only 63 per cent of the land is under cultivation CTable - IID. 30 Tabl-e 10 District vise Nan-land Ratio in Rural Sikkii: 1981 (Area in sq ka ) North East South Vest Total Total Area 4228 954 750 1166 7096 Geofraphicai Area Percentage 59.6 13.4 10.6 16.4 100.0 J Total Area 427.5 436.8 401.9 429.8 1696.1 Habitable Area Percentafe 25.2 25.8 23.7 25.3 100.0 Percentage of Habitable land to the total Geografrtiical Area 10.1 45.8 53.6 36.9 23.9 Total 26455 138762 75976 75192 316385 Total Population Percentage 8.4 43.8 24.0 23.8 100.0 Total 25346 93558 67987 72792 259722 Rural Population Percentage 9.6 36.0 26.2 28.0 100.0 Total Density 6 145 101 64 46 Density Rural Density 59 214 169 169 153 Source:Census 1981 I Habital area is the total area of 405 revenue blocks i Density per sq ka Tabl-« 11 Rural Density of Population and Land-Nan Ratio: 1981 . Share of . Density Grade Revenue Popula- Area Cultivated Cultivated Density Blocks tion I Land I Land • Lo« [below 2001 85 12.6 36.2 27.2 52.7 53 Hoderate llOO-KO] 232 52.6 49.8 58.3 79.0 162 High (251-500} 76 28.2 12.7 15.3 84.3 339 Very High 12 6.6 1.3 1.2 62.9 786 (501 I above] Total 405 100.0 100.0 100.0 71.2 153 souiQtMus 1981. I in percentage. I persons per sq ka. I percentage to the total area. 31 CO 1 03 « T-H ^1 X> «D 1 «o Du in "5 0 3: oi->H 1—1 fcd fcii n T-t CO D u-3 ^-1 •^ O T-t rH G 00 (0 Cj 1 ^( ^ T-H 3 J^ CM « :3 :^n o QpOOOOOOOOQOOOOOOOOC S••i* *** ^^ V-. *i«"s. f^^ *••* X'-^ *"** q:}Mou6 JO 36e:}uaou^^ GROWTH OF POPULATION Since 1901, Census data is available for Sikkim. The overall trend o^ growth is higher than the national growth rate and this has as well been recorded for the last decade with 50.8 per cent in 1971-81. The total growth between 1901 and 1981 is about 436.1 per cent CTable - 12). However, the decade between 1911-1921 shows a sudden decline in population, which conforms to the all India pattern [Fig. 111. From 1921 the rate of growth rises again and with the appearance of Gangtok as the first town in 1951, there is continuous rise of urban population in the state CTable - 11). The total growth in urban population is about 1761.7 per cent between 1951 and 1981. Large scale immigration and reduction in the rate of mortality, both for the infant and the aged with the support of medical faci1ities, have caused higher rate of growth. It is inter esting to note here that the rate of growth, between 1971-81, is generally high in the districts where the share of migrants to the total population is high. The growing immigration is the result of gradual emergence of secondary and tertiary activities together with agricultural development, particularly after 1975. On the other hand, majority of the medical facilities emerges after the merger of the state in 1975. The growth rate of population varies anong the districts CTable - 123. During the last decade the North district recorded the highest growth rate (103.3 per cent! while the lowest occurred in the West district (29.6 per cent). In the North district large-scale immigration into the small population bases has increased the growth rate. The impact of post-merger de velopment is not so significant in the West district which limits 32 Table - la Decadal Variation of Population in Sikkim; 1901-1981 Year North East South West Total Total -- 48.98 1901-11 Rural — 48.98 Urban Total — -7.05 1911-21 Rural -- -7.05 Urban — -• -- Total -- 34.37 1921-31 Rural — 34.37 Urban Total — 10.67 1931-41 Rural — 10.67 Urban Total — 13.34 1941-51 Rural -- 11.08 Urban — — Total -- 17.76 1951-61 Rural -- 15.08 Urban -- 149.56 Total 33.35 51.00 -- 29.38 1961-71 Rural 29.96 37.60 -- 22.42 Urban -- 148.53 -- 187.21 Total 103.28 62.07 42.85 29. 59 50.77 1971-81 Rural 102.44 39.24 35.89 29. 10 39.50 Urban 135.65 154.08 339.03 54. 84 159.73 Total -- 436.12 1901-81 Rural -- 349.57 Urban ------1761.66 sourc*: Census 1981. the growth rate. "So far as East district is concerned which has also the state capital under its administration the increase in rural population in the surrounding areas of the state capital and other towns is obvious" SEX-RATIO In Sikkim, the average number of females per thousand males is only 835. It may be observed that the proportion of female rises <5at India. C*n«u« 1P81. Sikkim. Port ZX A & B: a*n*ral Population TabL*a and Primary C*nsu« Abstract, p 77 33 from 1901 to 1921 but it declines gradually in the successive cen sus years CTable -133. In the urban areas, the ratio is very low (697) than the rural areas (864). Among the districts, the low sex Table - 13 Changes in Sex Ratio in Sikkim: 1901-1981 Year North East South West Total Total ------916 1901 Rural -- — — 916 Urban -- Total -- — — 951 1911 Rural -- — — 951 Urban -- Total -- — — 970 1921 Rural -- — — 970 Urban -- Total -- -- — 967 1931 Rural -- — — 967 Urban -- Total -- — — 920 1941 Rural -- — — 920 Urban -- Total -- — — 907 1951 Rural ------912 Urban ------686 Total 888 884 917 -- 904 1961 Rural 888 904 917 -- 911 Urban -- 752 -- -- 752 Total 853 791 909 937 863 1971 Rural 865 819 914 943 884 Urban 498 685 702 658 681 Total 789 797 854 906 835' 1981 Rural 799 842 869 912 864 Urban 523 703 680 685 697 Sourco:Census 1981 ratio is a common feature in the North district both the rural and the urban areas,whereas it is high in the West district. In Sikkim, there is a strong correlation between the rate of growth and the sex ratio. The district having low sex-ratio shows higher decenn- 34 ial rate of growth and those having high sex-ratio show a lower decennial growth rate, particularly in the rural areas CTable -14!). Table - 14, Relation between Sex-ratio and Rate of Population Growth in Sikkim Decenia 1 growth of SIe x ratio District popu1 at ion (1971 -81) (1981> Total Rural Urban Totsl i Rural U rban North 103.3 102.4 135.7 789 799 523 East 62. 1 39.2 154. 1 797 842 703 South 42.9 35. 9 339.0 845 869 680 West 29.6 29. 1 54.8 906 912 685 Total 50.8 39.5 159.7 835 864 697 sourc«:Census 1981. Migration is one of the possible reasons for such variation in sex ratio as migration not only makes the rate of growth to rise but also changes the male-female ratio. It is interesting to note that in the rural areas,the sex ratio is generally high among the migr ants CTable -273 and sex ratio is high in the districts where the sex ratio among the migrants is also high. Anyway, in general,the sex ratio is high among the Scheduled castes (913) and Scheduled tribes (927) both in the rural and the urban areas CTable -15Z>. In Table -15 Caste-wise Sex Ratio in Sikkim;1981 District Rural Scheduled Scheduled General Total Urban Caste Tribe Caste North Rural 831 949 624 799 Urban 656 827 395 523 East Rural 902 910 818 842 Urban 905 893 629 703 South Rural 932 953 846 869 Urban 1000 877 634 680 West Rural 919 934 906 912 Urban 570 802 632 685 Total Rural 909 933 838 684 Urban 923 889 629 697 sourc*:Census 1981, 35 the rural areas the low sex ratio among the general population group is a common feature in all the four districts. The ratio is almost equal for each community in the West district but the diff erence *is noticeable in between the Scheduled tribes,comprising 56 per cent of the total population,and general population group in the North district CTable -15>. According to 1981 Census,about 39.7 per cent of the total population belongs to the age group of below 14 years where the proportional share decreases in the successive age groups and it is only 3.1 per cent CTable -163 in the age group of above 60 years. In the rural areas the share of population in the age group of 0-14 years is higher than the urban areas and it is again high in the upper age groups CTable -173. But in the younger age group <15-19 to 30-39) the proportion is high in the urban areas. Migra tion is one of the possible reasons for such disparities in the age-structure as urban areas receive working population constitu ted mainly by the younger age-groups. The proportional share of male and female differs in each and every age group but it is not iceable in the minor or children age-group (0-14 year) in all the districts CTable -173. The district-wise variation within the age- groups is not so significant but it is noticeable if we compare be tween rural and urban population structure for each and every dis trict. The wide base of the age-sex pyramid is one of the indica tors of the higher rate of infant mortality, particularly in the rural areas. It is also common in the Eastern Himalayan region, as for example in the case of Arunachal Pradesh where age-sex struct- 36 Tabl-e 16 Age-Sex Distribution of Population in Sikkii and Arunachal Pradesh: 1981 Arunachal Pradesh Sikkii Age-group Total flale Feiale Total nale Feiale 0-14 Rural 39.9 38.0 41.6 40.6 38.6 43.1 Urban 35.4 29.8 44.2 34.5 30.2 40.4 15-19 Rural 8.2 8.1 8.5 10.2 10.0 10.4 ./ Urban 10.5 10.0 11.3 11.2 10.8 11.8 20-24 Rural 8.1 8.0 8.2 10.5 10,5 10.5 Urban 13,5 14.2 12.4 14.3 14.7 13,4 25-29 Rural 8.6 8.9 8.4 8.4 8.7 8.0 Urban 12.7 13.6 11.3 11.9 13.1 10.4 30-39 Rural 13.8 14.4 13.1 11.8 12.6 10.9 Urban 15.8 17.9 12.6 13.8 15.6 11.3 40-49 Rural 10.4 11.0 9.8 8.5 9.2 7.7 Urban 8.0 9.8 5.0 7.6 8.6 6.2 50-59 Rural 6.0 6.5 5.5 5.3 5.7 4.8 Urban 2.8 3.5 1.8 3.8 4.2 3.3 60 + Rural 5.0 5.1 4.9 4.7 4.7 4.6 Urban 1.3 1.2 1.4 2.9 2.8 3.1 Source: Census 1981 Tabl-e 17 Age-Sex Distribution of Population in Sikkii: 1981 (in percentage! Age-group North East South Vest Total Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban 0-14 M 35.7 28.5 38.3 29.9 38.5 31.4 39.8 35.4 38.6 30.2 F 44.0 39.9 43.8 39.7 42.6 44.6 42.4 46.1 43.1 40.4 15-19 M 9.9 12.9 9.9 10.6 9.8 11.4 10.2 10.4 10.0 10.8 F 9.9 14.2 10.3 12.0 10.5 10.9 10.4 9.9 10.4 11.8 20-24 M 12.0 14.5 10.5 14.9 10.1 14.1 10.5 12.2 10.5 14.7 F 10.6 10.8 10.7 13.5 10.2 14.0 10.5 11.2 10.5 13.4 25-29 M 10.0 14.3 8.6 13.1 8.5 13.2 8.5 11.4 8.7 13.1 F 9.1 13.4 7.6 10.3 7.9 10.8 8.0 9.9 8.0 10.4 30-39 M 13.6 13.7 13.0 15.6 12.7 15.6 11.6 15.3 12.6 15.6 F 11.1 10.5 11.0 11.6 10.9 9.2 10.6 11.0 10.9 11.3 40-49 M 9.5 7.7 9.4 8.7 • 9.4 8.1 8.7 8.0 9.2 8.6 F 7.0 7.1 7.5 6.2 8.0 5.8 8.0 6.2 7.7 6.2 50-59 M 5.0 5.9 5.7 4.2 6.0 3.8 5.7 4.3 5.7 4.2 F 4.0 2.2 4.6 3.4 5.0 2.9 5.1 3.0 4.8 3.3 60 • M 4.1 2.7 4.6 2.8 5.0 2.4 5.0 2.8 4.7 2.8 F 4.4 2.2 4.2 3.2 5.0 1.7 4.8 2.9 4.6 3.1 Source: Census 1981 M = Hale F ' Fe«le 37 ure is comparable with that of Sikkim both for its rural and urban population CTable -16!). CASTE AND COMMUNITY 9 The Lepchas.the Bhutias the Nepalese and the plain's man origi- niting from the other regions of the country constitute the major communities in Sikkim. The Tibetan immigrants are commonly known as hKxittcL in Sikkim. As mentioned earlier, the Lepchas are the ear ly settlers and they represented the largest community till the middle of 19th century. It was noted that the Lepchas constituted about A3 per cent of the total population in 1840. But by the end of 19th century the Nepalese became the major community in Sikkim. CTable - 185. The Lepchas and the Bhutias belong to the Buddhist Table - 18 Community-wise Distribution of Population in Sikkim;1891 and 1931 Community 1891 1931 Limbu 3356 10536 Gurung 2921 NA Murmi 2867 7617 Rai,J imd ar,etc. 2020 NA Khambu 1963 NA Khami 1670 NA Brahmin 1414 8530 Magar 901 NA Lepcha 5762 13030 Newar 727 3911 Dami NA 1866 Bhutias of Sikk im 4894 11070 Bhutias of Tibe t NA 560 Bhutias of Nepa 1 NA 3645 < Sherpa, Khame etc. ) Chetri 829 NA Others 1134 49043 Total 30458 109817 sourc©: Census 1891 and 1931 38 faith of religion whereas the Nepalese are by and large Hindus. Of course, a few Lepchas and Nepalese have been converted into Chris tianity and a few groups of Nepalese belong to the Buddhist faith. • At present, the Lepchas and the Bhutias (including Chumbipa, Dopthapa, Dukpa, Kogatey, Sherpa,Tibetan,Troraopa,Yo1 mo) belong to Scheduled tribes and comprise about 23.7 per cent of the total population. They are mainly concentrated in the northern part of the state CFlg. 121. About 56 per cent of the total rural population belong to the Scheduled tribes in the North district while it is only 18.3 per cent in the South district CTable- 193. Table - 19 Distribution of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Sikkim: 1981.(in percentage) District Rural Scheduled Scheduled Other Total Urban Caste Tribe Caste Number North Rural 2. 9 56.3 40.8 25675 Urban 6.8 31.2 62.0 780 East Rural 6.9 21.4 71.7 95520 Urban 7.3 23.5 69.2 43242 South Rural 5.2 18.3 76.5 70611 Urban 10. 1 7. 1 82.8 5365 West Rura 1 4.6 20.2 75. 2 73495 Urban 8.5 13.4 78. 1 1697 Total Rural 5.4 23.6 71.0 265301 Urban 7.7 21.5 70.8 51084 sourc*: Census 1981 The Dhameii, the Kami, the Lohar, the Majhi and the Sharki groups of 39 Fig- 12 resent only 5.8 per cent of the total population. In Sikkim.the "Scheduled Castes are recognised only among Hindus and Sikhs while the members of Scheduled Tribes may belong to any religion* . The proportion of Scheduled castes is high in the East district (7.02 per cent) and is low in the North district (3.02 per cent). The Hindus and the Buddhists are the major religious communities in Sikkim • The majority of the population belong to the Hindu religion in East, South and West districts followed by the Buddhist but in the North district the picture is just the re verse CTable - 20). The share of other religious population, like the Muslims,the Christians,the Sikhs and others is very insignifi cant in every district CTable - 20) but the rate of growth is very Table 20 Religion-wise Distribution of Population in Sikkim: 1981 (in percentage) Distr:i c t Buddhis t Christ an H indu Others North 61.6 1. 9 53.6 0. 9 East 27. A 2.3 68. 3 2.0 South 24. 9 2.8 71.4 0. 9 West 23.4 1.6 72.2 2.8 Total 28.7 2.2 67.2 1.9 Source: Census 1981. high in these groups CTable - 21!>. It is interesting to note here that the rate of growth of Hindu population is high in the North district where the share of Hindu population is low, while it is just the revet^e in the case of the West district CTable - 21). The I bud. India. C*naua tPOi. Sikkim. Pa.p<»r 3 of loe!S:Houa«hold Population by H»ligvon of Head of Household. 40 migration is one of the possible reasons for such variation in th( growth of population. Table - 21 Religion-wise Growth of Population in Sikkim: 1971-81. (i n percentage) District B uddhist Ch ristian H indu Others Total Popu- North 58.7 1132.5 251.5 1115.0 103.3 East 50.5 271.5 61.5 254. 1 62. 1 South 39.8 452.4 38.9 218.2 42.8 West 29.9 218.7 23. 1 7818.5 29.6 Total 45. 1 321.8 47.2 463.5 50.8 Source: Census 1971 and 1981, According to 1981 Census the majority of the popu lation speak the Nepali language (62.6 per cent) which is followed by Lepcha (7.3 per cent), Bhutia(7 per cent), Limbu (5.8 per cent) and Sherpa (3.5 per cent) . And about 6.3 per cent of the total population speak the language specified in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India . Among the districts,the proportional sha re of speaker in Schedule VIII language is high in the East dist rict and at th same time it is also high in the urban areas which is mainly due to the immigration from the other states CTable- 22!) India. Cenaua 10O1. SCkklm. Paper 1 of tfiB7: Household and Household Population by Language Mainly spoken in the Household. According to i0ei Census there are 14 languages in Schedu I ed VIII to the Con stitution of India. These are as follows: Assameese, Bengali. Oujrathi ,Hi ndi , Kannada, Kashi miri , Ma I ay am , Mar at hi .Oriya, Pun j abi ,Sindhi , Tami l,Telegu and Urdu. 41 Tabl-« aa Distribution of Population by Language aainly spoken in Household in Sikkia: 1981 (in percentage) North East South Vest Total Bengali Rural 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.2 Urban — 1.9 3.9 1.7 0.2 Hindi Rural 2.2 3.4 1.7 l.O 2.2 Urban 27.1 17.7 23.7 40.6 19.3 nalayalaa Rural 0.2 0.2 -- • -- 0.1 - Urban - 0.5 0.9 -- 0.5 Pun}abi Rural — 0.2 -- -- 0.1 Urban — 0.6 -- -- 0.6 Urdu Rural 0.2 0.5 - 0.1 0.2 Urban — 1.1 3.8 1.3 1.4 Others in VI! Scheluled'' Rural 0.1 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.2 Urban -- 0.9 0.3 -- 2.2 Total in Vll Scheduled Rural 3.0 5.1 2.0 1.3 3.0 Urban 27.1 22.2 32.8 43.1 24.2 Bhotia Rural 14.0 8.6 5.6 5.6 7.5 Urban 23.9 4.7 0.7 1.0 4.4 Gorkhali/Nepali Rural 28.0 72.3 70.7 58.0 83.7 Urban 44.3 56.3 82.4 45.8 56.4 Lepcha Rural 31.7 4.9 5.0 7.9 8.3 Urban 3.7 2.0 0.5 0.2 1.8 Liibu Rural 7.4 1.2 2.8 17.6 6.8 Urban — 0.3 0.2 -- 0.2 Sherps Rural 4.5 2.5 5.3 4.3 4.0 Urban 0.6 0.9 0.7 0.2 0.9 Tibetan Rural 2.2, 0.7 1.1 0.5 0.9 Urban -- 4.2 0.1 3.2 3.7 Others Rural 9.2 4.7 7.5 4.8 5.8 Urban 0.4 9.4 2.8 6.0 8.4 Source:Census 1981 lAll the other languages specified in the Vll Scheduled of the Constitution of India * All other languages not specified in the Vll scheduled of Constitution of India 42 LITERACY In Sikkim,about 34 per cent of the total population is literate. The rata, is high among the male group both in the rural (40.25 per cent) and the urban areas (61.44 per cent). Among the districts the percentage of literate population is high in the East district while it is low in the South district CTable - 23). Literacy among Table - 23 Literacy and Rate of Participation of Workers in Sikkim: 1981 (in percentage) District Male klLi.RAT.E. MALtl W.O.RKE.RS Female Rural Urban Rural Urban North Male 39.3 59.4 58.9 60.7 Female 16. 1 44.4 30.6 58.7 East Male 45.2 61.8 54.6 59.4 Female 22. 9 46.7 32.0 16.0 South Male 41.6 60.4 57. 1 62. 1 Female 18. 9 38. 1 38.2 10.7 Uest Male 32.6 57.5 55.5 56.0 FemaIe 12.6 35.8 47.7 6.4 Total Ma 1 e 40. 3 61.4 55. 9 59.6 Female 18.2 45.4 38.0 15.2 Source: Census 1981. the Scheduled castes (28 per cent) and the Scheduled tribes (33per cent) is lower than among the general population. The rate of lit eracy in the state has, however, increased during the last decade and this is clearly noticeable in the female group CTable- 243. In Table - 24 Changes of Literacy rate in Sikkim: 1971-81 (in percentage) Year Total Male Female Total 17.7 25. 4 8. 9 1971 Rural 14.8 22. 1 6. 5 Urban 46.2 53. 5 35. 4 Total 34. 1 43. 9 22. 2 1981 Rural 30. 1 40. 3 18, 2 Urban 54. 9 61, 4 45, 4 SourcarCensus 1971 and 1981 43 the rural areas female literacy rate has increased very rapidly during the last decade and this is due to the all round develop ment in the state after its merger with India (after 1975). During the last decade the number of schools has increased at a very fast rate in each district. According to 1981 Census, about 77.5 per cent (341) of the inhabited revenue blocks have educational faci lities . Literacy rate is directly proportional to the size of the revenue block: higher the size of revenue block higher is the literacy rate. The Government prefers to open schools in the large revenue blocks and it is sometimes not physically possible to att end school regularly in such a hilly country with heavy rainfall and severe cold. These two factors are responsible for low lite racy rates in the small revenue blocks CTable - 25;>. Table - 85 Literacy Rate by the Size of Population (Rural): 1961 Popu1 at ion Size North East South West Total Less than RB 12 16 19 11 58 200 Lit 24.7 33.8 26.5 11.2 24,5 200-499 RB 23 40 66 48 177 Lit 29.0 30.6 29. 9 16. 4 26.3 500-1999 RB 16 62 59 60 197 Lit 29.3 35.8 31.9 25.3 30.9 2000-5000 RB -- 8 -- -- 8 Lit -- 35.7 -- 35.7 Total RB 51 126 144 119 440 Lit 30.0 35.0 31. 1 23.0 30. 1 source: Census 1981 RB = Number of Revenue blocks Lit = Literacy rate in percentage. 44 OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE The main workers comprise about 46.6 per cent of the total popu lation of the state and the occupations are based primarily on ag riculture, Despite ecological demand of manual labour in the hilly agriculture,rurality and illeteracy are the main contributory fac tors for the higher participation rate of labour in Sikkim. Besi des, higher rates of female workers in the rural areas also incr ease the rate of total participation ratio CTable - 26>. Illite racy among the rural females as well as the paucity of labour ma kes it necessary for the females to work in the fields as members of the farmers family. This is particularly witnessed in the case of the West district where female literacy is very low, showing a high rate of participation of the females in agricultural activi ties CTable - 26!). In the urban areas the rate of participation Table - 26 Changes of Working and Non-working Population in Sikkim: 1971-81 (in percentage) 1§LI1 19.8.1 Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total Total 54.6 39.5 53.2 47.6 41.4 46.6 Total Mai n Male 63.4 58.8 63.0 55. 9 59.6 56.5 Worker Female 44.6 11.2 41.8 38.0 15.2 34.7 Total 45.4 60.5 46.8 50.4 58.2 51.7 Non-worker Male 36.6 41.2 47.0 43.4 39. 9 42.8 Female 55.4 88.8 58.2 58.6 84.4 62.4 soure«»:Census 1971 and 1981. among the male group is higher than the rural areas. During the last decade (1971-81),decrease in participation rate is noticeable in the rural areas which indicates the general improvement of the economic condition of the rural population. 46 At pr>esent, about 63 per cent (1981) of the total workers are involved in agricultural activities of which 60 per vo cent as cultivators and 3.3 per cent as agricultural labours . It is very interesting to note that the proportion of cultivator in the working force is higher for the female group. This disparity is due to the existence of larger employment scopes for the male workers in the non-agricultural activities. In the rural areas,the majority of the workers are engaged in agricultural activities in every district, the proportion being the highest in the West dist rict but lowest in the North district CTable - 27). In the urban areas very few workers are engaged in the agricultural activities. During the last decade (1971-81),proportiona1 share of cultivators has decreased in the rural working force CTable - 263 whereas the share of agricultural labours remained unchanged. Agricultural de velopment along the service opportunity in the other sector (ma inly tertiary) has reduced the share of cultivators in the rural areas during the last decade,main 1y after 1975. During this period changes are noticeable not only in the agricultural sectors but also in the other sectors where proportional share of workers has increased in the secondary and the tertiary sectors. According to 1981 census, only 10 per cent of the workers is engaged in secon dary sector in the rural areas of Sikkim CTable - 27D and 7.8 per cent is engaged in the construction workers. The share of constru ction workers is high in the North (15.3 per cent) and East (11 per cent ) districts. These two districts offer larger opportunity 70 lndi.a. C*n«u« 1081. Sivkkvm. Port IS A & B:Diatrlct C*nau« Handboolc. 46 Table - 27 Distribution of Norking Population in Sikkin: 1981 (in percentage) terking i North East South West Total Category I Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban T iD 3^3 Wii To 76J lib isTl ol 69l FT I H 36.1 3.2 50.B 0.9 70.2 2.1 76.0 0.5 61.3 1.1 F 58.8 3.6 79.7 1.3 88.0 6.9 92.4 - 85.0 1.7 T 13.2 - 3.4 0.4 1.7 0.4 3.1 7.2 3.7 0.6 II « 13.9 - 3.6 0.3 1.9 0.4 3.2 6.9 4.1 0.5 F 11.5 - 3.1 0.7 1.5 0,4 2.9 11.4 3.2 0.9 T' 7.8 0.8 1.0 l.l 1.7 0.4 0.4 1,3 1.7 1.0 III (1 9.6 0.6 1.3 1.0 1.6 0.4 0.8 1.4 2.1 l.O F 3.6 1.8 0.4 1.8 1.8 0.4 -- - 0.9 1.1 T -- ~ 0.4 ------0,1 IV M - _ 0.6 ~ - - - - 0.2 - T 1.2 6.3 1.3 2.0 0.5 7,1 0.6 5.8 1.0 2.7 VA n 1.1 7.1 1.5 1.6 0.5 7.5 0.6 5.3 1.0 2.4 F 1.1 1.8 0.9 4.1 0.1 4.3 0.3 11.4 0.5 4.1 T 1.5 1.9 2.1 10,3 0,8 10.1 0.5 9.9 1.2 10.1 VB n 1.4 1.6 2.6 10.0 l.l 10.9 0.8 9.4 1.6 lO.O F 1.8 3.6 1.2 11.8 0.3 3.0 0.2 15.8 0.6 10.0 T 15.3 10,4 11.0 14.0 5,8 11.8 3,7 6.9 7.8 13.5 VI M 15.7 10.6 12.6 14,5 7.5 11.9 5.6 7.3 9.7 13.8 F 14.2 8.9 7.6 11.6 2.9 11.2 1.2 2.3 4.5 11.4 T 2.3 38.2 2.0 14.3 1,4 22.8 1.0 41.1 1.6 16.4 VII M 2.7 40.6 2.7 15.9 2.0 23.2 1.4 43.1 2.2 18.0 F 1.4 25.0 0.6 6.1 0.5 19.7 0.3 15.9 0.5 7.6 T 2.3 38.2 2.0 14.3 1.4 22.8 1.0 41.1 1.6 16.4 VIII M 2.7 40.6 2.7 15,9 2,0 23,2 1.4 43,1 2,2 18.0 F 1.4 25.0 0.6 6.1 0.5 19.7 0.3 15.9 0.5 7.6 T 15.4 30.5 17.8 52.7 10,9 38.6 7.5 23.5 12.6 50.0 IX n 18.7 26.0 23.2 50.9 14.5 36.8 11.3 22.0 17.1 48.0 F 7.5 55.3 6.5 62.9 4.9 52,8 2.7 43.2 4.8 61.6 SourcerCensus 1981 T = Total. M = Male. F = Fenale I.Cultivaror II.Agricultural labourers III.Livestock,Forestry,Fishing,Hun ting and Plantations,Orchards IV.Mining and Quarrying and allied activities V,Manufacturing,Processing,Servicing and Repairs VI.Construction (A) Household Industry (B ) Other than Household Industry VII.Trade and Coiaerce VI11.Transport,Storage & Conaunications IX.Other Services 47 for work in the construction of roads,(incIuding National Highway) bridges and buildings. In the urban areas, the share of secondary workers is high,particular1y in the industrial sector.In the rural areas onl/ 14.7 per cent of the total number of workers are enga ged in the tertiary sector whereas they represent about 70.9 per cent in the urban areas. And among the districts the percentage is again higher in the North and East than in the other two districts Majority of the workers in the tertiary sector are engaged in the miscellaneous activities. The occupational structure of the state is highly monofunctiona1. However, from 1975 onwards the develop ment programmes have introduced some elements of functional diver sification in Sikkim,particu1ar1y in the East and North districts. The emerging secondary and tertiary activities together with agri cultural development indicate economic progress in the state. MIGRATION As referred to earlier, the persent composition of population is the result of large scale immigration since the penetration of British power into the state although immigrants had started to settle there in the early part of the 17th century. The higher growth rate, in spite of the high rate of infant morta1ity,and the low sex ratio are the products of large scale immigration. It has already been pointed out that the Nepalese are the major immi grants in the state and the majority of them started to settle down permanently since the penetration of British power. It is important to note here that, in 1911 the Nepalese migrants consti- 48 tuted about one-fourth of the total population of the state . The British administrators encouraged Nepalese immigrants for two main reasons; (i) to maintain ethnic balance as the ruling Bhutias ma- intained good relation with the Buddhist Tibetans, {ii) to raise the income of the state through agricultural development with the help of Nepalese immigrants as they were advanced in cultivation. Further, the emergence of secondary and tertiary activities have accelerated the number of immigrants (mainly from neighbouring states),particular1y after 1975. According to the 1981 census,mi grants represent about 32.9 per cent of the rural population and about 57.6 per cent in the urban population in Sikkim . In the rural areas these vary between 23.8 (West) and 43.4 per cent (North) among the districts CTable - 28). The growth of population is closely associated with Table - 28 District-wise Distribution of Migrants in Sikkim: 1981 (in percentage to the total population) RURAL URBAN District Total Male Female Total Male Female North 43. 4 42. 8 44. 1 71.5 75. 0 64. 9 East 39. 1 37.0 41. 5 56. 4 60. 2 50. 9 South 30. 2 25. 7 35. 4 66.5 70. 6 60. 4 West 23.8 17. 9 30.4 55.6 58. 2 51. 7 Total 32. 9 29. 4 37.0 57. 6 61.5 52. 1 Source: Census 1981 migration and thu rural areas as well show a high proportion of migrants in the total population CTable - 29). Migration not only 71^India. . c«nsua 1P 49 increases the rate of population growth but also influences the male-female ratio in population. Generally, the number of female migrants is higher than the male migrants, particularly in the rural are*as of the South and West districts CTabl© - 28). The sex ratio is low among the rural migrants in the East and North dist- Table 29 Migration and Growth of Population In Sikkim: 1981 (i n percentage) District Below 1-4 5-9 Above Total Growth of 1 Year Year Year 10 yrar Migrant Population (1971-81) North Rural 21.2 30. 6 14.2 34.0 43.4 102. 4 U r ban 16.8 37.3 20. 1 25.8 71.5 135.6 East Rural 12.8 29.2 18. 2 39.8 39. 1 39.2 U rban 11.5 37.7 19.5 31.3 56.4 154. 4 South Rural 13.4 27.4 14.2 45.0 30.2 35. 9 Urban 7.7 42.3 21.4 28.6 66.5 339.0 West Rural 13.2 23.0 14.8 49.0 23.8 29. 1 U rban 15.2 23.7 20.6 40.5 55. 6 54.8 Total Rural 14. 1 27.7 16.0 42.2 32.9 39.5 U rban 11.2 37.8 19.8 31.2 57.6 159.7 Source: Census 1981 » percentage to the total Population ticts where the male migrants exceed the number of females as the reasons for movement cause such differences in sex I'atio. It is interesting to note here that the male-female ratio among the non- migrants population remains equal in each district CTable 30!>. Table - 30 Sex-ratio among the Migrants of Sikkim: 1981 District MIGRANTS NON-MIGRANTS* Rural Urban Rural Urban North 823 453 780 729 East 945 594 782 868 South 1195 581 755 918 West 1554 609 772 787 Total 1085 590 771 868 Source: Census 1981 « born in the place of enumeration 50 Matter in connection with marriage is one of the most important reasons for migration in the rural areas of West and South dist ricts as in the paternal society marriage increases the female movement.* The rural areas of Sikkim, receive the majority of its migrants from the surrounding regions whereas long distance migration is common in the urban areas CTable - 31). The rural areas have received 58 per cent of the male migrants and 72 per cent of the female migrants from the state itself and most of them come from the same districts CTable - 31). About 20 per cent of the male rural immigrants has moved from the other states of our country (mainly from West Bengal and Bihar) and also from other countries (mainly from Nepal). Among the districts these differ ences are not very sharp except in the North district CTable - 32) where the strength of migrant from other countries (mainly Nepal) is high. Since long back the sparsely populated North district su ffers from an acute shortage of man power and as such it is rather forced to invite labourers from outside. 'Marriage' and 'family moved' are the two major reasons for migration in the rural areas of Sikkim;on the contrary "employment' is the major reason for urban migration. 'Family mo ved' refers to partial or permanent movement of the whole family with the head of the family who may have moved for other reasons** Movement for social reasons requires close social relation as well as ecological sirailirity between the places of origin and destina tion. In rural Sikkim, the majority of the migrants originate fr om the surrounding areas of the state,the adjoining state,hill di- 51 Table 31 Distribution of Migrants by the Places of Last Residence in Rural Sikkii:1981 (in percefltaje) North East South Vest Total Hale 24.8 46.5 40.3 47.3 42.0 Uithin District Feiale 38.6 57.0 53.6 65.7 56.1 Hale 28.9 9.8 21.7 17.1 16.6 Other District Feule 27.3 11.0 23.4 13.2 16.5 Hale 57.3 56.3 62.0 64.3 58.6 Within State Feule 65.8 68.0 77.0 78.9 72.6 Hale 1.6 7.2 3.6 4.1 5.1 Bihar Feule 0.4 2.0 0.8 0.3 1.1 Hale 1.0 1.5 2.0 0.9 1.5 Uttar Pradesh Feaale 2.2 1.2 0.5 0.3 0.9 nale 5.1 11.1 11.4 14.3 10.9 Vest Bengal Feeale 4.0 12.0 9.7 10.3 10.1 Hale 10.1 24.0 18.6 21.1 20.2 Other States Feule 9.4 19.0 11.8 11.9 14.1 Hale 0.6 1.1 0.4 0.4 0.8 Bhutan Feiale 0.4 1.1 0.2 0.2 0.6 Hale 2.6 0.9 1.6 0.2 1.2 Tibet (China) Fenle 2.0 0.6 1.2 0.1 0.8 nale 32.9 17.5 17.2 13.9 19.1 Nepal Feiale 22.2 11.3 9.7 8.8 11.5 Other Foreign Hale 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 Countries Fenle 0.1 — 0.1 0.1 0.1 Total Foreign Hale 36.2 19.7 19.4 14.6 21.2 Countries Feaale 24.7 13.0 11.2 9.2 13.0 Source: Census 1981 > All the States and Union Territories of India except Sikkia 52 vision of West Bengal,and the neighbouring country of Nepal. Mig ration for 'employment' is relatively small in the rural areas and are mainly male-dominated CTable- 325. In the rural areas about 50 Table - 33 Reasons for Migration with the Place of Last Residence in the Rural Areas of Sikkim: 1981 Reason for U i thin the Other Other^ F oreigh T otal Migrat ion D istric t District State C ountry M igrants Employment Male 4062 2653 4082 3180 13978 Female 640 350 37 1 416 1778 Educat ion Male 725 319 273 100 1416 Female 257 118 127 38 540 Fami 1 y Male 8221 2457 1915 2371 14963 moved FemaIe 6800 2404 2398 2169 13771 Marr ia ge Male 417 128 78 117 741 Female 14917 3817 2822 2107 237 17 0 thers Male 4207 1387 2146 3115 10855 Female 2930 766 847 1174 5717 Total Male 17632 6944 8494 8883 41953 Female 25545 7508 6565 5905 45523 Source: Census 1981 » All the states and union territories of India except Sikkim per cent of the movement for 'employment'has arrived from the nei ghbouring state of West Bengal and Nepal. Sikkim has received a good number of migrants since the merger of the state in 1975 and the share is high in the urban areas. The rural areas of Sikkim has received about 41.8 per cent of its total migrants during the last 4 years CTable - 295 which is about 49 per cent in the urban areas. Among the districts, the South and the West districts have received a comparatively smaller number of migrants during the last decade. Where the rate of popu lation growth is also low during the last decade (1971-81). 53 CIHAIPTEIR OD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TOWNS AND URBAN POPULATION STRUCTURE ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF URBAN CENTRES Urbanization is a very recent phenomenon in Sikkim which is recorded for the first time in 1951 with Gangtok as the lone centre in the whole country. It is interesting to note that, till 1961 Gangtok was the only town in Sikkim and at p^@sent (1981). There are altogether eight towns distributed in the four districts of Sikkim IFlg. 71. Urban population constitutes only 16 per cent of the total population according to 1981 census. Gangtok accounts for abou^ 72 per cent of the total urban population in 1981 where as the remaining seven towns (Singtham, Jorethang, Rangpo, Namchi, Nayabazar, hangan and Gyalshing) jointly share only 28 per cent of the total urban population. In Sikkim, towns have grown from Bazcur or marks'v places, whatsoever might be the reason for the origin of the tia^^nz a: *-hat particular location. Since the end of the 19th.century, after the penetration of British power,economic development based on seden tary agriculture started with the help of Nepalese immigrants as they brought a major part of the land under plough and introduced several advanced techniques in cultivation including "terrace cul tivation" . Before that the economy was based on hunting,food gat- whit*, jc sikkim and Bhutan: Twenty on© yo S4 2 hering, shifting cultivation and animal herding along with some trading activities at the higher altitudes . There was not a single regular market during that period and the Bhutia pedlars bartered Tibetan salt, tea and other commodities with the local products like,rice and natural dyes. This exchange was purely sea sonal and there was hardly any fixed place for such exchange, except a few large monasteries . It is the Marwarvs -- a trading community of Rajasthan, who opened shops for the first time in Sikkim and thus initiated activities on a commercial scale. When the British Residency was established in 1888, the Marwctris moved 7 to Gangtok as Cashiers of the British force and very soon they became the suppliers to the British Military troops in Sikkim. In this small hilly border state political penetration in the wake of of original economic penetration,had had several repercussions and the region derived the benefits of hospitals, schools and good ro- ads including trade routes. After the appointment of a Political Officer (J.C.White) in 1889 at Gangtok, the capital shifted from Tumlong to Gangtok though the Maharaja started living at Gangtok 2 Sinha,AC. Politic* in SikkimzAn anthropological Study. Faridabad,ThoTn*on I>r*a« 1075. a l.ouis,jrAH. Oat** of Tib«t. I>*lhi,Viv*k I>ublication. iPTS. At that period a number of Lama* took active part in border trade and it i* not unexpected that like in Tibet,fev large monasterie* of Sikkim also ser ved a* a place of exchange. The trading eommunitie* of North and North Veetern India are commonly kn own a* Mcwxaari in India. In Sikkim they are known a* KoyCLS. Sinha,AC. politic* in Sikkim:An anthropological Study. Faridabad,Thom*on Press 1075. p SO not before 1894 and by 1900 several roads converged at Gangtok {Fig. 131 including the Indo-Tibet trade routes. Gradually several trade registration centres (Rhenock,Majitor,Me 11i,and Gangtok) and halting place for muleteers (Mangan,Rong1i,Pakyong and Namchi) ap peared along the trade routes. These centres were not so important at ^he end of 19th. century as the Indo-Tibet trade, through SikkiiDi started f lour i shing only after the Lhasa convention of 1904 , Dur ing that period there were no towns or even villages In Sikkim except clusters of houses at such place like at approach to will- age lying near the King or the Raja's Palace at Tumlong and Gan gtok; around Pache khoni copper mine; or around large monasteries like Pemayangtse,Tashiding,Phensong and the bazar of Rhenock,Paky ong, Rangeet and Rammam . From the beginning of the twentieth cen tury,besides the registration centres and halting places, a number of bcLzax-s or market places began to appear along the main roads and started functioning on the basis of the aggregate demands of the surrounding rural population. During that period a major part of the southern Sikkim had been colonised by the Nepalese settl ers and gradually such centres emerged where exchange of the li ttle surplus products of these communities took place for daily consumption. By 1910, hats or weekly markets had become a common feature in some of the important bazar places like Gangtok, Sing- 12 tham, Rangpo, Pakyong,Rhenock,Chidam, Namthang, Namchi and Majitar . Since the opening of the Cart road from Gangtok to Siliguri, the e Co*lho,VH. Siikkim and Bhutan. N»w D«lht. Indian Council of Cultural ^•••arch, Lall^JS. Sikkifn. India. Report of t h» Slat* of Sikkim and Bhutan for iaa»-00. For«igH Dopart- m«nt. Sacrot E. No. 28 Kongral NuKu,P • Donkio P 28- /Nangn<3^ / Yoomthond iGora P / -J Khorabu M iTvanglachen P \ iLochen Lochoong ) Tolungf / /Thongkor P / ^ phoongtli^ng \ Nango \ J ) lihumbi Tumlong ^Chola ft >y^ /^ Vcrtung ^ / POT iiM^ng Tar> ••-v.^kattppong (.Doling Fort, 21*- I KO«Mong^ o M- MofMttery s \^ X(P) Poss 8 0 6 16 Kms "^ Road ( • ,...• RoH Internotionol Boundary Notional Boundory rStt-KsURl _| 88" 89° AdoplM F)««ii- L.A.WaM«tl Fig- 13 new Capital Gangtok became very popular as a trade centre because of-its closer location to Chumbi valley offered the main route bet ween India and Tibet via Natu la (pass). In 1918,the "Bazar Commi ttee* was formed in Gangtok and a sub-committee in Singtham,Rangpo Pakyong, *Rhenock, Nayabazar and Soreng to regulate the price of 19 goods and transport charges . In course of time the number of bazars increased and in 1934 there were 30 bazars of different cl asses in Sikkim IFig. 141 among which Gangtok,Singtham and Rangpo were located on the Cart road;Rhenock and Rongli on the Tibet road and Namchi and Majitar in the Western subdivision, west of Tista 15 river were the principal centres of population and trade . Du^ring that period Gyalshing and tiangan remained isolated as small centr es,and in 1936-37 there were only 30 houses including half a dozen stores with cheap stock of mixed goods in Mangan . In 1951,Gangtok appeared as a town in the Census and from 1954 a development plan started in Sikkim with the aid of India but in 1962 Tibet border was closed in connection with Indo-China war,which not only closed the old border trade but also changed the direction of the commo dity flow.With the stoppage of border trade and the subsequent new alingment of roads constructed through the "Development plan' the flow of commodities became unidirectional,with its ultimate desti nation to Siliguri situated in the south in Dar^jeeling district of West Bengal.On the other hand the stoppage of border the bazars like Jorethang--Nayabazar, Rangpo and Singtham located along the India. Admini alraltv* Report of ih« Si-kktw atat* for i / ( } / r ^ •> I L •V k ^ G^NGTOK J /^ SINGTHAM ..RANGPO ••>•../ # BAZAR WITH WEEKLY 20 km MARKETS d.i Fig- 14 roads leading Siliguri started to develop at a faster rate, In 1963, Sikkim was finally divided into four dist ricts namely North, East,South and West. Gangtok,1ying in the East district remained as the capital of the state while Namchi(South), Mangan (Morth) and Gyalshing (West) became the district headquart ers. In 1969,the Government constituted seven'bazar committees'for the important bazars like Gangtok,Singtham,Rangpo, Nayabazar-Jore thang, Namchi,Gyalshing and Mangan and all of them were treated as towns for the purpose of Census operation in 1971 . Thus in 1971 Census,these seven bazars were considered as town 'on the basis of having notified Bazar Committees* and in 1981 Census, they 'have again(been) considered as urban areas in order to maintain a simi larity and comparability of data' Out of these seven towns of 1971, the twin towns of Nayabazar--Jorethang have been treated as two separate towns in 1981 viz, Nayabazar falling under the juris diction of West District and Jorethang under South District,bring- ing the total number of towns to eight IFig. 71. Type of C^igin The pt-ocess of urban development in Sikkim is not complicated as there have been two main forces in operation to give rise to urban activities. This is clearly evidenced by the following cases. ADMINISTRATIVE ORIGIN Gangtok and Namchi appear as the seats of local chiefs (Kazi) prior to the penetration of British power in Sikkim . The ridge- India. C*n*u« ie^4. Sikkim. District C«n»u« Haridbook. p pr*fao* *^"lndia. C»ri«u« IPSl. Sikktw.Part i« A * B. Diatriet C«n«u« Handbook.vtllo^* and Town Dir«ctory. p 1 *** .. ^ Ibid. Wad*llXA. Among th« Himalayoufi. D«lhi,Mlttal. ie^e». S8 top location of these centres not only offer defensive site but also offer better site for habitation in such a dissected topo graphy. In course of time monasteries were established in these 21 places . Thus,long before British penetration,they started serving as administrative and religious centres for the local populace.The establishment of British Residency and the shifts of capital have initiated the growth of modern Gangtok. By the end of the 19th. century, Gangtok became one of the important trade centres and se veral roads converged at this place. Gangtok became a Tahsil head in the 1950's and became the headquarters of East district in 1963 With the introduction of planned economic development since 1954 the capital witnessed the establishment of several administrative institutions. But the major developmental works started from 1975 onwards when several administrative and allied institutions star ted to apear in this newly-born state capital. Besides the estab lishment of several state and district level administrative insti tutions several modern amenities also started to appear for the local residents as well as for the entire state population. In 1975, a municipal form of local self government was introduced for the first time in the capital town. Before the shifts of capital from Tumlong to Gang tok, Darjeeling was connected with the Tumlong via Namchi and Bri tish officials used to travel by this routes in the middle of 19th century . In course of time, however,Namchi became the headquar ters of the Tahsil in 1950's and of the district in 1963. During zi In aanglok a. moncu*t«ry wow *st level offices together with school, hospital,etc. were established at Namchi and as in other parts of the state,the major development took place after 1975. Under the new political set up,several ad- ministra"^ive and allied institutions came into existence in this district headquarters. COMMERCIAL ORIGIN As has been mentioned earlier,the beginning of the twentieth century saw the emergence of a number of bctears or market places strung along the existing important routes. All of them were situ ated at some favourable 1ocation, 1 ike river confluences which ult imately developed into a major nodal points. With the penetration of British power new roads were constructed following the course of the major rivers in the southern part.Thus,the new alingment of roads and spread of settlements in the southern part initiated the establishment of market centres at Nayabazar, Singtham and Rangpo. Unlike the above mentioned centres, Gyalshing and Mangan came to be located in the northern part along the Darjee1ing~Tibet routes. Previously Mangan used to act as a halting place for muleteers of the traders and, as mentioned earlier,in course of time it turned into a market centre since the beginning of the 20th.century.Gyal- shing, on the other hand, appeared as a market centre in the later period.Among those important bazars,Gyalshing and Mangan were made district headquarters in 1963 and given urban status in 1971 along with another three important bazars namely Nayabazar, Singtham and Rangpo. Jorethang is nothing but an extension of Nayabazar across the bridge over Rangit river but it is listed as a separaate town in 1981. In SIkkim, the towns are almost isolated settlements 60 occuring in the southern part of the state where all the settleme nts are concentrated IFig. 9). In this connection it is necessary to note that habitable land covers only 23.45 per cent of the total geographical area of the country and the remaining 76.55 per cent of "the land is not availai/ible for use for habitation as most of it is either forest land or inaccessible mountain tracts. With in the settled area the towns are not distributed uniformly as the distribution pattern is determined by the topography together with the existing transport system. To be more specific,in this Himala yan state two physical elements- the valleys and uplands (ridge or cliff) - seem to have decided the location of towns IFig- 31. For instance, in the upland areas, the ridge- top and cliffs offer the site for towns and among the upland towns Gangtok (1818 m> and Namchi (1525 m) are located on the ridge-tops. On the other hand, Mangan(1310 m) and Gyalshing (1524 ra) have developed on the cliff, having almost the same physical environment as on the ridges. One of the important factors about these ridge towns is that the seat of local chiefs formed the original nucleus of these towns which in course of time developed as nodal centres. But the cliff towns are of late origin and the original nucleus was a number ot small shops on the major transport routes and subsequently a number of roads have converged at this point. At present, all the four high land towns form the headquarters of the four respective districts of North,East,South and West, although,at present, new administra tive buildings are not confined within the limits of Gyalshing and Mangan. Both Gyalshing and Mangan are located at the northern limit of the settled area of the state where poor accessibility, forbidding terrain, insulation from the external influences of so cial and economic development and highly dispersed rural popula- 61 tion limits the size of these towns. In contrast, all the towns located in the valley, that is,on river terraces are found concen trated on the southern border of the state, along the two south- flowing rivers-Tista and Rangit IFig. 71. The valley towns are of late origin and like cliff towns, the original nucleus consists of a number of small shops on the main transport routes. Alignment of the roads is highly influenced by the surface configuration. For instance, in the Inner Himalayan zone the meeting point of the two rivers not only forms the point of berak-of-s1 ope but it also pre sents three open valleys where the roads follow the valley-floors. Among the towns developed on the river terraces are Nayabazar (381 m) and Jorethang (365 m) located at the meeting point of Ran git and Rammam river;Singtham (380 m) located at the meeting point of Tista and Singtham chu; and Rangpo (360 m) located at the mee ting point of the Tista and Rangpo chu (Fig. 4,1. It is important to note that the entire settled area is found concentrated in the two distinct basins of Rangit in the west and Tista in the east. And two important roads going northward follow the Tista and Ran git when most of the towns (except Namchi )are located along these two roads. On the other hand, Namchi is located in the watershed between those two basins and is connected with those two major routes. All the roads of the Rangit basin converge at Jorethang - Nayabazar. In the Tista basin most of the roads converge at Sing tham IFig. 71. GROWTH AND STRUCTURE CHF URBAN POPULATION At present the eight urban are^eof Sikkim represent about 16 per cent of the total popuI at ion.The rate of Sikkim's urbanisation 62 is lower than the all India average (23.3 per cent) 2a CTable - 33!) Table - 33 Urban Popualation Structure in India: 1981 (State wise) State and Union Decenial Growth Urban Popu- Sex Li teracy Terr i tor ies (1971-81) lation Ratio Maie Female Andhra Pradesh 48. 6 23.3 948 61. 9 41.6 Assam 58. 8 10.3 768 NA NA Bihar 54. 8 12.5 832 62.5 39.8 Gujarat 41. 4 31. 1 905 68.6 51. 1 Haryana 59. 5 21.9 849 64.9 47.4 Hiraachal Pradesh 34. 8 7.6 795 73.3 60.0 Jammu and Kashmir 46. 9 21. 1 875 53.6 36.4 Karnataka 50. 7 28. 9 926 65.0 47.8 Kerala 37. 6 18.7 1021 80. 1 72.2 Madhya Pradesh 56. 0 20.3 884 64.4 42.3 Maharashtra 40. 0 35.0 850 71.8 54.6 Manipur 165. 4 26.4 969 64.3 40.2 Meghalaya 64. 0 18. 1 904 68.9 58.8 Nagaland 134. 0 15.5 688 69.3 56.9 0 r i s s a 68. 5 11.8 859 65. 1 42,7 Punjub 44. 5 27.7 865 60.7 49.7 Rajas than 58., 7 21.0 877 60.6 34.5 Slkklm 159.. 7 16.0 697 61.4 45.4 Tami1 Nadu 28., 0 32. 9 956 72.5 54.0 Tr ipura 38., 9 11.0 957 80.0 67. 1 Uttar Pradesh 60,. 2 17.9 846 54.7 35.4 Uest Bengal 31,. 7 26.5 819 69. 1 54.8 Andaman 8< Nicobar 89,. 3 26.3 720 71.7 57.0 Arunachal Pradesh 139 .0 6.6 629 60.8 41.2 Chand i garh 81 .5 93.6 775 70.2 61.0 Dadra & Nagar Haveli NA 6.7 884 62. 9 44.3 Delhi 58 .2 92.7 808 69. 1 54.7 Goa,Daman & Deu 55 . 1 32.4 919 72.0 57.4 Lakshadweep NA 46.3 963 68.7 48.3 M izoram 222 .6 24.7 893 77.3 70.5 Pond icherry 59 .4 52.3 992 71.8 54.2 India 46 .4 23.7 878 65.8 47.8 NA - Not available, soureo: Census 1981. though the rate is high among the States of the Eastern Himalayas like Bhutan (13 per cent) 24 , Arunachal Pradesh (6.6 per cent) and 29 India. C«nsua tMll. Part-2B. Primary C«naua Abstract and a«n«ral Population Tables . 24 Royal Oovt. of Bhutan. Planning Commiaaion. Fifth Plan-l©ai-87. p 5 63 1 • Town over Ri VP.T- 4- ^^ ^^"^^^ terrace (Jorethang) 2.Town over Ri ver terrace (Singth am) ,«i«*S*^ a."^o*» ' 3-Hill top town (Gyalshing) also states like Himacha! Pradesh, Assam, Tripura,Orissa,Bihar and Nagaland. And the rate is lower than the the bordering hill sub- 25 division of Darjeeling district of West Bengal (25.1 per cent) Among the urban areas in Sikkim, Gangtok is a class III town in terms of size-classification made by the Census of India 1981 and and all the other towns belong to class VI category CTable -345. The proportion of urban population vary among the districts, with Table - 34, District-wise Distribution of Urban Areas by Size Class: 1981 «Town Class „ i. ———— _____ Percentage District 1 II III IV V VI Total of Urban Populat ion North _____ 1 1 2.9 East - - 1 - - 2 3 31.2 South -----2 2 7.1 West ----- 2 2 2.3 Total 1 - - 7 8 16.0 sourc«:Census 1981. Town C1 ass* Populat ion Size I 100,000 and above II 50,000-99,999 1 I I 20,000-49,999 IV 10,000-19,999 V 5,000--9,999 VI Less than 5,000 about 31.16 per cent of the total population being residents of the three towns in the East district. In the West district the rate of urbanisation is, however, 1ower,representing about 2.3 per cent of the total population. Among the districts,again,urbanisa- tion is mainly concentrated in the East district, where about 84.6 25 Hill Sub-t>ivvsion of DOLrj«eLirig District covers th« Sadar Sub-divvotor.,Knrau- ncr Sub-diviaior> and Kaltmpong s:ub-divieton. per cent of the total urban population of the state is concentra ted in three towns of which Gangtok alone accounts for about 71.9 per cent of the total urban population CTable - 35>. Table - 35 Size,Class and Decennial Geowth of Urban Population: 1981 Name of Town District Number of Town Share Decennial Gangtok East 36747 I I I 71.9 176.0 Gyalsh ing West 745 VI 1.4 67.4 Jorethang South 3921 VI 7.7 414.6 Mangan North 780 VI 1.5 135.7 Namch i South 1444 VI 2.8 213.9 Nayabazar West 952 VI 1. 9 46.2 Rangpo East 2452 VI 4.8 37.4 Singtham East 4043 VI 7. 9 109.9 Total 51084 100.0 159. 7 sourc«:Census 1981 It is quite apparent that urban development in this Himalayan state is quite different from that of the plain areas of the other parts of India. This is largely due to the physical environment where the factors like accessibility, production and consumption have determining role. One of the common features of the urbanization of the Eastern Himalayas and adjacent hilly sta tes is the concentration of urban population in one or two big towns while the substantial contribution is made by the small towns. This is the case with Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh but it is quite different in the adjecent hill division of Darjeeling di strict which has a long history of Urbanization. Growth of Urban population The most interesting feature about the growth of urban popula tion in Sikkim is that during the last three decade (1951-81) there has been an increase of about 1761.7 per cent and this sta- ss ggering growth is the result of the low population base of the urban areas of Sikkim CTable - 3Ay, For instance, during the last decade (1971-81) the rate of growth in urban population has been 159.7 per cent, which is higher than the national average (46.39 per cent)»and is also higher than that in the other Eastern Hima layan region like Arunachal Pradesh and the hill division of Dar- jeeling district CTable - 365. At the same time the rate of growth varies among the districts and the highest growth rate is recorded in the South district CTable - 365. Similarly,it is also high in the district of North and East. Table - 36 Urban Population Composition of Sikkim and Adjoining Territories; 1981 Area Urban Population Growth Sex ratio Literacy ( in Percentage) ( 1971-81 ) Sikkim 16.0 159.7 697 54. 9 Arunachal Pradesh 6.6 139.6 629 53.2 Par jeel ing Hills 25. 1 39. 7 891 65. 2 .__. » Included Sub-division Sadar,Kursung and sourc* :Census 1981. i^ i • Kalimpong Among the towns,Jorethang shows the highest rate of growth during the last decade CTable - 355. The rate of growth is also high in the administrative headquarters like Namchi, Gangtok and liangan. The post-merger administrative set up together with other developments have naturally contributed to raise the rate of urban growth in these cases. During the last three decades Gangtok has changed its class-status in each decade, going up from a class VI town in 1951 to a class III town in 1981. No such change in India. C*n«u« IMIi. W*«t B*ngal. Part-2A. OI*n«ral Population TabL*«. class status has,however,been witnessed in the case of other towns The rate of growth is considerably high in Singtham (109.9 per cent) as well though recent urban expansion is not confined within the limits of the town boundary. In comparis ion,the rate of growth is rather low in Gyalshing (64.4 per cent), Nayabazar (46.2 per cent) and Rangpo (37.4 per cent) in which the impact of post mer ger development is not significant. On the other hand,isolated lo cation limits the size and growth rate in the official headquart ers of the West district like Gyalshing (Fig. 151.The lower growth rate of Nayabazar and Rangpo is mainly due to their location. The present Jorethang is nothing but the extension of Nayabazar across the river Rangit.The flat surface of Jorethang provides the recent residential and non-residential (commerce,admin istrative etc.) ex pansion of the town and thus the rate of growth rises on the boun dary of Jorethang instead of Nayabazar. Another town, Rangpo is located, 12 km south of Singtham, next to the border between Sikkim and West Bengal. Merger of the state and closure of Rangpo-Rhenock road after 1968 flood has limited the trading activities of Rang po. On the other hand, limited land for development pushes recent extension of the town beyond its present boundary. These two fac tors appear to have affected the rate of growth of Rangpo. The areal extension of Gangtok and Namchi, during the last decade,also helps to increase the size of urban population in those cases. ttenslty of Population The distribution of population is very much guided by the topo graphy and due to absense of sizeable flat land, compact nature of development is absent in the urban areas. Besides the flat surface the availability of sunny surface, steep slope and many other phy- [::^s::s::^3sz^ sical aspects influence the distribution of population. Accessi bility is one of the important aspects which influence the distri bution of population which is again guided by the topography.Besi- des, the distribution of population in these hill towns has been influenced by the location of the market and other urban ameni ties. In the urban areas of Sikkim density varies between 3,442 and 25,080 persons per sq km CTable - 375. Density is generally Table - 37 Density of Population in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1981 Name of the Towns Density per sq. km Gangtok 4661 Gyalshing 14457 Jorethang 10213 Mangan 4721 Narachi 3442 Nayabazar 6006 » Rangpo 22557 Singtham 25080 » » Area from 1981 census. # Approximately, sourcorCensus 1981 high in the valley towns like Singtham,Rangpo,Jorethang and Naya bazar where the flat surface provides ideal site for settlement de velopment in such a rugged topography. The absence of flat surface around the valley towns force the people to settle within a very limited space which raises the density per unit area. On the con trary, in the highland towns like Gangtok,Gyalshing,Namchi and Man gan, the distribution of population is uneven due to the presence of large amount of negative lands (steep slope, shadowed surface etc.) which discourage residential development. Within the urban areas of these small towns (except Gangtok) the variation in den sity is not significant although the majority of the population is concentrated in the shopping areas. In contrast, density varies widely in Gangtok IFig. 161 where it is very high in the commer cial area,and decreases towards the periphery. In Gangtok,the pop ulation is mainly concentrated in and around the main market areas on the western slope of the ridge which offers a gently sloping surface wit^k'h a sunny aspect CTable - 385. In contrast, the eastern and higher northern part shows very low density. A major part of the higher northern area is occupied by the Cantonment and the Census data excludes defence personnels which again reduces the density per unit area. Table - 38 Density of Population in Gangtok: 1981 Municipality Ward Persons per sq. km I 5896 1 I 6493 I I { 11956 IV 15053 V 7121 VI 6522 VI I 1871 VIII 2219 IX 1149 Total 4661 Source: Census 1981. Sex ratio In Sikkim, the number of female per every thousand males is only 835 whereas in the urban areas it is still lower,being 697. Urban sex ratio in Sikkim is lower than the all India average (878) and among the states and Union Territories CTable - 333 it is only higher than the Arunachal Pradesh (629) and Nagaland (688). Lower sex ratio of urban Sikkim implies that the newly born urban cent res of this hilly state are characterised by male immigration which is always in excess of females- Migration table (1981) shows that the ratio of females is very low among the migrants particu- BQ Fig- 16 larly who have come across the state boundary. However,as the fig ures show, the urban sex ratio has increased in all the districts, except in South district, during the last decade. This may,perhaps, is due to the overall improvement of urban amenities which draws not only the male workers but also their families. But in the Sou th district the unusal rate of growth, particularly at Jorethang, mainly consisting of male inmigrants, has a negative effect on the sex ratio. Among the towns,the sex ratio on the whole varies between 523 to 7A4 CTable - 395. Namchi (744) and Nayabazar (743) have the highest sex ratio where the high sex ratio among the Sc heduled tribes has a part to play in increasing the number of fe males in the population IFig. ISl. Gangtok, the capital of the Table - 39 Urban Sex ratio in Sikkim; 1971 and 1981 Name of the Towns 19 7 1 19 8 1 Gangtok 713 718 Gyalshing 648 616 Jorethang 724 658 Mangan 489 523 Namchi 667 744 Nayabazar 665 743 Rangpo 519 621 Singtham 659 625 TOTAL 6_81 697 sourc«:Censu5 1971 and 1981. state, has a comparatively higher sex ratio (718) where service opportunities and improved urban amenities have naturally attrac ted the family. In contrast,remote location and insufficient urban amenities jointly discourage female immigration into Mangan and Gyalshing. During the last decade sex ratio has also decreased in the towns like Jorethang, Singtham and Gyalshing and this can be 70 correlated with the steady increase in population and emerging co mmercial character of these towns. In the other towns sex ratio has increased during the last decade CTable - 393. In this connection it may be observed that the general improvement of urban amenities together with emerging functional character of the towns,after the merger with India, have largely defined the character of sex ratio for most of the towns in Sikkim. In this connection it is highly significant to note that the sex ratio among the Scheduled castes (923) and Scheduled tribes (889) is always higher than the general population in the urban areas of Sikkim CTable - AO'i. In Namchi and Nayabazar, for example, the number of females exceeds that of the males among the Table - 40 Caste-wise Sex ratio in the Urban Areas of Sikkim; 1981 Town Total Scheduled Scheduled Other Caste Tribe Caste Gangtok 718 906 900 641 Gyalshing 616 941 872 539 Jorethang 658 983 775 614 Mangan 523 656 827 395 Namchi 744 1100 1024 691 Nayabazar 743 1313 650 692 Rangpo 621 902 623 586 Singtham 625 901 805 578 TOTAL 697 923 889 626 Source: Census 1981. ' Scheduled castes. One of the interesting features about the tribal sex ratio is that the ratio is usually high in the headquarters towns as they are located on a higher ground within a tribal con centrated region and Scheduled tribal population, particularly the Bhutias prefer to live at higher altitude. In the valley towns, 71 (Singtham, Jorethang, Rangpo and Nayabazar),on the other hand, the tribal sex ratio is comparatively low and this may be due to the location of the towns in deep river valleys which tribal people, mainly the Bhutias,avoid for heat and humidity, Age-Structure In Sikkim, the broad age structure of the urban population is comparable with that of the rural population, having wide base and narrow top (Fig. 171 which is also common in the newly developing countries. Although the differences are noticeable in some speci fic age groups CTable - 17> and migration is one of the possible reasons for such differences,the proportional share of younger (0- 14 year)and aged group (40 and above) is higher,both for the males and females in the rural areas whereas only the share of young gr- oup(15-39) is high in the urban areas .Migration is always age and sex selective where young people are more mobile than the others and they mainly move from rural areas to the urban areas. The dis trict wise differences are not so prominent except in the West district where the share of younger group (0-14) is large, both in the male and female groups CTable - 17!). The existing functional character of the urban areas of the two towns of the West district fail to attract immigrants to a large scale which is reflected in the age structure where the proportional share of population in the active age group is low as compared with that of the other 27 India. C«nsua lP8i. Sikkim. Peu-t-SA & B and 5A. a«r.»ral Economtc and Socv.aL and Cultural Tables. 7a SIKKIM URBAN SEX PYRAMID-1981 , (blSTRICT-WISE) '50 40 30 20 10 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 per cent TOTAL URBAN Fig- 17 three districts. The dependency ratio is generally high among the female group in the urban areas of Sikkim. West district shows a comparatively high dependency ratio CTable - 41>. The sex ratio is low in all the age groups in the urban areas except in the South district'at the age groups of 0-4 where number of females exceeds the male population. Table - 4,1 Urban Dependency ratio in Sikkim; 1981 District Mai e Femal e North 45.34 72.71 East 48.59 75. 13 South 51.06 86.22 West 61.81 96.08 Total Urban 49.24 76.98 Total Rural 75. 96 91.25 sourcc.Census 1981 Literacy In Sikkim, the rateo^l i teracy is much higher in the urban areas (54.9 per cent) than in the rural areas (30 per cent) and in the district like, West and North, the differences are noti^c^able CTable - 23). Again, in general, the proportion of male literates (61.4 per cent) is higher than that of the females (45.4per cent). The rate of urban literacy is,however,very low for both sex in the West district but it reaches the maximum level in the East dist rict as most of the educational institutes are concentrated in the towns of the East district,main1y at Gangtok.On the other hand the functional character and existing urban amenities of those towns, 28 Youth Ago Oroup <0-i4 y oar fi > + Agod Ago aroup ( Name of the Towns j197L i. L 11 19.8.1. Male Feroale Male Female Gangtok 52.9 36.5 62.9 48.5 Gyalshing^ 55.6 32.6 60.3 45. 1 Jorethang 58.9 35.6 Mangan 48.4 27.3 59.4 44. 4 Namch i 71.0 47.3 64.7 44.5 Nayabazar 49.9 24.7 55. 1 29.3 Rangpo 52.9 33.6 51.3 29.5 S ingtham 56.0 36.3 58.2 39.6 Total 53.5 35.4 61.4 45. 4 it ' In 1917 Census Jorethang and Nayabazar are treated as twin towns Table - 43 Urban Literacy in Sikkim: 1981 (i n percentage) Towns Scheduled Scheduled Others Cas te Tribes Cas te Gangtok 55.5 56.3 60.8 Gyalshing 66. 7 57.8 52.8 Jorethang 39.8 56.3 50.6 Mangan 49. 1 57.6 53. 1 Namchi 42. 9 58. 9 56.6 Nayabazar 20.7 37.9 48.0 Rangpo 22. 1 36.8 46.6 S ingtham 41.2 48.8 52.7 Total 47. 9 55.8 55.3 Sourca:C e n S U S 1981 74 The rate of urban literacy is slightly lower in respect of all India average CTable - 33) and it is far below than that of the some states like Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan. It is also higher in the hill division of Darjeeling district *)ut is almost comparable with that of Arunachal Pradesh CTable - 36). However, during the last decade there has been a de tectable change in the rate of literacy and this is more prominent in the female groups CTable - 42>. The general rise in the number of literate population is the result of improvement of the educa tional facilities and changes in the functional composition of the population. During the last decade decrease in the rate of lite racy in Namchi may be correlated with the unusual rise of popula- 1 at ion. Casle and Community In Sikkim, there is no data on the community wise population in the urban areas. The 1981 Census make a classification of popula tion in terms of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes , re 1 igi- on and language which show only the broad division of the popula tions. As mentioned earlier, the Lepchas,the Bhutias and the Nepa lese are the three major communities in Sikkim. Socially,the Lep- chas and the Bhutias are highly mixed up with each other particul arly at the professional levels. Besides these three major groups, there are people who have migrated from various parts of the coun try and are mainly concentrated in the urban areas. The Lepchas and- the Bhutias belong to the Scheduled tribes in Sikkim.The Dhamat Kami, Lohara, Majhi and Sarki of Nepalese community belong to the Scheduled castes in Sikkim. In Sikkim, about 7.7 per cent of the total urban population belongs to Scheduled castes and about 21.5 75 per cent to the Scheduled tribes . Among the districts, the pro portion of Scheduled caste population amounts to about 7 per cent and 10 per cent of the total population CTabl* - 195. In contrast, there is a wide variation (7 to 37 per cent) in the proportion of Scheduled tribes population among the districts. It is important to note hgre that about 21.4 per cent of the total Scheduled caste population of the state live in the urban areas while Scheduled tribes comprise only 14,9 per cent although they vary widely among the districts CTable - 4413. Table - A4. Urban Living Population in Sikkim - Cast wise: 1981 (in percentage) -•'"^. District Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe Total North 6.6' 1.7 2.9 East 32.6 23.2 31.2 South 2.9 2,9 7.1 West 4.1 1.5 0.3 Total 21.4 14.9 16.4 sourc«:Census 1981 Among the towns the proportion of Scheduled castes to the total population is comperatively high in the towns located in the valleys CTable - 45> like Jorethang, Nayabazar, Rangpo and Singtham while the proportion of Scheduled tribes is high in the towns located at higher elevations, like Gangtok (26.5 per cent), Table - 45 Caste-wise Distribution of Urban Population in Sikkim: 1981 ( in percentage) Towns Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe Other Caste Gangtok 6.5 26.5 67.0 Gyalshing 4.4 . 21.6 74.0 Jorethang 11.7 5.4 82.9 Hangan 6.8 31.2 62.0 Naffichi 5.8 11.6 82.6 Nayabazar 11.7 7.0 81.3 Rangpo 12.7 5.4 81.9 Singtham 11.9 7.9 80.2 T o t a 1 7V7 21.5 70.8 Soure«:CensU8 1981 so .India. C*n«us ftMlt. sikkim. Kxri-ZA & B. a*n«ral Population Tabl«fi and Primary Consua Abatroct. yes Gyalshing (21.6 per cent), Mangan (32.2 per cent) and Namchi (11.6 per cent). The tribal populat ion,particularIy the Bhutias, prefer to settle down at the higher altitudes which becomes one of the important factors for such higher concentration of tribal popula tion in the highland towns. Migration is another possible factor for such higher concentration of Scheduled tribel population in those centres as the majority of the tribal population of the sta te are found concentrated in the adjoining rural areas of thosa towns where movement of the people to their nearest town is more easy, Religion and Language In terms of religion,the Lepchas and the Bhutias are the Budd- hisi whereas the Nepalese are mainly Hindus in Sikkim. A few gr oups of Newar and Tamang of Nepalese origin belong to Buddhists. Conversion from one religion to another is an extremely unj/icommon feature in Sikkim, and if it takes place, it is limited among the Lepchas and the lower castes of Nepalese, and in such cases they are mainly converted to Christan faith. The Hindus and the Budd hists form the major religious group here and they jointly share about 92.2 per cent of the total population in the urban areas. The remaining part of the population belongs to Christianity,Isl am, Sikhism, Jainism and others religious groups and they are very few or sometimes absent in the rural areas. In the urban areas of Sikkim,about 65 per cent of the total population belongs to Hindu religion and it is only 2^.1 per cent that are Buddhists,3.4 per cent Muslims,3.7 per cent Chr- 77 31 istians,and 0.2 per cent Jains CTable - 4455. In its geographical distribution the component of Hindu population is high in the ur ban areas of the South (76.6 per eent) and the Uest(78.5 per cent) districts, when the proportion of Buddhists population is compara tively high in the East (29.4 per cent) and North (30.9 per cent) distrlets.During the last decade one can detect noticeable changes taking place in the religibus composition of the urban population where the share of the Hindus has decreased in every district and other non-local (Sikh, Jains etc.) religious groups appear only in the urban areas.During this period the proportion of the Buddhists has distinctly increased in every district, except in the East. In the East district the proportion of the Hindus and Buddhists still remain the same. The town wise distribution of religious groups is interesting where the share of Buddhist population is comparati vely high in the towns located on the high altitudes like Gangtok, Gyalshing, Mangan and Namchi CTable - 46). Here, again site plays the dominant role in giving rise to such high concentration of Buddhist population since many of them are Bhutias. On the other hand,the towns located on the river valleys like, Jorethang, Naya- Singtham and Rangpo, contain a higher percentage of Hindu popu.a- lation CTable - •47). The proportion of other religious groups is not so significant except the Muslims in Gyalshing (11.1 per cent) and Namchi (9.1 per cent). But it is interesting to note that dur- 31 India. C«nsas toai.SikkCm. Pap«r 3 of 1<>Q5. Houa«hold Population by R«l\.gtori of Hoad of HousAhold. 7Q Table 46 Religion vise-Distribution of Urban Population in Sikkiit 1981 (in percentage) Towns Hindu nuslii Christian Sikhs Buddhist Jains Others Hot stated Gangtok 60.7 2.3 3.6 0.4 32.6 0.2 0.2 — Gyalshing 65.0 11.1 1.2 — 22.7 — — — Jorethang 79,2 5.7 3.8 0.1 10.9 1 0.1 0.1 Hangan 58.2 3.7 4.7 — 30.9 2.1 — 0.3 NaKhi 69.7 9.1 5.5 O.l 15.7 — .. — Nayabazar 89.1 1.7 1.2 0.1 7.9 " — O.l Rangpo 78.4 6.0 2.6 0.2 10.7 0.6 — — Singthu 77.4 5.6 5.4 — 11.6 — — — ToUl 65.2 3.4 3.7 0.3 27.1 0.2 0.2 f Source: Census 1981 > below 0.1 1le r cent Tabl-« 4,7 Decennial Growth of Urban Population by Religions 1971-81 Towns Buddhist Hindu Others* Total Gangtok 131.0 194.1 %6.6 176.0 Gyalshing 83.7 40.7 922.2 67.4 Jorethang — — -- 414.6 Hangan 183.5 105.0 150.0 135.7 Naachi 625.8 134.7 212.0 213.9 Nayabazar " ~ — 46.2 Rangpo 91.2 18.3 1113.6 37.4 Singthai 233.6 78.5 822.9 109.9 Total 142.1 150.7 485.3 157.9 Source: Census 1981 < including Christan.Jains.NusliM,Sikhs and others. -tM^ayabazar and Jorethang treated as twin towns in 1971 Census. 79 ing the last decade the rate of growth of the minor religious gro ups such as the Muslim,the Christans,the Sikhs,the Jains and oth ers is much higher than the general growth of population in each and every town CTable - 470. This high growth rate is, however, nothing But statistical illusion as the base population was very low and they are mainly migrants from outside the state. In the small towns the rate of growth among the Buddhist population is higher than general growth rate whereas the rate is low among the Hindu population. This picture is just reversed in Gangtok where the rate of growth has been high among the Hindus but low for the Buddhists CTable - 4,7> In Sikkim,the language spoken mainly in the househo lds are arranged in two broad groups Scheduled VIII in the Constitution of India (Assamese,Benga1i,Guj- arati,Hindi,Kannada,Kashmiri,Malayam,Marathi,Oriya,Punjubi , S1ndhi , Tamil, Telegu and Urdu) and (2) those not specified in Schedule 32 VI 11 . The majority of the population belongs to the later group and among them Nepa1i/Gorkhali,Bhutia , Tibetan and Lepcha compose a major part in the urban areas CTable - 48), Besides, there are several nonschedute language speaking population in Sikkim such as Sherpa,Lirabu,Tamang,Newari etc. The speaker of these languages are mainly concentrated in Sikkira and its surrounding territories like Nepal, Bhutan and the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. In the urban areas of Sikkim the non-schedule language speaking popu lation constitutes about 75.8 per cent of which the Nepalese cons- 32 India.. C«r Language Gangtok Gyal- Jore- Hangan Haichi Haya- Rangpo Sing- Total groups shing thang bazar than Bhutia 5.4 1,3 0.9 23.2 0.3 0,7 l.l 0.7 4.4 Gorkhali/Nepalii 55.5 33.6 65.2 43.2 53.8 55.5 57.8 62.9 56.4 Lepcha 2.3 0.3 0.5 3.6 0.4 0.1 — 0.2 1.8 Liibu 0.3 — 0.2 0.2 0.2 Sherpa 1.1 — 0.6 — 0.9 0.4 — 0.2 0.9 Tibetan 5.0 7.2 0.2 -- 0.1 — — O.l 3,7 Others 10.0 13.4 1.7 3.6 5.6 - l.O 0.8 8.4 Total* 80.5 55.8 69.2 73.6 62.1 56.7 59.9 64.4 75.7 Bengali 2.0 1.5 3.8 — 4.4 1.8 2.4 1.2 2.1 Hindi 15.0 41.6 21.0 26.4 30.8 39.9 36.1 29.0 19.2 nalayalaa 0.5 — 0.6 ~ 1.7 — 0.1 0.9 0.5 Punjabi 0.7 — 0.1 — O.l O.l — 0,1 0.6 Urdu 0.8 l.l 4.8 — 0.9 1.5 0.8 3.8 1.3 Others 0.5 — 0.3 0.7 0.6 0.4 Total{ 19.5 44.2 30.8 26.4 37.9 43.3 40.1 35.6 24.3 SourcetCensus 1981 * Total of languages not included in the VIII Schedule of Indian Constitution t Languages included in the VIII Schedule of Indian Constitution. 81 titute the major part (56.4 per cent) followed by the Bhutias and the Tibetans,the Lapchas and the Sherpas. Among the towns the ma jority of the population belongs to the Nepalese speaking group though the proportion is comparatively low in the highland towns like Gangtok,Mangan,Namchi and Gyalshing. Bhutia and Tibetan spea king population is very negligible in the valley towns like Jore- thang,Nayabazar,Rangpo and Singtham and also in Namchi. The spea kers of non--schedule language varies between 58.8 per cent (Gyal shing) to 80.5 per cent (Gangtok) among the towns. About 24.3 per cent of the urban population speak the languages belonging to Schedule VIII in the Constitution of India and it varies between 19.5 (Gangtok) to 44.2 per cent (Gyalshing) among the towns. The speakers of these languages are mainly migrants from the different parts of the country settling down since the origin of these urba-n settlements. Among them the Hindi speaking people constitute the major part followed by Benga1 i , Urdu. Punjabi and Malayalam in succ essive order. In the urban areas the Hindi speaking population by and large belongs to the business community directly dependent on the business establishments in the urban areas. For instance, in small towns like Gya1shing,Mangan,Namchi,Nayabazar and Rangpo the shopkee^per and their family compose a good part of the town's po pulation. On the contrary,in the big towns the business community and their family members together form a small section of the to tal urban population CTable - 485. The speaker of other language groups are mainly migrants in connection with service and they co nstitute a very insignificant part of the urban population, some times being totally absent in some of the towns. Occupational Structure In the urban areas of Sikkim only 41.3 per cent of the total 82 population is engaged in different economic activities and only 0.45 per cent is marginal workers in 1981. Participation rate is very high among the males (59.6per cent) whereas among the females only 15.2 per cent is engaged in different activities CTable - 481) « Table - 4d Distribution of Main Workers in Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1971 and 81 ( in percentage ) 1 9 I 1 1 9 8 1 Distr ic t Male Female Male Female North 71.0 18.2 60.7 20. 9 East 58.6 10.7 59.4 16.0 South 54.0 10. 9 62. 1 10.7 West 59.7 14.8 56.0 6.4 Total 58.9 11.2 59.6 15.2 sourc«:Census 1971 and 1981 As a matter of fact,the character of functions reduces the rate of female participation in the urban areas but in the rural areas it is as high as 38 per cent where the participation in the agricul tural activities raises the number of female workers CTable-27;> In the urban areas male participation rate is high in South district (62.1 per cent) but it is slightly lower in the West district (56 per cent).The immigration of male workers to the faster growing towns of the South district raises the participati on rate. It is interesting to note that during the last decades the male pa^rticipation rate has decreased in every district except in the urban areas of South district CTable - 495. For the female section the participation rate is high in the North district (20.9 per cent) and it is low in the West district but during the last decades the rate has been rising in all the districts except in the 34 Xrtdia. C4»ri*us 1901. Sikkim. p Table - 50 Town-wise Distribution of Main Workers in Sikkim: 1981 (in percentage) Name of the Towns Total Mai e Femal e Gangtok 41.8 59.5 17.1 Gyalshing 41.7 63.6 6.3 Jorethang 41.2 62.9 8.4 Mangan 47.0 60.7 20.9 Namchi 41.5 59.9 16.7 Nayabazar 31.2 49.6 6.4 Rangpo 43.2 62.8 11.7 Singtham 39.1 56.6 7.8 Total 41.3 59.6 15.2 sourcA :Census 1981 In the urban areas,male participation rate for Sche duled castes (48.6 per cent) and Scheduled tribes (48.3 per cent) is lower than that of the general population groups. As for the female group,participation rate is high among the Scheduled tribes (20.6 per cent). During the last decade (1971-81) there has been some increase in the participation rate and this is more visible in the female group. General improvement of urban amenities has improved the participation ratio, where the rate of growth of population d4 (159.7 per cent) is lower than the growth of main workers (174.6 per cent) CTable - 513. Among the towns,the rate of growth of wor king force in Gangtok and Namchi exceeds the rate of popualtion growth,which indicates immigration of workers to these amministra- tive towws CT*ble - S15. Table - SI Decedal Growth of Population and Main Workers in the Urban Areas of Sikkim; 1971 - 1981. (in percentage) Name of the Towns Growth of Population Growth of Main Workers Gangtok 176.0 199.4 Gyalshing 67.4 62.0 Jorethang Mangan 135.7 107.3 Namchi 213.9 254.4 Nayabazar 244.9 231.1 Rangpo 37.4 37.9 Singtham 109.9 99.1 Total 159.7 171.6 source: Census 1961 •»M> Nayabazar and Jorethang treated as twin towns in 1971 Census The details of functional classification for the population of towns in Sikkim has not yet been published. The exi sting published classification shows the details of working force upto the district leve4s while for the towns cultivation, agricul tural 1abours,household industry are shown separetely when all the others workers have been taken together,c1assified as 'Other wor kers*. The present study,in the case of towns,is based on the pub lished data of 1981 Census though for general information regard ing "Other workers" the 1971 Census data have been taken into con- as sideration . It apppears that the workers engaged in agricultural activities are very small in number in the urban areas of Sikkim 35 India. C«nsus 1071. Sikkim. Part-2A-F. a«ri«ral Population Tabl«s,Social and Cul tural Tabl«s,Mi9rat ion Tabl** and Fertility Tabl*«. 88 [Fig. 191.However, proportion of workers in agricultural activities Is high in the West district (7.7 per cent) where the rate of pa rt icipdt) t>t\ is high among the female workers as agricultural la- boureP6 CTable - 27>. Among the towns male workers engaged in cul tivation* is comparatively high in Jorethang (2.4 per cent) and Mangan (3.2 per cent), whereas in the female group it is high in Namchi(8.7 per cent) and also in Jorethang and tlarvgan CTable- 52). Table -S2 Town-wise Distribution of Working Population in Sikkim: 1981 (in percentage to the total workers) Cultivator Agricultural Household Others i Labourers Industry Towns Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Gangtok 0.9 1.3 0.4 0.8 1.6 4.2 97.1 93.7 Gyalshing 0.7 -- 4.4 -- 9.6 11.1 85.3 88.9 Jorethang 2.4 5.4 0.2 0.8 6.9 6.2 90.5 87.6 Mangan 3.2 3.6 -- -- 7,1 1.8 89.7 94.6 Namchi 1.0 8.7 1.0 -- 9.1 1.9 88.9 89.4 Nayabazar 0.4 -- 9.6 19.2 0.7 11.5 89.3 69.3 Rangpo 0.2 0.9 ------1.8 99.8 97.3 Singtham 1.3 -- 0.1 -- 1.9 3.3 96.7 96,7 Total 1,1 1,7 0,1 0,9 2.4 4.1 96.4 93.3 sourc«:Census 1981 * All other activities The male agricultural labourers are almost absent in most of the towns except in the urban areas of the West district.In the female group it is again high in Nayabazar (19.27 per cent) whereas it is totally absent in most of the towns CTable - 523. The proportion of workers engaged in Iivestook,forestry, fishing,hunting and plan tation, orchards and allied activities is insignificant in the ur ban areas in Sikkim whereas in raining and quarrying it is totally absent CTable - 275. Thus,the most notable feature about the func tional character of the urban areas of Sikkim is that primary occ- 86 upation.with a very small percentage of workers engaged in it, pl ays an insignif icjrant role which appears to be a very significant change as compared with the previous decades CTable - 53>. The situation was quite different in the preceding decade when workers engaged fn primary activities were very high in Mangan (39.5 per cent) followed by Nayabazar-Jorethang (17.6 per cent) and Rangpo Tabl« - 53 Distribution of Working Population in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1971 and 1981 (in percentage) Work ers! NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST TOTAL 1 1971 1981 1971 1981 1971 1961 1971 1981 1971 1981 I 6.2 3.3 1.2 1.0 1.8 2.6 9.5 0.5 2.2 1.2 II 31.6 -- 0.7 0.4 -- 0.4 3.5 7.2 1.6 5.7 III 1.7 0.8 0.6 1. 1 -- 0.5 1.2 1.3 0.6 0. 1 IV -- -- 0.9 0.7 __ VA 1. 1 6.3 3.3 2.0 20. 1 7. 1 4.5 5.8 3.8 2.7 VB -- 1.9 7.3 10.3 0.6 10. 1 4.9 9.9 6.8 10. 1 VI 2.8 10.4 10.6 14.0 0.6 11.8 3.8 6.9 9.6 13.5 VII 16.4 38.2 18.2 14.3 42.6 22.8 24.0 41. 1 19.3 16.4 VIII 3.9 8.7 14.8 4.2 2.9 6.2 16.9 3.8 14.5 4.5 IX 36. 1 30.5 42.4 52.7 31.4 38,6 31.7 23,5 40.9 50.0 soure*: Census 1971 and 1981 I .Cultivators II. Agricultural Labourers III. Livestock,Forestry, Fishing,Hunting and PIantation,Orchards and Allied Activities IV. Mining and Quarrying V. Manufacturing,Processing,Servesing and Repairs: A Household Industry. B.Other than Household Industry VI.Construction.VII.Trade and Commerce. VIII. Transport,Storage and Communication. IX Other Services. (8.6 per cent). This gives a definite indication about the fact that the newly born towns of Sikkim are more urban from the very beginning than their earlier counterparts. At the same time workers engaged in the househoold industries (2.7 per cent) represent a very small section of urban workers. However, among the districts it is high in the South dis- 97 trict CTable - 27) whereas in the East district it is negligible. In the male group the percentage is comparatively high in Gyalsh- ing (9.6 per cent) and Namchi (9.1 per cent) and in the female group it is high in Nayabazar (11.5 per cent) and Gyalshing (11.1 per centf. About 10 per cent of the urban workers, comprising both the males and females, are engaged in the non-household industries and their proportion is almost uniform among the districts except in the North CTable - 275. It is interesting to note here that the p^roportlonal share of female workers in non-household industries is comparatively higher than the male workers in every district except in the South. The higher percentage of female workers in this sector is mainly due to the absence of heavy industry in Sikkim whereas the existing smaller industrial unfits can easily absorb female workers. During the last decade, the change is noti ceable in the industrial sector,where the workers under non-house hold industries increased in every district CTable - 535. The rise of the industrial working force has obviously a strengthening eff ect on the urban base, especially of the newly born urban areas. The proportional share of workers engaged in construction as well is comparatively higher in the newly born urban areas of Sikkim. with percentages varying between 6.9 (West) and 14 (East) of the total workers. The rate is comparatively higher in the East dist- trict as it offers greater constructional scopes in the state ca pital at Gangtok. On the other hand,the percentage of workers eng aged in construction is very low in the West district where the scope of physical extension of the towns is limited as the growth of the town is very slow. However, on the whole during the last decade the percentage of workers engaged in construction has incr eased in every district which is more prominent in the South dis- 88 trict as related with the high rate of growth of urban population during the last decade CTable - 53>. Thus, in the urban areas of Sikkim, the role of secondary actaivities has gradually increased in every district. , About 18 per cent of the total workers are found to be engaged in trade and commerce in the urban areas of Sikkim which varies between 14.3 (East) and 41.1 per cent (West) among the dis tricts CTable - 273. The percentage of workers in trade and comm erce is rather big in the West and North districts as other acti vities are not wel1-developed in the small towns. On the other hand, the percentage of workers employed in trade and comfflerce is low in the East district as compared with that of the tertiary sector which takes a prominent place in the big towns of this dis trict. In the urban areas a good number of female workers are eng aged in trade and commerce CTable - 27> where many of the small retail shops are run by them belonging mainly to the Bhutias and Nepalese communities. In the East district, however,the percentage of female workers in trade and commerce is low as they mainly re main absorbed in non-commercial activities. During the last decade the proportional share of workers engaged in trading and commer cial activities remained unchanged in the state but the change is noticeable among the districts with decrease in the East and South districts and increase in the North and West districts CTable-S3!>. In the North and West distrlets,the steady increase of trading and commejjial activities is mainly due to the growth of shopping centres with recent expansions crossing the limits of the town boundaries. In the urban working force the share of trans port, storage and communication is very small (5.2 per cent) and among the districts the share is comparatively high in the North district (8.7 per cent). Transport, storage and communication are male-oriented activities because of which female workers are al most absent in these activities CTable - 27>. During the last do- cade, the percentage of workers engaged in transport, storage and 80 communication has decreased in the working force which is notice able in the East and West districts CTable - 53!). The changes in Census boundary (in 1971, Jorethang was under the Jurisdiction of the West district) is one of the main reasons for such decrease in the West district while in the East district,higher concentration of workers in other activities has reduced the percentage although there has been an increase in the absolute number of workers enga ged in transport, storage and communication. About 50 per cent of the total workers are engaged in "other services" which represent a wide variety of tertiary activities like professional services, administrative services and a large number of informal activities. It is interesting to note that about 61.7 per cent of the female workers is engaged in this sector W)ich is higher than the male co unterpart CTable-27>. The percentage is high in the East district, both in the male and female groups, when the West recorded the lo west among the districts. The higher share of this activities in the East district is mainly due to the persence of capital town Gangtok as such activities are mainly concentrated in the adminis trative centre. According to 1971 census,the percentage of workers engaged in "other services"was higher for the administrative towns like Gangtok, Namchi, Mangan and Gyalshing than that of other towns CTable - S4!>. During the last decade the percentage of workers in "other services* has increased though the South and West district recorded noticeable decrease CTable - S33 which is mainly due to the changes of census boundary. Thus, during the last decade there has been a general decrease in the percentage of the workers enga ged in the tertiary sector. At the same time the changes of propo rtional share within the tertiary sector is noticeable CTable- 53> oo Tablre 541 Changes of Vorkers in the Urban Areas of Sikkia: 1971-81 (in percentage) Haae of the Tovns I fl in IV VA VB VI VII 1VIU II* « 1971 1.3 0.5 0.5 .. 3.5 5.1 12.8 15.1 14.9 46.3 Gangtok 1981 1.0 0.4 // // 2.1 // // // // II 1971 3.6 3.1 3.6 0.5 18.2 5.2 65.6 Gyalshing 1961 0.6 4.2 // // 9.6 // // // // II 1971 11.4 4.7 1.6 — 5.0 5.4 4.8 26.0 20.8 20.4 Jorethang 1981 2.6 0.2 // // 6.9 // // // // II 1971 8.2 31.6 1.7 ~ l.l — 2.8 16.4 4.0 36.2 Hangan 1981 3.3 — // // 6.3 // // // // II 1971 1.8 20.1 0.6 0.6 42.6 3.0 31.4 NaKhi 1981 2.3 0.8 // // 7.8 // // // // II 1971 1 1 > i 1 1 1 f 1 i Nayabazar 1981 0.3 10.4 // // 1.7 // // // // II 1971 0.4 0.5 0.4 7.3 1.6 " 1.8 27.5 15.4 18.6 Rangpo 1981 0.3 — // // 0.6 // // // // II 1971 1.7 1.6 0.8 0.1 4.2 — 5.1 29.8 13.7 39.8 Singthai 1981 1.2 0.1 // // 2.0 // // // // II 1971 2.2 1.6 0.6 0.7 3.8 8.8 9.6 19.3 14.5 40.9 Total 1981 1.2 5.7 0.1 -- 2.7 10.1 13.5 16.4 4.5 50.0 Source: Census 1971 and 1981 // Not available t Jorethang and Nayabazaijtaken together in 1971 I . Cultivators 11. Agricultural Labourers III. Livestock,Forestry, Fishing,Hunting and Plantation, Orchards and Allied Activities IV. Mining and Quarrying V. Manufacturing,Processing,Servesing and Repairs: VA. Household Industry. VB. Other than Household Industry VI. Construction. VII. Trade and CoHerce. VI11.Transport,Storage and Conninication. U. Other Services. 91 Migration and Urbanisation Migration is the chief charasterictic feature of population dynamics with direct visible influence on the composition of the population. Besides, migration is the spatial process leading to redistribution of the population. By and 1arge»present urban popu lation structure of Sikkim is the result of immigration. For ins tance, a major part of the population of the new towns is composed of migrants from the rural areas. In Sikkim, migrtion data of 1981 census are available upto the district level and for case study, Gangtok has been taken into consideration where a thVough house hold survey has been conducted in 1984. In the urban areas of Sikkim,only 42.4 per cent of the total population are born within the urban areas and the rest of the population (57,6 per cent) have migrated into the urban areas . The percentage of the migrants varies among the districts CTable - 285 with a high record for the North (71.5 per cent) and low one for the West district (55.6 per cent). Again, the percent age of migrants is high among the male groups (61.5 per cent) than the females (52.1 per cent) in every district CTable - 28>. The present urban population structure is the result of migration whi ch not only has contributed to the growth of the newly born snail towns but also has changed the entire composition of their poputa"' tion. The migrants are male-dominated where only 37.1 p«r cent Of the total migrants belongs to the female group. According to 1981 census, reasons for migration come under four broad headings: emp loyment, movement of the family, marriage and education. Besid -, a large number of people moved for different reasons which is not India. c*rAU* i©ei. sikkiw. Port-SA «i •• MtgroAvon Tabl**. specified. In general,employment is the major reason for migration in the urban areas CTable - &Si. Table - 5S Reasons for Migration in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1981 ( in percentage ) Reason for Migration Total Male Femal e Employment 36.5 52.0 10.3 Family moved 27.3 18.3 42.5 Marriage 11.0 0.3 29.2 Education 3.6 3.8 3.1 Others 21.6 25.6 14.9 TOTAL 100.0 100.0 100.0 sourc*:Census 1981 It appears, majority of the male moved into the towns for emploi^ment (52 per cent) which is followed by reasons like movement of the family (18.3 per cent) and education (3.8 per cent). In contrast majority of the females moved for family move ment followed by those mdving for marraige, employment and educa- cation. The rate of literacy is high among the migrants (Table - S6> and majority of the male migrants belongs to the age group of 20 years and above (Table - S73. On the other hand a good number of the female migrants who moved for employment belonged to the age group of below 20 years. The scope of employment is un- Table - S6 Literacy and Participation rate among the Migrants in the Urban Areas in Sikkim; 1981 Literate Illiterate Main Marginal Non-worker Workers Workers Total 67.9 32. 1 94.7 0.6 " 4.7 Male 69.2 30.8 96.5 0.5 3.0 Female 57.5 42.5 80.0 1.7 18.3 sourc«: Census 1981 doubtedly high for the male group when about one-fifth of the female migrants remained unemployed which is only 4.7 per cent among the males CTable - 55^. TAble - 57 Age Sex Structure of Migrants in the Urban Areas of Sikkimt 1981 (in percentage) Age-Group Male Femal e 0-14 2.2 10.6 15-19 8.5 15.3 20-24 21.9 30.3 25-29 22.9 16.7 30 and above 44.5 27. 0 siource: Census 1981 * Employment as the reason for migration. The reason given as "Family moved" refers to partial or permanent movement of the entire family.It occurs where the earning member or head of the family migrated and the depen** .dent persons also moved along with them or in due course of time. Migration for movement of the family is high among the females (42.5 per cent) as they are mainly dependent members in the urban areas. In this landlocked territory male workers as a rule move singly and are joined by their womenfolk,chiIdren and other depen dent members after they settle down with some sort of economic stability in the urban areas. It is also true in the case of chil dren's (0-12 years) movement, comprising about 23 per cent of the total migration, during the last decade CTable - 583. They are mainly non-workers with 3 per cent in the age-group of 0-14 years in 1981 having been classified as working force. Marriage is ano ther important reason for migration, particularly in the female group CTable - 555, coming mainly from the neighbouring areas like surrounding rural areas of the state and the border state of West Bengal CTable - 5S5. In Gangtok,84 per cent of the migrants (head 9-* Tabl:« S8 A|a Sax Structura of lli|rants in tha Urban Araas of Sikkii: 1961 (in percental*) HIGBANTS' TOTAL POPULATIOK Aga group Kale Fenle Hale FeMie 0-12 14.8 22.4 26.3 35.8 13-17 9.2 10.5 9.7 11.6 18-22 20.6 22.5 14.3 13.6 23-27 22.0 22.0 14.3 12.0 28-32 14.8 10.2 11.0 8.2 33-37 7.1 4.1 6.9 5.0 38-42 5.1 2.8 12.8 4.2 43-52 4.3 2.6 6.7 5.0 53-62 1.5 1.7 3.0 2.7 634 0.6 1.2 1.7 1.9 Source: Census 1981 • Higration recelfed during the lut 9 years Tabl« 59 Reason for Higration with Place of Last Residence in the Urban Areas of Sikkii: 1981 (in PercenUge) Place of last Hale EaployMnt Faiily Harraige Education Others Residence Fettle •o«ed Saie District Hale 49.7 21.3 0.3 6.1 22.7 FeMie 11.7 39.6 29.6 4.6 14.5 Other District Rale 52.2 20.4 0.3 4.7 22.3 Feaale 13.6 42.2 26.0 3.7 14.4 ToUi Sikkii Rale 58.8 20.9 0.3 5.5 22.5 Fenle 12.5 40.7 28.1 4.2 14.5 Bihar Rale 50.5 12.7 0.1 3.2 33.4 FeMle 1.5 56.7 25.0 2.0 14.9 UtUr PradKh Rale 40.3 20.9 0.3 3.7 34.6 Fenie 2.6 56.6 27.1 1.6 10.1 Vest Bengal Rale 56.5 18.8 0.4 4.1 20.1 FeMle 13.0 38.8 34.4 2.7 13.0 Other States Hale 52.6 17.1 0.3 3.6 26.4 Fenle 9.3 43.8 31.2 2.6 13.1 Foreign (knintries Hale 57.7 16.6 0.7 0.8 29.1 Fenle 7.8 47.8 24.1 1.3 24.2 Source:Census 1981 * All other States and Onion Territories eicept Sikkii SfS and only 0.6 per cent for education and rest of the migrants moved for various other reasons CTable - 603. Table - 80 Reasons for Migration in Gangtokt 1984 Reason for Migration Head of the Household (in percentage) Service 84.3 Business 7.7 Education 0.6 Others 7.4 Total 100.0 Based on 5 per cent sample from the Head of the houaehold in 1984 The urban areas of Sikkim, received about 34.2 per cent of its migrants from the state itself and among them 18.8 per cent from the same district and 15.4 per cent from the other dis tricts of the state CTable - 61>. About 53 per cent of the total migrants have come from the different parts of the country (except Sikkim) though majority of them have migrated from the nearest states like West Bengal (25.3 per cent) and Bihar (16 per cent). Rest of the migrants originated from foreign countries like Nepal (9.1 per cent) and China/Tibet (2.7 per cent),and majority of them arrived before the merger of the state whereas others from the di fferent states of India moved mainly after the merger CTable- 623 The distance covered by the migrants not only varies between the males and the females but also among the urban areas,because it is highly influenced by the job opportunity, functional character,co mmunication system and natural and cultural environment of the host area. In general, the females have traveled short distances in course of their movement and majority of them belong to the st ate itself (37.9 per cent) with another large section coming from the border state of West Bengal (30.5 per cent). The geographical situation of the urban centres has much to define the nature of this migration. For instance, in the isolated town of the North district (Mangan) female migration is T*bl« - 81 Distribution of Migrants in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1981 (in percentage) Places of last Residence North East South West Total Total 19.7 19.7 13. 1 17.6 18.8 Same District Male 16.4 18. 1 10.9 14.7 17.1 Female 27.0 22.3 16.8 22.4 21.7 Total 34.9 12.3 31.9 18.6 15.5 Other Districts Male 33. 1 11.8 31.7 18.4 14.8 Female 39.7 13.3 32.4 19.0 16.2 Total 54.8 32.0 45.0 36.2 34.2 Total Sikkim Male 49.5 29.9 42.6 33. 1 32.0 Female 66.7 35.8 49.2 41.4 37.9 Total 13.6 16.4 13.5 17.6 16.0 Bihar Male 2. 1 21.4 16.7 23.5 20.8 Female 8.0 7.8 8.2 7.8 7.8 Total 3.8 3. 1 4.8 11.9 3.6 Uttar Pradesh Male 4.4 3.2 4.3 12.6 3.-> Female 2.3 2.9 5.7 10.6 3.5 Total 6. 1 26.0 25.4 18.0 25.3 West Bengal Male 6.5 22.6 24.4 14.5 22.3 Female 5. 1 31.8 27.0 23.8 30.5 Total 31.5 54. 1 48.0 56.0 53.0 Other States Male 36.2 56.0 49.6 58.2 54.9 Female 20.7 50.9 45.2 52.2 49.8 Total -- 0.7 0.6 0.2 0.7 Bhutan Male _;_ 0.7 0.5 -- 0.6 Female -- 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.8 Total 1.6 3.2 • 0.1' 2.7 Tibet (China) Male 0.8 2.7 $ 0.2 2.3 Female 3.4 4.2 1. 1 0.5 3.5 Total 12. 1 9.5 6.0 7.5 9. 1 Nepal Male 13.5 10.3 6.8 8.5 9,9 Female 9.2 8.2 4.5 5.9 7.7 ^Total 13.7 13.9 7.0 7.8 12.8 Foreing Countri es Male 14.3 14. 1 7.8 8.7 13.1 Female 2. 1 13.5 5.6 6.4 12.3 siourcAK^ensus 1981 $ below 0.01 * All the States and Union Territories of India except Sikkim. # All the foreing countries 67 SIKKIM URBAN OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE (District-^ise)M98l 50 percent 40 30 20 -10 NORTH - 0 TOTAL URBAN DISTRICT >^ /-v, WEST .r^^ \ DISTRICT 111 \. •^ isOUTH \DISTR1CT V iA EAST DISTRICT ©TOWN /r n, lOkm. Cultivator ] 1 Trade & Commerce Agricultural fining & Quarrying Transport,5torage labourers and Communication Household Industry ED Livestock, ,—-no-u, *.• u lOther Services Forestry ^°^^?^ ?^!" ^°^^^- Plantation, ^°^^ Industry Orchard etc .• Construction Fig-18 Table - 62 Distribution of Migrants with Places and Period of Movement in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1981 (in percentage) PERIOD OF MOVEMENT Place of last Less than 1-4 5-9 10-19 20 and Not Residence 1 year year year year year stated • Same District 12.2 35.9 19.5 17.2 13.6 1.6 Other District 11.2 38.7 20. 1 18.8 9.9 1.3 Total Sikkim 11.8 37.3 19.8 17.9 11.8 1.4 Bihar 10.2 40.2 21.3 16.9 10.6 0.8 Uttar Pradesh 13.5 37.3 17.6 18. 1 12.7 0.8 West Bengal 11.2 40.2 22.3 15.9 9.7 0.7 Other States 11.3 40.4 20.8 15.9 10.9 0.8 Bhutan 8.2 52.8 24.5 9.6 4.6 0.3 China (Tibet) 2. 1 5.4 3.5 13.5 75.5 __ Nepal 11.0 33.3 18.5 19.6 16.9 0.7 Other Countries 9.5 28. 1 15.4 17.7 28,7 0.6 aoure«: Census 1981. » All the States and Union Territories restricted within the state whereas the urban areas of the East district have received majority of the female migrants from far beyond the state CTable - 61). In contrast male migration mainly being economically motivated for employment, ignores the distance factor whereas the females move for social reasons such as move ment of the family or marraige in which case the socio-cultural environment of the places of destination or in other words home atmosphere is taken into consideration. Thus, ethnicity as in the case of the Nepalese,the Lepchas and the Bhutias and environmental conditions namely high land jointly encourage female migration from the surrounding regions like the different districts of Si kkim and the hill division of the Darjeeling district of West Ben gal. As a matter of fact,urban areas received 13 to 20 per cent of its migrants from the respective districts in which they are loca ted CTablA - 01>. tnter-district migration comprise about 12 per cent (East) to 35 (North) per cent of the total migration of which the majority moved from the East district, mainly from its rural 98 areas CTable - 63!). On the other hand the East district received migrants mainly from the rural areas of the South district. About 36 per cent (North) to 56 (West) per cent of the total migrants have come from different states of the country, though the hill « Tabl« > es Inter-Dlstrlct Migration in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1981 District of BORN JJl. XHE. DISTRICT eJE. Enumeration North East South West North 67 84 25 15 East 453 3894 1438 957 South 15 447 466 396 West 4 57 69 159 sourc*:Census 1981 division of Darjeeling district in West Bengal is the main contri butor in this respect IFig. 11. Closer location and similar eco logical condition and ethnic composition (Lepcha, Bhutia and Nepa- lese) of Darjeeling district create a favourable situation for mi gration, comprising both male and the females not only for economic reasons (employment) but also for social reasons (family movement and marriage). It is interesting to note here that majority of the migrants whatsoever might be the place of their last residence, moved from the rural areas whereas those who migrated from West Bengal, majority of them came from the urban areas CTable - e4>. Of the migrants who came to Gangtok 44 per cent were from the di fferent parts of Sikkim, 47 per cent from the different states of India,24.5 per cent from the hill division of Darjeeling district, 6.8 per cent from Nepal and only 1.6 per cent was from Tibet CTable- 6S3 9v Tabltt > 64 Rural-Urban Distribution of Migration in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1961 (in percentage) Place of last Rural North East South West Total Residence Urban Same Dis4rict Rural 100.0 72. 1 73.0 92.2 73.2 Urban 27.9 27.0 7.8 26.8 Other District Rural 16.9 85.7 37.5 42.6 59.6 Urban 83. 1 14.3 82.5 57. A 40.4 Bihar Rural 87.2 30.8 80.0 89.8 72.8 Urban 11.8 29.2 20.0 10.2 27.4 Hariyana Rural 75.0 60.0 79.3 90.2 64.4 Urban 25.0 40.0 20.7 9.8 35.6 Uttar Pradesh Rural 100,0 47,9 86,9 92.0 59.7 Urban -- 52. 1 13.3 8.0 40.3 West Bengal Rural 23.5 27.2 39.9 51.2 29.3 Urban 76.5 72.8 60. 1 48.8 70.7 Other States Rural 69.3 43.6 56.6 78.4 46.5 Urban 30.7 56.4 43.4 21.6 53.5 Sourc*:Cen8US 1981 * All the States and Union Territories of India except Sikkin. Table - 88 Migrants in Gangtok with Places of Last Residence: 1984 (in percentage) "^ Places of Last Residence Head of the Family Sikkim Rural 41.4 Urban 3.2 Darjeeling District Rural 10.3 Urban 14.2 West Bengal Rural 13.2 Urban 18.7 Other States Rural 23.5 Urban 23.9 Nepal Total 6.8 China(Tibet) Total 1.6 Based on: Sample survey (5%) of the head of the household « All the States and Union Territories of India The p>i>&sent composition of urban population is to a great extent the result of migration which not only has increased the size but also has changed the entire population structure of these newly born snail towns. The snail towns of Sikkin have grown lOO from the Bcaaar or rural market places. On the other hand, the sett lement of Gangtok started with the establishment of British Resi dency and later on it gradually prospered with increasing commer cial activity followed by shifting to the state capital into the persent lt>cation. In each and every town the shopkeepers are the early migrants. In most cases they belong to the business communi ties of Rajasthan and many of them also have come from Bihar. Int roduction of planned economic development with the 1 auncDlohlng of the First Seven Year Plan in 1954 together with districtwise divi sion of the state(1963) initiated a new phase of urban growth when the urban areas draw a good number of workers (skilled and unski lled) into the administrative and allied sectors. During the Indo- Chinese war,(1960*8) a good number of Tibetan refugees migrated to Sikkim and they settled down mainly in Gangtok. The urban areas of Sikkim entered into another phase of development just after the merger of the kingdom in 1975.Under the new political and economic Bet up)the urban areas received migrants as per their nodality and functional character. Gangtok appeared as a town only in 1951 and at that time about 33.7 per cent of the total population of Gang tok migrated from out side the state and the rest of the popula tion was born in Sikkim including Gangtok. According to 1981 cen sus, migrants constitute about 57.6 per cent of the urban popula tion. All these newly born towns received the majority of their migrants during the last decade CTable - GSi which has positively contributed to the increase of the rate of growth of population in the urban areas. On the whole there has been a net increase of 31,476 persons in the urban areas of Sikkim during the last decade (1971-81) of which 20,247 (64 per oent) persons migrated during lOl the last 9 years CTable - 663 In the districts with small urban T*bl« - 66 Migration and Growth of Urban Population in Sikkii Total Ur ban Deceda variation Migration Total District Populati on of PopuLa t ion below 10 Migrants (1971 -81) years North 780 449 414 558 East 43242 26283 16728 24381 South 5385 4143 2546 3566 West 1697 601 561 943 Total 51084 31476 20247 29447 8ourc*:CenBUS 1971 and 1981 populations (North and West), the decadal growth is mainly due to migration where migrants constitute more than 90 per cent of the increased population. This high rate of migration is mainly due to the post-merger developmental works. In fact majority of the mig rants have arrived during the last 4 years CTable - 62) and in Gangtok, majority of the head of the family or the migrants came during the last 10 years CTable - 67>. Table - 67 Migrants in Gangtok with Period of Movement; 1984 Year of Movement Percentage of Migrants Below 1 year 11.0 1 -- 5 • 29.7 5 -- 10 • 27.7 10 -- 20 • 20.3 Above 20 years 11.3 * Based on sample survey (5%) of the household in 1984 The male-dominated migrants bring disparity into ratio of the urban population when the sex ratio is high among the people born in the urban areas CTable - 30>. Migrants are not only sex selective but also age selective as mentioned earlier where ioa majority of the migrants (during the last 9 years) belong to the age-group of 18-32 years. On the other hand, in the total urban population the percentage of younger age-group (16-32) is compara tively low while in the dependent age-groups (below 18 years and above 60 ye&rs) this picture is just the reverse C Table - 30 3. Migrants are mainly Hindus and they belong to the Nepalese commu nities. 103 CIHAlPirEIR DDO LAND USE AND MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTER Urban land use is highly complex and it is more complex in a hilly town. Land use may be defined as human activity or de- lopment which occupies land . It refers to a piece or parcel of land used for a particular type of functional activity like resi dent lal , commercial , industr ial , etc. In this way each parcel of land accommodates a specific function. As the town grows, certain forms of land use and buildings became segregated while others are brou ght together in close accociation. Land use is defined by the na ture of terrain over which each plot of land occurs. On the other hand, the pattern and arrangement of the urban land use is influ enced by the size, the function and the regional dominance of the town 2. The land use maps of the town have been prepared on the basis of two different sets of base maps -namely the Cadastral map (from Survey and Settlement Deptt.) and the Bazar map (from Local Self Govt.Deptt.). The cadastral maps were originally pre pared between 1976 and 1980. These maps were prepared in 1976-77 for towns like Gyalshing and Mangan,in 1977-78 Gangtok and in 1978 -79 Nayabazar For towns like Jorethang and Namchi they were prepa red in 1979-80. The bazar maps of Rangpo and Singtham were prepa- Oovda, KSR. L.and use Pattorn in Urban Aroaa . In (Sympoaium or, Urban Uarid Ua«, 21at Inlarnetlional OAographical Congr««» I ndia. Calculi a.Nal i onal Commi. V l<»« for a*ogr aphy,ic>72. p 47) Chandr aa«lcharcL,CS. Land uao and zonvn<( 106 daries in terms of census and land use do not yet tally except in the case of Jorethang and Rangpo IFig. IS to 2G1. Table - 68 Area of the Towns in Sikkira (in hectares > Name of the Towns Census Area @ Area for Landuse $ Gangtok 780.64 792.16 Gyalshing 5.15 8.57 Jorethang 38.39 38.39 Mangan 16.52 55.19 Namchi '^^•95» 68.87 Nayabazar 15.15 10.85 Rangpo 1°'®"'« ^^•®"'« Singtham 16. 12 10. 12 @ Based on house list map of 1981 Census * Based on Cadastral map,Survey St Settlement Deptt. Gov t. of Sikklm » Based on Bazar map,Local Self Govt, and Housing Deptt. * Approximate area Before going into any details about the land use pattern it will be more worthwhile here to present a brief account about the shape of the towns. SHAPE OF THE TOWNS The external ground plan or the shape of the town is highly in fluenced by the site, communication lines and past history of th© centres . Even for the towns on similar terrain one can rare.y ex pect similar shape. In a mountaneous territory like Sikkim, th© shape of the town is totally controlled by the topographical feat ures as well as types of developmenet including roads etc. follo wing surface configuration, although human control over such phy sical barrier Is not uncommon, particularly in the big towns where 9 Hueteon.rs. a«»ography of S»ill«Tn*nlB. London,Mcic 106 cpmpetition for land is very high. Like the physical factors,diff- erent historical events see|m to have some influence in giving sha pe to the towns and this statement is particularly applicable to the location of key settlements like Gangtok and Namchi where the palace and the British Residency in the case of former and the re sidence of Kasi (local chief) for the latter have acted as deci ding factors for their eventual growth. The shape of the high land towns in this mountane- ous terrain is largely determined by the availability of flat or gently sloping surface with sunny aspect and the alingment of the roads. On the other hand, the shape of the valley towns is influ enced by the contour or the valley sides, often giving rise to de velopment of tiers at different altitudes. As a result the very impact of the valley has given round shape to Jorethang CFig. 211, V shape to Rangpo IFlg. 251 and an elongated shape to Singtham and Nayabazar £ Fig. ZA & 261. Gangtok represents an interesting case where the town spreads over an elongated ridge running and descen ding from north to south. The major roads run parallel to the ridge-crest and the settlement spreads along the same direction. Thus, Gangtok has developed an elongated shape,like a narow V with its apex in the south and the arms of the V gradually widening in the north IFlg. IQl.Another town,Namchi,spreads over the ridge-top and ultimately forms an irrigular shape IFlg. 231. Mangan and Gy- alshing having developed on the cliff with one side representing the deep river gorge have irrigular shapes IFlg. 21 & 221, Like the towns of Sikkim,the shape of the other Eastern Himalayan towns vary widely due to the surface configuration over which they have deve1 oped. 107 Fir 20 MANGAN GAHGTOK CENSUS BOUNDARY •LA^4D USE BOUNDARi 1 ^^/ ui / Ci^j^ 00 Fig- 24 RANGPO S.L.^i^ Fig- 25 CO < X a> 0 h- CO 0 2: t- 0 URBAN LAND USE Land use classification of the urban areas is based on various land use categories adopted by different planning organizations as well as urban geographers. In the regional context, urban land use ir> Sikkim has been classified into 15 major categories. These are as foilows:- RESIDENTIAL Residential quarters, guest houses, tourist lod ges, rest house,palace and boarding houses. COMMERCIAL All kinds of shops including fair-priced shops, hotels and eating houses, transport agents and petrol pumps. FACTORY/WORKSHOP Factories and cottage industries,motor workshops and repair shops. ADM INISTRATIVE Government offices and press, post and telegraph offices,poI ice station.fire brigade,banks, pass enger's booking office. DEFENCE Cantonments and other defence camps. EDUCATlONAL Col 1eges,schools and other educational institu tions including their hostels, staff quarters, play grounds and other establishment within the campus. MEDICAL Hospitals, health centres and vaterniry hospi tals including their staff quarters and other establishments. PUBLIC UTILITIES Public latrines and urinals,water tanks and pip elines, parking place and bus stands and gravey ards and burial grounds. RECREATlONAL Stadium, play grounds, parks, gardens, community halIs. 108 PLACES OF W0R5HIP Monasteries, tempies,mosques, churches and guru- dwara. ROAD All types of roads including foothpath and steps and land reserved for road extension. • AGRICULTURE All agricultural land including cardamom, fruits and vegetable gardens. FOREST All forest land including bamboo groves. JHORA AND NALA Streams,rivulets and drains. OPEN SPACE All vacant land including huge rock masses and dry river beds. In Sikkim,the infant small towns (except Gangtok) covering barely 8 to 68 hectares CTable - 68D each exhibit a very simple land use pattern. The entire urban use is mostly confined to one or more pockets on the permissible ground offered by flat or gently sloping surfaces, irrespective of the location of the towns. Singtham,Rangpo,Jorethang and Nayabazar are valley towns, developed on small strips of flat river terraces [Fig. 21,24,^25 &. 26). The main road takes its course through the terrace and the settlements have developed along both sides of the road CFig. 20, 32,33 & 34.]. Intensity of land use decreases further away from the main road. The land use pattern in the highland towns -- Gangtok, Namchi, Mangan and Gyalshing -- is influenced by the ground stabi lity, sunny face and other altitudinal aspects,IFlg. 27,28,30 & 311 Gangtok.the capital town,spreading over an elongated ridge, covers an area of about 7.92 sq km where altitude varies between 1300 m to 2100 m IFlg. 271. The settlement has developed mainly on the western slope of the ridge where stab 1e,gent 1y sloping surface pe- 109 1 1 1 1 1 1 ~ •' 2 3 1 <:J • z ....0> <1 !!! ~ w- I :il w Cl 0:: z 0 0 _, ~ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 NAY ND£X ^ RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL ADMINISTRATIVE PUBLIC UTILITIES 100 FOREST fig- 32 RANGPO RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL Sg ADMINISTRATIVE WORKSHOP S3 PLACE OF WORSHIP YZZk AGRICULTURE EE^ FOREST Fig-33 SINGTHAM LAND USE = ..: -3 ResiG*JPliO i ''^orrifTierci ol 'mftdmr -•',iraiive Li-i ;t'I"t tt^ H-.DiT' utiMic I."I!7I!-;R.-^. -vtiooat ;N^\_0 Piucej; ot worship jpen opoce Fig- 34 rmits ail types of development including communication lines (ro ad). On the contrary,the eastern slope offers steep, shadowed sur face which is interrupted at several places by huge rock masses and the land for development is restricted to the sides of the major roads. The intensity of land use is very high on the south ern part occurring around the market area and the major roads, and is mainly concentrated in the upper slope of the ridge. Below the ridge—top the increased run — off has resulted in a dissected sur face which oppose all kinds of development. Thus the entire land use pattern is discontinuous in nature because abrupt changes of slope break the continuity of the land use zones tFig. 271. The functional character also influences the land use pattern of the towns which is quite evident, generally in the administrative headquarters like Gangtok, Namchi,Mangan and Gyals- hing. In such towns the administrative, educational, medical and residential uses cover the major part of the developed land. On the other hand,in the non-administrative towns as,Singtham,Rangpo. Nayabazar and Jorethang, commercial and residential uses compose the major part of the developed area although in a few cases admi nistrative use covers a considerable amount of the land. In this connection it has to be noted that the process of urban development was very slow till 1975, when the state merged with the Indian Union, although most of the settleme nts started to appear in the beginning of the twentieth century. Prior to this,the land use pattern was very simple but since 1975 the rate of development has been rather fast which is reflected in the land use pattern,the latter becoming more compl icated,particu- larly in Gangtok. •1 to Characterlstc Features of Land Use in Different Towns In the urban areas of Sikkim about 32 to 80 per cent of the land is put under urban use or developed and the rest of the land is occupied'by the non-urban users 1 ike, agr icul ture, fores t, j'Kortsts and NCLICLS (drains) and open spaces CTable - 60,70 Si 715. The propor tional share of any category is directly related to the number of functional use and the total area of the towns.In the smal1 towns, the residential together with two or three types of other uses co ver the major portion of the built-up areas. Thus,the proportional share of land of one school or a hospital in a small town may be high in comparision to that of the other towns CTable - 713. RESIDENTIAL USE Out of the total developed land residential use covers about 18 to 5^ per cent of the urban uses CTable - 71>. However, the share of residential use is very low in the towns located on the high land,such as Gyalshing (28 per cent) and Mangan (18 per cent). On the contrary, the proportion of land used for residential purpose is generally high in the valley towns which is the highest in Na- yabazar (54 per cent). In the small towns the residences occur ge nerally adjacent to the shopping--rows and sometimes, around the school, hospital,office buildings and official quarters tFlg. 28 - 34,1. As a general rule, the residences are built at the rear por tion of the shops and the upper storey is always used as resi dence. Besides,in all the administrative towns the Government re sidential quarters make a common sight and at the same time it is also common in some of the non--adroinistrative towns. In spite of 111 Tabl-e 69 Land Use Pattern in the Urban Areas of Sikkii: 1976/77 -- 1981/82 (percentage to the total area) Land Use Gangtok Gyal- Jore- Hangan NaicM Naya- Rangpo Sing- Category tl] shing thang 121 13] bazar [21 thai (2] [3] C4] C5] Residential 21.12 22.66 29.88 13.96 21.26 16.26 15.76 29,98 Coiiercial 0.52 10.30 3.41 6.75 1.13 5.53 13.81 25.32 Factory/Vorkshop 0.35 — 3.45 - - - 1.86 — Adiinistrative 1.26 1.30 16.23 11.24 7.10 0.85 4.85 6.08 Defence 13.09 — — — — — -- -- Educational 1.22 7.30 2.89 22.53 14.05 -- — -- Hedicai 0.36 19.48 1.92 2.91 5.23 -- 0.19 -- Public Utilities 0.39 — — — 0.16 0.06 — 0.29 Recreational 0.56 -- 1.78 — — — — 0.47 Places of Horship 0.79 0.03 0.28 -- 0.47 0.11 0.53 1.80 Roads &Reserved Area for Roads 4.91 19.01 6.35 14.25 4.39 6.73 11.29 13.11 Agricultural 10.81 — 13.61 11.06 30.77 0.30 3.86 -- Forest 8.49 11.20 0.07 2.40 7.20 28.49 — 8.52 Jhora/Nala 2.86 0.70 0.27 3.65 0.37 0.51 — — Open Space 31.96 8.29 19.86 11.25 7.87 41.16 47.85 14.43 TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 Source: Survey d Settleient Deptt. Govt, of Sikkii. [1] 1977/78 [2] 1976/77 131 1979/80 [4] 1978/79 (51 1981/82 Tabl-« 70 Major Urban Land Use in Sikkii: 1977-82 (in percentage) Naie of the' Developed Agriculture Forest Drain/Jhora Open Tovn Land Space Gangtok 45.88 10.81 8.49 2.86 31.96 Gyalshing 79.81 — 11.20 0.70 8.29 Jorethang 66.19 13.61 0.07 0.27 19.86 nangan 71.64 11.06 2.40 3.65 11.25 Naichi 53.79 30.77 7.20 0.37 7.87 Nayabazar 29.54 0.30 28.49 0.52 41.16 Rangpo 48.29 3.86 — NA 47.85 Singthai 77.05 — -- NA 22.95 Source: Survery & Settleient Deptt. Govt, of Sikkii. NA- Not available 112 Tabl-e 71 Land Use Pattern in the Urban Areas of Sikkii: 1976/77 — 1981/82 (percentage to the Developed Land -M Land Use Gangtok Gyal- Jore- Nangan Naichi Naya- Rangpo Sing- Category [11 shing thang C2! (31 bazar (21 thai [2] t3] [41 C51 Residential 46.84 28.14 44.96 18.54 39.25 54.11 32.64 38.91 Couercial 1.15 12.79 5.13 8.96 2.08 18.40 28.60 32.86 Factory/ttorkshop 0.77 — 5.19 — — — 3.85 — Adiinistrative 2.78 1.28 24.42 14.93 13.11 2.83 10.04 7.89 Defence 28.82 — -- — — — — — Educational 4.02 9.07 4.35 29,92 25.94 — — — nedical 0.78 24.19 2.89 3.86 9.66 -- 0.39 — Public Utilities 0.86 — — — 0.30 0.20 -- 0.38 Recreational 1.23 — 2.86 — — -- — 0.61 Places of Vorship 1.73 0.04 0.42 -- 0.87 0.37 1.10 2.34 Roads &Reserved Area for Roads 11.02 23.61 9.55 18.93 8.11 22.40 23.38 17.01 TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 Source: Survey ti Settleient Deptt. Govt, of Sikkii. * Excluding agriculture,forest,open space,nala/jhora etc. 11) 1977/78 12] 1976/77 131 1979/80 14] 1978/79 [5] 1981/82 113 of Gangtok where, in spatial dimension,the residential use takes a dominant role, As regards housing, the traditi'onal habits are still in vogue where majority of the private houses are made of wood wall* with metalled roof and most of them are one storied. Mu- Itistoried brick buildings are very small in number and they are mainly concentrated in the shopping areas or appear as government quarters. Density of population per residential houses varies bet ween 4.7 to 5.3 persons per house which is almost equal to that of the rural areas (5.1 persons). During the last decade <1971-61), the density of population for residential houses has changed noti ceable when it has decreased in most of the towns except in Gang tok and Singtham, the two large settlements CTable - 725. Further more, an increase in the percentage of land used for residential purpose is noticeable during the last few years in each and every towns CTable - 735. According to a survey undertaken for this pur pose (1984), most of these residential extensions have eaten up open spaces, forest and agricultural lands IFlg. 27 - 371. In some cases the residential extension crosses the present boundary of the town as it has happened in Singtham and Rangpo. As a matter of fact, the intensity of residential use is going rather fast by way of filling up the open spaces within the residential areas. At the same time the traditional buildings are gradually being replaced by brickbuilt modern houses. 114 Tabl-« 72 Residential Density in the Urban Areas of Sikkia: 1971 It 81 (Persons per occupied residential house) Naie of the Town 1971 1981 Gangtok 4.85 5.29 Gyalshing 5.24 4.87 Jorethang 1 4.65 Kangan 6.13 5.16 NaKhi 6.67 5.33 Nayabazar 5.29 5.12 Rangpo 7.28 4.51 Singthai 4.47 5.05 TOTAL 5.08 5.18 sour<£«nsus 1971 and 1981 * In 1971 Nayabazar and Jorethang was treated as twin town. Tabl-e 73 Land Use Pattern in the Urban Areas of Sikkii: 1984 (percentage to the total area) Land Use Gangtok Gyal- Jore- nangan Naichi Naya- Rangpo Sing- Category shing \chan g bazar thai Residential 23.83 27.78 40.07 17.16 22.53 19.76 31.36 36.00 Conercial 0.95 12.02 4.93 6.69 1.51 5.53 13.88 25.92 Factory/Workshop 0.04 — 3.57 — 0.03 — 1.90 — Administrative 2.03 1.17 16.50 11.32 7.13 0.85 5.00 6.08 Defence 12.90 — — — — " — — Educational 2.20 7.30 2.89 22.53 14.05 — — — nedical 0.35 19.48 1.93 2.91 5.23 -' 0.23 — Public Utilities 0.68 0.35 — 0.07 0.16 0.06 — 0.29 Recreational 0.68 — 1.93 — 1.20 — 3.63 0.47 Places of Vorship 0.81 0.03 0.28 — 0.47 0.11 0.53 1.80 Roads and Reserved Area for Roads 5.05 19.01 5.87 14.24 4.39 6.73 11.29 13.11 Agricultural 9.64 " 5.82 10.79 30.20 0.30 3.79 — Forest 7.59 10.43 0.05 2.25 6.78 27.84 19.02 2.40 Jhora/Nala 2.26 0.70 0.27 3.65 0.37 0.51 " — Open Space 29.88 1.73 15.89 8.93 5.95 38.31 9.39 13.93 TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 Sourec : Survey fc Settleient Deptt. Govt, of Sikkii. 115 4.A Pfiuioramic view (Gangtok) 5.High rise buildings(Gangtok) 6.High rise buildings(Singtham ) COMMERCIAL USE in the urban areas of 5ikkim,land used for commercial functions is widely variable having taken up, so far, 1.2 to 32.9 per cent of the developed area of the urbanscape. In general,however, land de voted ft)r this particular use is small in the administrative towns while it is significantly much higher in the non - administrative towns (except Jorethang) where commercial use covers about 18 to 33 per cent of the developed land CTable - 713. As a rule,the dem arcated area for the fiat (weekly market) included in the category of land used for commercial purpose will difinitely raise the act ual proportion of land for commercial uses which measured on the basis of percent shops forms a much smaller proportion of the to tal urban land. The commercial area appears as a square pocket in Gyalshing and Jorethang but in the other towns it stretches along both sides of the main road, giving rise to linear shape. The indegenious shopping area consists of tra ditional bui1 dings,made of wood, and most of them are one storied. They are nevertheless being gradually replaced by the raultistoried modern buildings, some of them being more than four storied, which is noticeable in the large town like Gangtok, Singtham and Jore thang where the upper floors of the buildings are used both for offices and residences. During the survey mentioned above very slight increase in commercial use CTable - 733 was noted and this has mainly taken place in the vacant land or in the residential areas. On the whole,more and more land is comming under commercial use in all the towns. ADMINISTRATIVE USE In the urban areas land used for administrative functions simi larly varies widely,ranging from 1.3 to 24.4 per cent of the total IIB 7.High class resident (Qangtok) e^ovmfopm the river bed (Jorethang) 9.M. G.Marg (Gangtok) developed area CTable - 711> and this is very scattered in appeare- nce. it is interesting to note here that a good amount of the land in some of the non-administrative towns is used for this purpose though in the capital town it comprises a very small portion of the totSl urban area. Recently,the proportional share for adminis trative use has risen in most of the towns,particular1y in the ad ministrative towns. In Gangtok about 28.8 per cent of the land is under defence CTable - 711} most of which 1 ies on the higher north ern part of the ridge [Fig. 271. OTHER USES Besides the three major types of land use, namely residential, commercial and administrative, education and medical services take up a good amount of the urban land in some of the towns when it is totally absent in some other towns CTable - 712>. Among the towns, land used for educational function in Namchi (25.9 per cent) and Mangan (29.9 per cent) and for medical function in Gyalshing (24.2 per cent) is noteworthy. The share of land under other uses like, factory and workshop, public utilities, recreational and places of worship is rather insignificant in some of the towns and is totally absent in some others CTable- 71>. In contrast,land used for roads and kept reserved for roads to be consturcted in future, covers about 8 to 23.8 per cent of the developed land CTable - 715 of the urban areas barring the case of ridge towns like Namchi and Gang tok where the percentage is comparatively low. There are,however, instances of encroachment of the areas kept reserved for roads by commercial activities of the towns,mainly in and around the shopp ing centres. 117 AGRICULTURAL USE A good amount of land is put under agricultural use even in some of the important towns like Gangtok (10.6 per cent),Jorethang (13. 6 per cent) and Namchi (30.8 per cent) while it is totally absent in Singtriam and Gyalshing CTable - 703, Agricultural lands mainly occupy the periphery of the towns or occur along the developed areas. Rice, maize and large cardamom are the important crops in urban areas but large cardamom is mainly cultivated in the high land towns. However, a good amount of this agricultural land has been converted into residential areas or is in the process of be- ng used for other urban functios. FOREST The forest and bamboo covers a sizeable amount of urban land in some of the towns,CTable -69J namely Nayabazar,where about 28.5per cent of the land is occupied by the forests. A fair amount of fo rest land is still present in Gangtok, Gyalshing and Namchi CTable -732). In most of the cases bamboo groves occur along the Jhjorcis while forests appear in isolated pockets. In the urban areas, the forest land is gradually being converted into other uses but in a few cases the forests have been planted in the vacant lands, as in Gangtok amd Rangpo [Fig. 28,30,32,35,36 & 371. OPEN SPACE About 7.9 to 47.9 per cent of the urban land still remains vacant CTable - 69!) which, in the valley towns, constitute the dry river bed. In the highland towns the distribution of vacant land is sca ttered in nature, represented mostly by steep slope, land strips along the j'hora and huge rock masses. However, the increasing demand 118 of land and the mounting pressure of population giving rise to the price of land have led to the development of these vacant lands in spite of the fact that cost of reclamation of such land is very high. Besides these vacant land, open space is still present and they are^ distributed in smal 1 pockets throughout the urbanscapA. -' 1 INTERNAL STTURCTURE OF THE TOWNS The internal structure of the urban areas is highly comples and it is more complex in the highlands. Towns are structurally hett- regenous,their buildings vary in function,age,size,shape and their population vary in distribution, socio-economic status and in ra cial origin . In course of urban growth there is a tendency for different functions to occupy different areas within the towns so that the residential, commercial or administrative activities get ting shorted out became the dominent functions in different parts of the towns. "The arrangement and layout of the buildings and the function or use of land and buildings in a town are collectively described as towns morphology" . In the study of urban morphology, we are primiraly concerned with the use as each parcel of land ac commodate a specific type of functin and in course of urban deve lopment, certain type of land use became segregated while others are brought together in to close association of themselves. Physical and man made characteristics of site, origin and age of the nuclie settlemen, emerging functional character and size and distribution of the populaiton form the important compo nent of urban morphology. In course of time this is further influ- Hud«on,ra!. orography of S*ttl«m«nta. l Sikkim. A good amount of land is owned by a number of private par ties of different communities and the study of urban morphology is primarily concerned with the ground plan or use of the plots on the ground. In Sikkim, the internal structure or the morphology of the town is very simple as they perform very simple functions. The major part of the developed area is occupied by the residen tial buildings together with the shopping-cum-residentia 1 build ings, schools and hospitals (Fig. 28,30 &. 32-371. In the district towns, the administrative offices and their staff quarters occupy a good amount of land. The distribution of such functional areas is highly influenced by the nature of terrain over which the settle ment develops and is controlled by such factors as the cost of imp rovement when the desirability for various uses varies with conto urs,gradient and elevation . The site (physical characteristic of location) and situation (relationship of a particular site to oth er parts of the area) together influence the morphological charac- 7 ter of the land use where dissected topography discourages unint errupted use of land. In genera 1 , urban use ocurs in several deta- Ra.tcUff,RU. Urban Land Cconotnvca. N«w York:,Mcara.w Mt.lL,tG>'4^. p a-.4 Br«»a»,a. Urbo-niatcilion in N*wly D«»v*lop*d Counlri.**. N*v 0»LHv,Pri.nli.c<» Hall 1078. p 102 120 11.Lai Market (Gangtok 12.Market Day (Gyalshi ng) ched, small pockets and is found usually strung along the major roads. The size and emerging functonal character of these small towns encourage imperfect morphological zones. As a resu1t,diver- sity in the land use pattern can not be traced though occupational structure is highly diversified. The structure of the small towns (other than Gangtok) consists of such diversified areas as commer cial -cum- res idential areas,resid^ential areas, areas with schools, hospital and sometime administrative buildings together with their staff quarters. The segregation, in terms of land use, function and population, is closely related to the growth of the centres. In terms of the growth history of these small towns, there are three distinct phases: (i) An early period (between 1889 to 1950) when modern means of transport just penetrated into some of the important centres like Gangtok, Singtham and Rangpo. During this period the activities of these places remained highly restricted to their shopping areas when shopping -cum-residentia1 houses were arranged along the both sides of the main road with only a few residential houses occuring here and there behind the main complex. The picture was, however, quite different in the princely state capital of Gangtok where the structure of the town consisted of the Palace and the residencies of the feudal lords (Kazi),the school, the hospital and the shopp ing-cum-residential area. (ii) During the second phase,the development started with the int roduction of Economic pi an (1954) when the towns were connected with motor services. On the oth»h hand, the commodity flow became unidirectional due to the close of border trade with Tibet in 1962 The stoppage of border trade and transport development stimulated the growth of the towns,partico1ar1y those located in the southern part, such as Singtham,Rangpo,Jorethang and Nayabazar. During this period some of the centres- for instance,Mangan,Gya1shing and Nam- chi- became district headquarters with the final division of the state in 1963. This phase further witnessed the horizontal expan sion of the towns when a number of shops, administrative institu tions and other functional organizations like schools, hospitals, banks etc.slowly came into existence with the introduction of the Econonic Plan in 1954. (iii) Finally, the recent phase begins with Sikkim's merger of the Indian Union in 1975,when the developmental works started at a fa ster rate. In this new political and economic set up, many govern* men''^i offices and their residential quarters came up and ss space wer-- not adequate to house the growing activities, a large number of iiildings were built by private orgfin i zat i ons to provide acco mmodation for different functions. The growth of population was very high during the last decade which further increased the dem- mand for residential or other* types of accommodation, in due course residential areas sprung up along the major roads leading to the shopping area, and also around the important building complexes iiko schools,hospital and government offices followed by non-resi dential establishments and the urban expansion, at some instances, crossed the original boundary of the town. The intensity of land use is witnessed both in residential and commercial sectors of each and every town during this period. At present,vertica1 exten sion of bui^ldings is a common feature of the urbanscape,main1y in the =;hopping area. The process of urban expansion of the Himalayan towns is quite different from that of the towns located on the plains. 13.Tire wise residential expansion (Gangtok) ^. ^iW.r 14.Recent development beyond town boundary (Namchi) Urban expansion has taken place both in the horip^zontal and verti cal direction over the three dimensional topography. In the case of horizontal expansion, growth follows the major roads where the roads follow the contours of the land. In course of development the enti*re slope intervenfli ng between two road running at diffe rent levels gets filled up in the first phase. In this way town extends vertically in a high land topography. The increasing de mand for accommodation and the higher cost of land reclamation in- jg crease the intensity of use of the urban* land which ultimately has resulted in the vertical extension of urbanscapes,particular1y al ong the major roads. The height of the buildings occasionally vio lates the limits set by the government. In Sikkim,the impact of functional character on the growth and development of the internal structure of the towns is undeniable. As for instance, the urbanscape in the administrative towns is characterised by an indigenous shopping area which is su rrounded by residential houses when other establishments like hos-^^H pital, school and district level offices and their staff quarters have developed in isolated manner. The non-administrative towns make a constrasting scene where the indigenous shopping area is^n surrounded by residential houses and occasionally the administra tive offices are located within the shopping area (Fig. 28,30 & 3c2 to 371. In course of urban development there is a tendency for certain types of functions like residentia1,commercia 1 etc. or certain groups of population in terms of income, race or religion to get segregated and became concentrated in different parts of the towns. In Sikkim, segregation has just started to surface only in Gangtok and it is totally absent in the other small towns. 15.Poor class residences (Rangpo) 16.Poor class residences (Gamgtok) ClHAIPirEIR OV CASE STUDY OF SELECTED TOWNS In order to examine the morphological character emerging from the land use pattern of these newly born urban centres,I have selected four of them for a detailed study. They are Gangtok,Jore- thang, Namchi and Singtham.The 1ocation,size,function in their re gional context have been considered here IFlg. 71. GANGTOK Gangtok, meaning 'the High Hill' in Tibetan language, is the capital of the state lies at an elevation of about 1700 m at a distance of about 114 km to the north of Siliguri IFig. 71. It is situated on the southern end of a long elongated ridge, running north-east to south-west. This' tongue?-shaped ridge rises northward and abruptly ends in the south near Ranipool IFig.271,The ridge is' terminated in the east and west by two rivers- Rora chu and Rongni chu respectively. All the major roads of the state, including the National Highway(NH 31A),converge at Gangtok and it is also direc tly connected with the two important hill stations of West Bengal, namely Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The National Hinghway (31A) conn ects Siliguri, the gateway city of the entire North-eastern India, with north Sikkim via Gangtok. Gangtok is located on the eastern 124, periphery of the settled area [Fig. 91 and it is the nearest town for 17 per cent of the total revenue blocks which share almost 20 per cent of the total rural population . Gangtok covers an area of about 7.92 sq km, extending from BurtOPk in the north to Tadong in the south (Fig. 191. The we stern boundary of this town merges with the villages (revenue blo ck) of Sichey gao and Tadong and the eastern boundary with Chand- mari, Tathengchen and Syari, all of them occupying the lower part of the ridge (Fig. 51. There are two cantonments attached with Gangtok,such as the Old cantonment in the north occupying about 13 per cent of the total area of the town and the New cantonment in the south occuring beyond the boundary of the town (Fig. 191. Tho ugh of very moderate size (367A7 in 1981), the town not only acco mmodates the largest number of state's urban population but also it includes a wide variety of popualtion in terms of re 1igion,race language and socio-economic classes and it is the only town where urban character is discernible in true sense of the term. Gangtok became the headquarters of the state in 1889 when J.C.White, the British political officer was appointed to look after the the int ernal administrarion and the border situation including the border trade. Thus,the nuclie of mordern Gangtok starfced in the form of a British Residency (1889) and very soon it became the capital of the state. The British administrator selected Gangtok for its str ategic location close to Chumbi valley, providing the main trade route and also close to Darjeeling, on the one hand and on the oth- Xndia. C*n«ua iPSt. Sikkim. Port iSA&B. District C;*nau« Handbook 125 er,the similar physical characteristics as offered by the Darjee- ling ridge. As mentioned earlier, by the end of the 19th. century all the major roads of the state including the Indo-Tibetan trade routes converged at Gangtok and very soon a trade registration office opened at this emerging nodal point. Thus,this tiny capital gradually turned into a trade centre and was very soon flourishing with its trading activities. It may be interesting to observe here that,one north Indian business man (Jethraj Bhojmal) came to Gang tok from Darjeeling as the cashier of the British forces and his office at Gangtok served as a pay office, state bank, state exehe- quer, public treasury and a departmental store . This commercial office was located near the Palace and very soon a number of such departmental shops started functioning. And by 1925, the shopping area had shifted into the present day Old market area to avoid co ngestion near the Palace . In fact, ten persons were given permi ssion to start business in Sikkim and alloted site in Gangtok by the Maharaja of Sikkim in 1925 . One can get an idea about the em erging town from the account of Mr.J.C,White, the first Political Officer who wrote in 1909 as follows: "On reaching Gangtok (1887), we pitched our tents on the ridge, close to the Maharaja's Palace, then covered with jungle, now the site of a flourishig bazar, with Post and Telegraph offices. Dak Bunglow or rest house. Charitable hospital and dispensary, and many large and flourishing shops,inc- 2 Siriha,AC. Politic* in Sikkim:A Sociological Study. F«iridAb«Ld,Thom*ori Pr***, 1P75. p 50 This 9tat*Tn*rit vcui giv*ri by th* Pr*Bid*r>t, Sikkim Chatnb*ra of GoTnTn*rc*(ori* of family m«mb«r of th« J*thraj Bhojmal) Sikkim. Local S*lf aov«rnmont and Housing D«partpm«nt. Vork Study Roport on th« Proc«dur« for allotm«nt of sit« in th« Local S«lf Oovt. and Housing D*part m*nt,l^as. p 1 126 5 luding that of the state bankers" . At that time the entire settJe- ment was concentrated around the Palace and British Residency- the Garrison area (Present day Raj Bhavan -Old Cantonment area) appea ring on the higher northern part of the ridge. A few bungalows of local cniefs (Kazi) were also scattered on the western part of the ridge,occuring-mainly below the Place. Apart from the ridge, a few isolated huts were located here and there both on the western and the eastern slopes, the latter representing almost empty spaces. The movement of the shopping houses from the Palace area to the present day old market area in around 1925 initiated a significant change in the urbanscape from which time the residential houses started appearing around the shopping rows. In 1951, Gangtok appeared as a town on the map of Sikkim with a population of 2,744 when it was connected with Sili- guri by motor service (fright service only). During the 1st Plan period (1954-61), a number of Government institutions came to be established for administrative purpose which ultimately led to the immigration of workers,mainly in the tertiary sector,from the sur- ^•ounding states. On the other hand,during the Indo-China war (1962) a large number of Tibetan refugees settled down in Chandmari,That- enchen and in the area lying around the main market (along the Kazi and Tibet road and Lai market area). The commercial character of the town changed totally due to the closure of border between China (Tibet) and Sikkim in 1962 . In the successive plan periods, 5 Whit«,JC. Sikkim and Bhutari:Tv»nly or>« y*our« on th« North-Ecuit*rn Frontier, iae7-lPO?. London^Cdvard Arnold, 190«>. p 20 Th« atoppag* of bord«r trad* d*valuat* th« trading character in many of lh« Ea«l«rn Himalayan c«ntr« lik« Kalimpong and P*dong in DarJAAling Diat- ricl of W«atB*ngal and Oangtok and Rh«nok in Sikkim;vhich «ffacla s«v«r*ly on th« fur th«r grovth of t h«s« c«ntr««.But Oangtok retain ita further de velopment aa a capital and oe veil aa a collection and diatribution centre for t He Lo<3 127 Gangtok not only changed the size class based on population but also its populaiton composition including the occupational struc ture. During this period the town started expanding rapidly when the settlement started to appear along the leading roads,radiating from the main market like,the roads leading to Sichey, TNH.SchopI, Kazi and Tibet raod etc. The new shopping areas started to appear close to the residential areas namely Tadong and Deorali and the old market area expanded considerably, e.g. Lai market for vegeta bles I Fig. 191. A new phase of growth started with the merger of the country with the Indian Union (1975), when the municipal form of local self government was introduced prior to which Gangtok was governed by a 'Bazar Committee' constituted in 1918 . Before the constitution of Gangtok Municipality Corporation,Gangtok bazar was confined with the boundaries surrounding Lai market. Star Cinema and the Metro shop. Deorali bazar extended from Elephant Manision to the crossing of NH 31A, with the approach road to Institute of iibetology. SimiIarly,Tadong was only a small bazar. With the for mation of Gangtok Municipality Corporation all the bazars of Gang tok, Deorali and Tadong came within the Jurisdiction of Gangtok Municipality Corporation" . The formation of the municipality made spatial changes in the composition of the urban area which went to include a large area of the surrounding rural countryside consis- 7 India. Admlniatrativ* R*port of th* Sikkim Stat*:101S-l0. Calcutta, Oovt. Printing. India a Sikkim. Local 8*lf aov«rnm*nt and Housing D*partm*nt. Work study Itsport on t h« prossdur* for allotmsnt of sits in ths i:x>cal Sslf Oovt. and Housing Dsp- artmsnt ,1083. p 2 128 ting of villages like Syari, Chandmari,Tathengchen,Arithang,Sichey gao,Burtuk and Tadong. Thus, the most-merger development had visi ble effect on the internal structure of the capital town. In 1983, again, Gangtok changed its municipal boun dary but*thi5 time it excluded a large area representing its frin ge, comprising parts of Chandmari,Tathengchen,Burtuk,Sichey gao and y Tadong. As a result, the present municipal boundary almost coin cides with the pre-municipal town area. However, the 1981 Census boundary based on first municipal boundary (1975) has been taken for our study [Fig. 191. According to 1981 census, Gangtok covers an area of about 7.86 sq km with a population of about 36.747,giv ing rise to density of about 4,707 persons per sq km. The entire urban population is distributed over 9 wards of the townCTable-38>. The distribution of population is affected by the topography and the density varies widely, ranging from 509 to 91,481 persons per sq km with the h^ighest occuring in the market areas which dec reases outwards from the commercial cores of the town IFig. 161. As mentioned ear 1ier,gent 1e slope,sunny aspects and many other al- titudinal factors influence the selection of residential site in such an undulation topography. The urban population is the composition of a number of communities where the Nepalese, the Lepchas and the Bhutias to gether constitute the majority. Besides the three major communi ties, there are other communities who have migrated from the vari ous parts in the country and have started settling down in large 9 C«nau« ipei coll*et*d from Slkklm C*n«u« Urilt,Oangtok lao numbers since the first plan period (1954-62) although the north-- Indian trading community (popularlely known as the Marawaris) has made it since the Indo-Tibetan war in 1888 It is true that the Bhutias and the Lepchas are the earliest settlers in Gangtok foll owed by the north Indian trading communities and the Nepales. In Gangtok,about 26.5 per cent of the total population is constituted by the Scheduled Tribes in 1981. The tribal population is mainly concentrated in the eastern part of the town, comprising area lying within Kazi and Tibet roads,Namnam and Lai bazar, Chandmari, Tathen- gchen and around Enchy monastery [Fig. 19J. On the other hand, the majority of the Nepalese and other 'piain-land'communities are ma inly the Hindus. By 1971, the Hindus formed the majority of the population and at present they constitute about 60.7 per cent (1981) of the total population where as the Buddhist make the sec ond largest groups (32.6 per cent) followed by the Christians, the Muslim and others CTable- 46). According to 1981 census,about 55.5 per cent of the household population speak Nepali/Gorkhali where as the comparative figure is only 10.4 per cent in the case of Bhutia/Tibetan, 2.3 per' cent speaks Lepcha and 1.4 per cent speak Sherpa and Limbu .Among the non-local languages Hindi is the major language of the 15.1 per cent of the household population followed by Bengali,Urdu,Punjabi and Malayalam CTable - 48). The town of Gangtok has developed on an elongated ridge,the settlement having taken the shape of a narrow V with its S!inha.AC. Polities in fiikkiiVKA flSoeiologieal Study. Foridabad ThorMken Pr*a«, i»?s. p so 11 India. C*nau« tPBi.. «ikkim. 9ap*r t ot iMI?. Hou««Kolda and HouMihold Popula tion by L.angu«i9* Mainly 8pok*n in th« Itou**Kold. two arms spreading out in the north. The settlements spread over the slopes varying in altitude ranging between 1150 ra and 2200 ra, with a gradual rise towards the north CFlg. 271. The major axis formed by the road running from north-east to south-west divi des town into two distinct physical units -- the Western slope and the Eastern slope. Due to the alingment of the ridge, the western slope receives more sunlight which encourages the location of the settlement,particularly the residential houses.On the contrary,the eastern slope receives smaller amount of sunlight on which the se ttlement spreads between 1500 m and 2000 m where changes in alti tude is rather rapid. On the contrary, it is slow on the western slow on the western slope and the settlement spreads mainly bet ween 1300 m and 1900 m [Fig. 271. The general slope of this town varies between 13 to 39° (Wentworth method)" with an average slope of 22° IFig. 271. Large, compact development is totally absent due to the absence of sizeable flat land. Rows of buildings occur along the contour li nes on the sloping surface which ultimately encourages vertical- extension of the town over the three dimensional surface.The high land topography not only affects the land use pattern but also the alingment of the roads which is again guided by the topography. The major road follows the contour lines where rows of buildings follow it with extensions into the interior. On the whole, urban development is found to be mainly concentrated in the southern pa rt of the ridge,confined to the middle part as the northern higher NumbAr of Contour croaaing par mi la X Contour intarval a. K. Wantworth'a Mathod • 39 LAND USE As mentioned earlier about 45.9 per cent of the total land was under different urban uses in 1977-78 and rest of the land was occupied by non--urban uses (agriculture,forest,jhora etc.) or re mained as open space CTable - 703. But during the next few years this newly born state capital witnessed significant changes in the land use pattern IFlg.SSl. In Garfgtok only 50 per cent of the land has put into different urban uses in 1984 and rest of the land was occupied by non-urban uses or lying vacant CTable - 733. As a ma tter of fact, the areas of higher elevation, steep slope and with less exposure to sun have remained vacant and most of them are lo cated in the areas of higher north-eastern part and the lower slo pe of the western and eastern side of the ridge IFlg. 271. The ag ricultural land (9.6 per cent) spreads over the lower part of the western s1 ope, growing maize and paddy and in several small pockets on the eastern slope large cardamom. Forests, including bamboo, (7.6 per cent) appear in several pockets on the ridge-top and also on the eastern s1 ope. Several patches of bamboo covers the areas along the jhoras,particularly on the lower slopes. It is, however,need less to say that the land under agriculture and forests is gradu ally being converted into different urban uses 1 ike,roads,residen- ces and so on CFlg. 27 & 381, Residential area covers major part of the developed 132 land though it is discontinuing in nature due to the absence of sizeable flat land in Gangtok. Among the non-residential uses,def ence takes up major part of the developed land, occupying the nor thern higher part of Gangtok. Road and the land reserved for roads make another important land user in this highland town where the alingment of roads is totally guided by the contour lines (Fig.271. At p^&sent about 39 km of roads running within the town area. Of this, foothpath and steps together comprise about 11 km while they mainly run across the contour lines. About 2.2 per cent of the total area is occupied by several educational institutions (sc hool, college and others) and in several cases,they cover a sizea ble area used for accommodating the academic institutes along with their staff quarters, hostels and play grounds. Among the other non-residential uses,commercial,administrative,recreational,pi aces of worship and industrial uses take an important place CTable -733 and they are concentrated in a number of pockets, occuring mainly along the major roads IFlg. 351. In Gangtok, the non-residential use of urban land like commercial,administrative, educational,pub lic utilities etc. are increasing at a faster rate with more and more land being converted to uses for commercial, administrative and industrial purposes IFlg. 27 & 381. LAND MANAGEMENT in Gangtok,the entire land area does not belong to the muni cipality or the Housing Department. Instead, it is divided among various departments of the government like. Health, Education,PUD, Animal Husbandry,Forest,Pol ice,Transport,Rajbhavan and Cantonments. Each government department occupies a^izeable area and in several cases a good portion of the land remains vacant. According to the 133 SUMMARY CHANGE IN LAND-USE OF GANGTOK (1977- 84) last settlement record (1977) about 62.9 per cent of the total ur ban area belongs to the various government departments (including Defence and Places of worship) (Table - 74). The major part of the Table - 74 Community-Wise Land use Pattern in Gangtok : 1977/78 (in percentage) Land Use Category Govt. Nepali Bhutia Lepcha Others Total Residential 10.03 39.95 37.94 34.72 10.00 21.12 Commercial 0.24 0.76 0.95 0.32 11.67 0.52 Factory/Workshop 0.28 -- 1.09 __ -- 0.35 Administrative 2.02 -- __ -- -- 1.26 Defence 21.00 ------13.09 Educational 1.91 _- 0. 17 -- -- 1.22 Medical 0.57 -- __ -- -- 0.36 Public Utilities 0.61 0.09 __ -- -- 0.39 Recreational 0.63 -- 1.00 -- -- 0.56 Places of Worship 1.03 __ 0.89 -- __ 0.79 Road & Reserved Area 7.88 -- __ __ -- 4.91 Agricultural 4.01 19.98 18.24 41. 12 15. 16 10.81 Forest 6.45 11.28 13. 03 10.36 8.67 8.49 Drain/Jhora 4.59 _- -- __ -- 2.86 Open Space 37.73 27.98 26.69 13.48 54.50 31.96 TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 sourAc : Survey & Settlement Deptt. Govt, of Sikkim. government land is found concentrated in a few large pockets. One of them occurs in the north covering the cantonment,the Rajbhavan» the High court and the Hospital;another occurs in the south of tht Palace and two others are found successively around Deorali bazar and in Tadong area (Fig. 271. Besides there are a number of small pockets or plots of government land oceuring in the different pa rts of the town,particularly on the western slope. About 37.7 per cent of the land owned by the government remained vacant in 1977- 78 and among the developed land. Defence takes up the largest por- 134 tion (20.5 per cent) followed by uses for residential purposes, roads and area reserved for roads and forests CTable - 745. The layout and morphology of Gangtok are guided not only by the nature of terrain or site but also the land ownership pattern existing prior to the development which plays vital role. The site allotment in this princely capital appears to have started in 1925 and till 1975 the Bazar Department used to look after site allot ment and building plans. "These sites were not on area basis but based on frontage only which was 30 feet. Breadth was not speci- 19 fied* . And thus during the feudal system the allotment of land for different uses did not follow any specific plan and came to be hapazard under the whims of the rulers. "After the formation of the first popular government in the state in 1975, demand for site in and around Gangtok assumed unprecendented proportions* . In vi ew of this growing demand of site a Site Allotment Committee was set up by the government in 1977 which fixed the size of the plots for allotment to the public with specific le^ngth and breadth (20' X 30' )*•'. Between 1977 and 1983,only 330 plots were alloted though the demand was much higher CTable - 75) and from May 1983 onwards, allotment of site totally stopped due to the non-availability of land in the municipal area. In Gangtok, private land belongs to mainly three major 13 Stkklm. Local S*Lf aov*rnm*nt and Houa i ng D*partm*nt. Work Study R«port on th« proc*dur* for aLlotm*nt of sit* in th* Local S«lf Govt, and Housing De part m*nt, IPSa. p 1 Ibid, p 9 Xbtd.p 4 13S communities, namely the Bhutias, the Lepchas and the Nepalese and the land is occupied by residences,agricu1ture and bamboo together with forest. The Bhutias occupy most of the best site because they were the ruling community and the early settlers. They took over relativery the higher ground which form few large pockets [Fig.27] According to the records of the survey and settlement department in 1977-78, about 16 per cent of the total land belongs to the Bh- tia communities and mainly concentrated in the hands of few famil ies consisting of Royal and the Kazi fami 1ies.Most of this land is Table - 75 Site Allotment in Gangtok Municipality Area From : 1975 to 1983 Applicat ion Recei ved Site AlIoted YEAR Total Cumulative Total Percentage 1975 70 70 NA NA 1976 530 600 NA NAL 1977 480 1060 25 2. 3 1976 530 1610 62 3. 9 1979 270 1880 105 5. 8 1980 210 2090 8 0. 4 1981 250 2340 50 2. 3 1982 260 2600 55 2. 3 1983(ApriI) 100 2700 25 1. 0 TOTAL 2700 2700 330 12. 2 Source : Locullocxjd Sdf' Sdf' GGoJt. i HoLfstm J>e^- NA- Not available in Tathengchen, Chandmari, SyaI gas,Namnara,Tashiding and lies along the Tibet and Kazi road. On the other hand, the land owned by the Lepcha community is highly discontinuous in nature,occuring on the the lower sI opes,general Iy lying close to the Bhutia 1andslFig.271 The Lepcha community possesses about 15 per cent of the total land which is mainly devoted to residential and agricultural uses . The land belonging to the Nepalese communities occurs mainly on the lower slopes of the western side of the ridge, lying in the areas of Daragao, Sichey gao and Baluakhani. Besides, there are severl sma- 136 ller pockets on the eastern slope (Chandmari area) and in the so uthern part (Tadong area) and altogether 15 per cent of the total land is owned by the Nepalese community put to use for residence, agriculture and forest CTable - 74,1). Apart from these three niajor communities, no other community has such strong hold on land. A very small amount of land, however,is owned by the business commu nities which is located in the market area in the form of small piots. The increasing demandfor land for residential and non-residential purpose on the one hand, and non-availability of government land on the other have given rise to tremendous press ure on private land. As a result, the private land is being used more intensely through further fragmentation of the plots and uti lization of vacant space in the developed area. At the same time encroachment of urban use into the agricultural and forest land has become a very common feature in the urban scene in the recent ye ars.Shortage of land in general increases the intensity of use and also raises the land value. "There is relationship between land values and types of use, the location of the particular parcel,and the associations related to it" . In this undulationg topography, accessibility and physical character of the site have determining influence on the land price. For instance,the land price is gene rally very high in and around the market and along the main road. Over and above that, 'sentiment'and'symbol ism' influence land value Br*«a«,a. Urbanizcilion in N»vly D«voloplng Countries. N«v D«lhi,Pri.ntic* Ha ll , 1P7P. p 120 137 as the old family,such as the Kazi,and the Royal family are reluc tant to leave their ancestral homes. MORPHOLOGY In Gangtok,per feet morphological structure has not yet emerged due to Its smaller size,simple functional character and unbalanced phases of growth. Besides,the ground plan of this hilly towns lar gely dependent on the surface configuration. However, in conside ring the land use pattern Gangtok may be divided into four disti nct morphological units: (1) Commercial, (2) ResidentiaI,(3) Defe nce and (4) Others, the latter comprising education, medica1 , admi nistrative, recreat i ona 1 , places of worship,etc. The differences in functional character is reflected in the bui1dings,giving a diffe rent physical look though this is not as sharp as it is expected in a large city where functions are more clearly defined. Commercial Trade and commerce play a dominant role in the growth of the settlement in many cases and,thus affect the internal structure of the town in various way. Morphology of the commercial area is det ermined by the commercial structure of the centre, as for example, an international trade centre is quite different from that of the retail market places. Commercially, Gangtok not only serves the internal population but also functions as a point of exchange for its rural surroundings. Apart from the retail services,a number of bazars including Mangan (town) are dependent on Gangtok for whole sale services. At present there are 5 shopping centres in Gangtok of which the Gangtok bazar [Fig. 191, the commercial core of the capita1,accommodates about 63 per cent of the total shops in 1984. Rest of the shops are distributed among the other smaller shopping 138 centres occuring in Tadong,Deorali,Baluakhani and Chandmari. Besi des, isolated small clusters of shops have developed on the impor tant roads like TNH School road, Paljhor stadium road,and Kazi and Tibet road, catering to the immediate needs of the residential areas Gangtok bazar,the main shopping area, made its app earance in 1925, for the first time when ten person were al1oted land in the present-day MG.Marg,particulaly the area lying between the Police Station in the north and the crossing of the approach road to La! market in the south (popularly known as Old market). Previously these shops were located near the Palace. The allotment of the land acted as a great incentive to commercial activities. Gradua11y,the southern part of the MG.Margh,stretching between the crossing of Lai market road and Star cinema,popuIar1y known as New market started to appear and by 1951 a large number of shops have taken firm root along the both side of the MG.Margh which com prises the main business street of the town tFlg. 351. Following the Indo-China war in 1962, the commercial activities in Gangtok underwent drastic changes with the closer of the border trade while mounting demand of the growing population increased internal demand for various goods. These two factors jointly changed the commercial character of this capital town. There is a weekly mar ket in Gangtok which started since the beginning of the 20th. cen tury and though there was no defined site for that at that time it is now confined within the Lai market area.Before the formation of 'information coll*ct©d from I ho first ca.dcuatraL ma.p of Ootngtok < 1051 > vhi-ch was pubLtahed in l«>54 under the Survery and Settlement Depar tment , Gang tok, Qovt. of Sikkim. 13Q Gangtok municipal corporation there were three shopping centres- Gangtok bazar, Tadong and Deoraii bazar. Other market centres and shopping clusters are the products of post-merger development. There is no we 11-deve1 oped central business district (CBD) in Gangtok as we find in the higher-order centres. However, Gangtok bazar serves as the major commercial centre of the town and is characterised by maximum accessibility, high density, high land values and tall buildings. This bazar is situated in the sou- thernpart of the town,on the western slope. This main market con sists of two 'business streets', namely MG.Marg and the National Highway (from Telephone exchange to Kazi bridge) and a shopping sq uare, the Lai market. The bazar area spreads over three distinct terraces. The MG.Marg consisting of Old and New markets is on the upper terrace; rows of shops along the National Highway occupy the lower terrace and intermediate terrace-absent in the northern part --is ocupied by the Lai market. The MG.Marg is the main'business streat' running in a north-south direction from the Telephone exch ange to Star cinema hall IFig. 19 & 351.The shops are strung along the both side of the wide road and face each other. The shopping row consists of both retail and wholesale shops and there is no cluster or segregation of shops dealing in goods like cloths,medi cine etc. There is a mixture of traditional wood-walled and corru gated roofed buildings and multistoried modern buildings with gro und floors almost invariably occupied by shops while the floors above are mainly residential, sometime used for housing the banks, post offices and other government and non-government offices. Here modern multistoried buildings are very common. The Lai market squ are occurring in the middle terrace below the southern part of MG. 140 Marg, consists of several rows of shops where the outer rows are mainly occupied by multistoried buildings with shops in the ground floors and residential quarters in the upper floors. On the days of hat (weekly market),the sellers spread their merchandise on the open roads and vacant space in the market area. There are two local shopping centres in the sou thern part of the town- Tadong and Deorali,occuring along the Nat ional Highway. About 9.3 per cent of the total shops of the town are located In the DeoralI bazar and the rows of the shops are gr adually extending southward. Tadong bazar is located on the ext reme southern part of the town and the shops appear on both side of the national highway and roost of them occupy traditional build ings. There are two small shopping centres in the northern part of the town.They are Baluakhani bazar on the national highway and the Chandmari bazar on the Nathula road on the eastern slope [Fig. 191 Besides the recognized markets, there are shops located along some of the major roads in the form of short, tightly packed rows or as small clusters and sometime scattered in appearance, comprising about 17 per cent of the total shopping establishments of the town. Residential Area Residence plays the most dominating role in the morphological structure of the town and they cover the major part of the develo ped area. In Gangtok,the spatial distribution of residential areas is controlled by the topographical features and the communication lines which are again guided by the topography. Due to the absence of any sizeable flat land, a large compact residential area is ab- 141 sent. In such a highland topography rows of residential house occ upy several small pockets over the sloping surface and in most of the cases these residential pockets abruptly end by the major road or the jhoras. In general,the roads run on the either side or thr- ou^gh the heart of such pockets and the narrow foot path or steps criss cross the entire developed area. Sometime these pockets are joined together particularly on the upper part of the ridge. As mentioned earlier, the majority of the residential houses are con centrated on the western slope represented by localities like Ta dong , Deora 1 i , Namnam,Linding,Dotaphu,Arithang.Sya1gao, Development area, Sichey gao,Forest and PUD colony and Burtuk. On the eastern slope there are two such localities -- Chandmari and Tathengchen £Flg. 35}. These aside, the market area is another important resi dential pockets with a large number of residences. A number of isolated or small clusters of residential houses occur along the main roads such as the National Highway, Nathula road and Sichey road and also around the different public institutions. It is rather easy to demarcate the Old residential areas in this tiny state capital where people of higher economic status like the king and the kazi (local chiefs) have taken the better sites on the higher ground,like the ridge and its immediate surroundings, particularly the sun-facing western slope. Till the introduction of the first economic plan (1954), most of the resi dential houses were concentrated just below the Palace, and in and around Gangtok bazar. During the subsequent plan period a good number of residential houses appeared and they were mainly concen trated around the market places of Gangtok,Deora1i and Tadong. The majority of the residential houses are the products of post-merger lA£i development when a large amount of vacant land together with fore st and agricultural land have been converted into residential use. The intensity of residential use has risen tremendously in the rec ent years in some particular pockets,such as in and around the ma jor market and along the main roads. At the same time most of the government quarters are the products of post-merger development. There are three types of residential houses in Gangtok 1 1ke,rented,personal 1y owned and government quarters. The majority of the families were living in the rented house (47.7 per cent) in 1984 (based on,5 per cent samp 1e,househo1d survey) and rest of the families were living either in owned houses (28.5 per cent) or in government quarters (23.8 per cent).According to 1961 census,about 62.4 per cent of the total families were living in their own hou ses. As per recent survey (1984),the majority of the families were living in rented houses in most of the municipal wards CTable- 76> Table - 76 Tenure Status of the Living Room in Gangtok:1984 (in percent) WARD Rented house Owned house bov t.house Total 1 49. 0 38. 8 12. 2 100.00 I I 74.4 12.8 12. 8 100.00 1 1 1 56. 9 27.4 15.7 100.00 IV 52. 9 35.3 11. 8 100.00 V 61 ( 1 /. U Zl. c> 100.00 V 1 42 9 25. 0 32 100.00 V I 1 11.1 88 100.00 V 1 J i 27.8 27.8 44 100.00 IX 19.2 57.7 23 100.00 TU 1 AL 47.7 28.5 23.8 100.00 Based on field survey. XA^ On the contrary, the majority of the families were living in gove rnment quarters in ward No 7 which happens to be a Forest colony and TNH.School area. And in ward No 9,the majority of the families were living in their own houses as this area is far away from from the market and less accessible, both factors being less attractive tor a fami 1 yfnsearch of rented house. HOUSE-WISE DENSITY OF RESIDENCE In Gangtok,room density varies widely within the town area (4.2 to / persons) forming an average of b.3 persons per occupied residential houses in 1981 [Fig. 391. It is interesting to note that the room density is generally high in the areas of higher po pulation density. The density per residential houses is increasing at a very fast rate (4 persons in 1951) as the growth of populat ion IS taking place faster than the growth of residential houses. According to 1961 census(based on 20 per cent sample),about 40 per cent of the families had occupied only one living room and only 29 per cent of the families were living in two-roomed houses and the rest of the families were living in houses with more than two room CTable - 77^3. At piVesent <1984) about 39 per cent of the families Table - 77 Residential Accommodation of Gangtok:1961 and 1984. (i n percent) * % Number of Room per Family 1961 1984 1 40.4 39.0 2 29.3 34.0 3 11.8 14. 1 4 6.4 7.9 Above 5 12.1 5.0 TOTAL 100.0 100.0 » sourco:Census 1961. % Sample Surver(bX) in 1964. 144 GANGTOK DENSITY PER RESIDENTIAL HOUSE 1981 Prnton f^"* Koom 6-6 5 65-7 7 Again, in ward No 6 the percentage of families living in one-room houses is low as families of higher income groups live in this area CTable - 78D. Table - 78 Residential Accommodation in Gangtok:1984 (in percent) N umber of L iV ing Room per Fami1y Ward 1 2 3 4 Above 5 I 38.9 30.6 12.2 12.2 6. 1 t 1 33.3 51.3 12.8 2.6 - I 1 I 49.0 21. b 7. 8 7.8 13. 8 IV 47. 1 29.4 11.8 3.8 7.8 V 61.7 17.0 12.8 4.3 4,2 V 1 21,4 41. 1 21.4 14.3 1.8 VI 1 -- 55.6 22.2 22.2 __ V 1 1 1 30.8 42.3 3.8 15.4 7. 7 IX 35.2 40.7 22.2 1. 9 -~ TOTAL 39.0 34.0 14. 1 7. 9 5.0 Based on field survey. HOUSE TYPE It may be mentioned here that in course of develop- ment, not only the number of residential houses increased but the quality of the houses also improved a great deal. According to the 18 1981 Census about 46.2 per cent of the houses were made of timber wall,28 per cent of grass, 1 eaves, reeds or bamboo wall CTable - 79:> te India.. Conaua 1^ » sourco.-Census lybllDased on ZO per cent sample) * Based on 5 per cent sample survey. At p*-esent (household survery in 1984) about 36.2 per cent of the residential houses are constructed with timber wall, 52.8 per cent with cement concrete or brick wall and only 11 per cent have bam boo thatched wall which is sometimes wel1-piustered with cement (Assam type). At peresent about 34.8 per cent of the houses have concrete roof (KCC) where as in 1961 only 5.6 per cent houses had concrete or stone slate roof.CTable - 80> Table - SO Construction of Roof of Partly or Wholly Occupied Residential House as Dwelling in Gangtok : 1961. (in percent) Construction materials 1) Grass I eaves,Reeds, Thatch bamboo or wood - 18.6 2) Corrugated sheets or other metal sheets -- 75.6 3) Cement concrete or stone slabs -- 5.6 TOTAL 100.0 s:ourcd :Census 1961 146 The quality of the residential houses, however, vary wiaely in Gangtok and on the basis of appearance and building ma terials they may be divided into three major categories like hut, buildings - traditional, and modern type. The hut type (12.3 per cent) residential houses are very poor in construction having ba mboo wall and thafched or cheap metalled- root. At phssent iiyb4) about 12.3 per cent of total families of the town live in hut type of residential houses. The traditional houses are better in cons truct ion, cons is t ing of wooden wall reed or thatehedjWall with cement pluster (Assam type) with corrugated iron roof arid they are main tained well. They are mainly one-storied but two-storied houses are not uncommon. At pijr'esent (1964) about 36.7 per cent of the fa milies live in traditional houses when a good number of government quarters also belong to this category. The traditional houses are mainly concentrated in I'athengchen, Chandmar i , Ba 1 uakhan i, Burtuk and also in the older part like Namnam,Lal market, Tibet and Kazi road areas. Besides,a number of traditional houses are also located in tne bichey gao and Tadong area. Previous1y,the majority of the re sidential house used to belong to this category but they are gra dual ly being Outnumbered by the modern houses. The modern houses have been built very recently and about 51 per cent of the fami lies live in such houses. They are comparatively much better in construction than even traditional houses,having brick or concrete wall and corrugated or concrete (RCC) roof and are well maintained A good number of these houses are multis toried. It may be interes ting to note that the number of modern houses has increased very rapidly both in private and public sector. Most of the modern hou- 1A7 ses are found concentrated in the better sites in terms of physi cal quality and accessibility of piots,although they are not unco mmon in the unsuj&i tabl e land of the accessible areas. They are mainly concentrated in several pockets like the Forest and PUD co- 1ony, 'Deve1opment Area'around Paljor Stadium. State Transport work shop. Tourist Lodge,Deorali and Tadong bazar and in and around Gan- gtok bazar including Tibet and Kazi roads, Multistoried modern houses are very common in the bazar areas and its surroundings and also in the 'Development Area'. The hut type of residential houses are highly sca ttered in distribution, occupying the most unsuitable lands within the urban area like, the patches along the j'horas, less sunny areas and the steep surface with poor accessibility. A good number of such houses are located in the peripherial zone, over the lower slope of the ridge, mainly surrounded by agricultural fields. They are also found along the Tibet and Kazi road,below the Lai market, in the Namnam area, around Disel Power Plant and below the Kazi bridge tFig. 191. A number of such houses are also found in the Chandmari and Tathengchen area. RESIDENTIAL CLASS In considering the house type and availability of amenities as represented by the latrine, the bath room,water,elec- tricity,shopping facilities and accessibility etc.,the residential houses may be grouped into three major categories- 148 including Namnam area and Tibet and Kazi road. This part belongs to one of the older areas of the town,and is characteris^ed by the high land price and house rent, better accessibility and shopping facilities. A number of Kasis live in this area and each has a large amount of land for their resident. The entire area is predo minated by multis toried, modern buildings although few traditional houses are not uncommon in this area which is gradually replaced by modern multistory buildings. Another cluster of high class re sidential houses occur along the Paljor Stadium road IFlg. 351. ihis area is highly congested with mu11is toried,modern buildings. Lastly,a number of high class residential houses occur in the "De velopment Area'which has been developed very recently and the rate ot growth IS also very fast.A number of government quarters,incIu- ding those for the use of ministers, have been built in this area. ihe price of land and house rent are very high in this area. Besi des, there are a few small cluster of high class residential houses tound along the major roads in Tadong,DeoraIi and Baluakhani area. In contrast,the middle class residential houses are mainly concentrated in Tadong,Dotaphu,Arithang, Tathengchen,Chand- mari, Burtuk and Sichey gao area. The above mentioned areas are highly mixed up with the modern and traditional buildings and cha racterised by the lack of residential amenities. Further, they are less accessible, are away from the shopping and other facilities and have a comparatively low house-rent. Residences belonging to this category are mainly found along the periphery of the high cl ass residential houses and majority of them are concentrated in the lower western slope of the Gangtok ridge. I'iQ In Gangtok,the low class residences are highly dis persed in nature and are characterised by low room rent, high room density and poor supply of water and other tacilities. They are mainly concentrated either in the developed area or in the peri- pherial zone ot the town. In the developed area they occur in very smaii Clusters and occupy the inhospitable areas comprising the patches along the Jhoras, steep slope and shadow pockets and less accessible pockets. In the developed area they are mainly concen trated below the Kazi bridge and Lai market area, along the Tibet jiiiu Namnam road, around the Disel Fower Plant and in the Arithang areas CFlg. 191. They represent the lower income groups of people where good a number of the families partly or wholly depend on ag riculture and on wage as daily labour. In the western part of the town the low class residential houses are mainly concentrated in Burtuk,Sichey gao,Syalgao, Dathaphu and Daga gao areas. In the east ern side they are mainly located in Chandroari and Tathengchen area< It has already been mentioned that the continuous residential areas are totally absent in Gangtok due to the absence of flat land. In this small hilly town residential segregation by socio-economic classes has not yet appeared in true sense of the term. Besides the physical character of the surface, segregation requires a sizeable population and a sequential stages of growth. In Gangtok,however,residential segregation is beginning to surface in some localities which is again largely due to the topography. For instance, the high class residences are generally located on the higher grounds. In this respect the higher part of the western slope offers better sites in terms of quality of the land which is free from landslide and is open to sun and has better accessibi- 150 lity. People belonging to the higher economic group often built their houses away from the main market area. Others * The development of a number of institutions devoted to such functions are administration, health, education, research, etc. is quite dispersed in character occupying a very small area but they play a vital role in the morphological character of the town. However, there is a tendency in the recent years for many of them to develop close to each other. For instance, (a) the first most Important cluster appears in the southern part of the ridge top which is occupied by a number of such functional units like, the High court,the Radio station,the Assembly house,the Cottage Indus trial Training Centre,the Public Works Department, the T.N.Academy [Schooljand others including the Government Press, the Zoological Park, the Palace and a few small parks tFig. 191. (d) The second important cluster of such functional units are located on the wes tern slope, occupies the area between the Hospital and P.N.Girl's School-Community Hall area. Here a number of governmental offices, banks,post office,the Fire Service Station,the state Transport Wo rkshop, the Municipal Office and a Church have concent rated.(c) The third cluster of such functional units are located close to the Deorali bazar area where a school,a Watch Factory including a Vet- enary Hospital have developed. In Tadong area the Agricultural Research Centre(ICAR),the Animal Husbandry Department and the only college of the state, the Government College with its sprawling campus occupy a good amount of land.Besides there are several iso lated office bui1dings,schoo1s monastery, temple, church and guru- 151 dwara, and a few other institutions located here and there within the town area CFlg. 191. Majority of the administrative and other institutional buildings are multistoried as the shortage of suitable land gives rise to the vertical rise of such buildings. tach of the educat ional institutions covers a good amount of land as the campus not only accommodates the academic buildings but also the hostels,play grounds and staff quarters. Defence The two cantonments of Gangtok occupy a good amount of land and add to the morphological character of the town. The newer of them is located just outside the boundary of the town, lying above Ta- dong area, in the south-eastern part [Fig. 191, The Old cantonment occupying the higher north-eastern part of Gangtok,Iying above the National Hingway and Nathula Road IFlg. 191, The majority of the military barracks including the quarters and offices are located along the National Highway with a large part still lying vacant. It is imortant to note here that, only the cantonment area forms a distinct morphological zone in Gangtok. On the contrary,the funct ions like residential and commercial have just started to seggreg- ate despite several topographical barriers.During the recent years the residential buildings have started to spread along the major roads leading towards west(Tadong and Sicheygao)and north (Burtuk) and south--east (Syarl). Here again the topographical and allied altitudinal aspects play a dominating role, particularly offering residential expansion. 152 JORETHANG Jorethang,the third big town of Sikkim, situated at the meeting point of the river Rangit and Rammam,lies on an elevation of about abb ra [Fig. 211, The town has developed on a small patch of river terrace which is circular in shape where Rangit river forms the boundary in the south and in the north is steep mountain wall.Act ually the meeting point of this river offers three such patches of land and each one is occupied by a market place like, Singla Bazar of Darjeellng district (West Bengal) in the south,Nayabazar in the west and Jorethang in the east. The main road connecting Siliguri with Gyalshing goes through the town and all the other major roads of the entire Rangit basin converge here.By virtue of its location Jorethang has emerged as the main centre for collection and dist ribution in the western part of the state. It covers an area of about cJtt. 39 hectares (0.3b sq km) with a population of about 3921 persons in 198l. Jorethang is nothing but the extension of Nayabazar, the latter lying beyond the bridge across Kangit river. Nayabazar, as a settlement, came into existence just after the opening of the trade registration station at Singla Bazar for carrying on trade between Nepal and Bengal in 1885 . According to local information, the original settler/*s of Jorethang were the Mctj'his ( f erry man) and the Rais of Nepalese stock. They occupy the present day Majhi gao and Salghari respectively. These people, however, left the place during the epidemic (Kalajar) of 1920 and the present-day Joreth ang emerged as an important settlement in the late 1950s. In 1956, Indt-oi. Foretgn D^parlmenl. laScS. S«clvon-E,No. 8<5-e7. 1S3 Nayabazar was connected with Siiiguri by vehicular traffic follo wing which transport ottice and the Public Works Department were established at Jorethang. Subsequent 1y,a number of roads radiating from Jorethang were constructed and at present all the routes cov ering the*Rangit basin converge here. The major development of the town took place just after the merger of the state. Since merger, the process of development works started at a faster rate in each and every town, but Nayabazar shows a very limited progress as the shortage of flat land limits the extension of the town area. On the contrary,availabi1ity of flat-surface and the emerging trans port node at Jorethang encourage urban expansion at a faster rat# across the bridge. At present,Jorethang has become the most imp ortant transport node and business centre for the entire western halt or the Rangit basin of teh state. Like other valley towns in Sikkim, the density of population is very high in Jorethang with 10213 persons per sq km in 1981 and at the same time it is dominated by the Nepalese where the Lepchas and the Bhutias are very few in number. According to 1981 Census, about 65.2 per cent of the population speak Nepali/ (jorkhaii which is followed by Hindi (21 per cent), Urdu (4.8 per cent) and Bengali (3.8 per cent).The Hindi and Urdu speaking popu lation have migrated from various parts of the country and are mainly engaged in trade and commercial ac^tivities. In J orethang, about 66.2 per cent of the total land was under different urban uses in 1979/80 whereas 13.6 per cent of the land was under agriculture and about 19.9 per cent remained vacant CTable - 691). The major part of the land was under residen tial (29.9 per cent) and administrative (16.2 per cent) uses though 154, roads, factory/workshop and commerce occupy a fair amount of urban land CTable - 691). However, a good amount of land is still under agriculture which has developed in the form of small plots close to the residential areas and also occur along the southern and no- rthern border [Fig. 36], The vacant land is constituted mostly by the dry river bed. It has already been noticed during the field survey (1984) that the agricultural and the vacant land is gradu ally being converted into residential uses IFlg. 2Q & 361 whereas the share of land used for other purposes has remained unchanged CTable - 73D. At the same time the intensity of use has increased in the residential and commercial areas. According to the record of 1979/80 settlement survey, about 60 per cent of the total land is under government ownership and the rest of the land is owned privately where the Nepalese community holds about 39.6 per cent and the Bhutias have barely 0,6 per cent of the total area CTable -81). The major part of the residential and agricultural lands Table - 81 Community wise Land Use Pattern in Jorethang: 1977/78 (i n percentage) Land >.;se Category Gov t. Nepa 1 i Bhut la Residential 1212,1. 18 56.59 29.30 Commerc ia1 5. 70 Factory/Workshop 5. 77 Admi nis trat ive 27. 12 Educational 33.1. 100 2.76 Med icaI 3. 21 Recreat ional 2. 97 Places of Worship . 0. 47 Road &( Road Reserved Area 10, ,62 Agricultural 2.92. , 988 28.88 70.70 Forest 0.18 Drain/Jhora 0. ,45 Open Space 25.525, ,52 11.59 TOTAL 100.0100 .00 100.00 100.00 Source : Survey i* Settlement Deptt.. Govt, of Sikkim. ISB are under the ownership of the Nepalese communities which covers the entire Majhi gao and Salghari area [Fig. 291. Several plots of government land including that covered by the shopping area have been leased out to private parties. The public land is generally found atong the both sides of the main roads. The distinctive characteristics of urban morphology has not yet developed here though the land use pattern shows three distinct units in Jorethang. The town has developed over flat sur face where land gradually rises from the south to the north for ming three distinct tiers, of which the lower tier in the south, known as Majhi gao, is occupied mainly by private residences. The middle tier,through which main road runs in an east-west direction is occupied by the transport workshop,the market square,the cinema hall, the hospital,the school and the government offices including Government Housing IFlg. 211. The upper tier,the Salghari area, in the north is again occupied by the residential houses including a few government quarters. Thus,the middle tier is by and large occ upied by the non-residential establishments whereas the other two tiers are occupied mainly by the residential houses. In Salghari and Majhi gao area the majority of the houses are of traditional types, made of wood or bamboo wall with cement pluster and corru gated roof and most of them are single storied. However, modern houses (RCC buildings) are not uncommon in these areas and parti cularly in Salghari the number of them is on the increase. The hi gher northern part of the town has developed in very recent years and here a good amount of land is still vacant. The market-square,1ocated in the western part attached to the main road,is conspicuous for the multistoried buildings th is© ough majority of the houses are two storied. The physical charac ter of the market square of Jorethang is quite different from that of the other towns in Sikkim as because it is a planned mrket squ are at Jorethang that accommodates majority of the shops. Rows of buildings facing each other have developed along the both sides of the road and althogther three rows of building cover the market square. The shops of all descriptions occupy the ground floor of the buildings when the upper floors are used for residential pur poses or on occasions, they are used for housing office establish ments,such as Post and Telegraph. Some administrative offices inc luding bank are located within the shopping rows. Rows of shops housed in traditional buildings with wooden walls with corrugated roofs are found on th northern margin of the main road IFig. 361. The traditional buildings accommodate about 34 per cent of the total shops in the town and rest of the shops are in modern multi- storied buildings. Besides the shopping row and shopping square, there is a defined place for the hat (weekly market), located on the southern margin of the shopping square, which remains almost vacant except on the market day, Among the other functional units, the hospital,the fire station, the bank and the school are located in the northern side of the main east-west running road where the transport works hop and the District Industrial Office are located at the two ends of the main road (Fig. 361. And most of these units occupy a good amount of land and which play an important role in the morpholo gical structure of this small town. The dry river bed of Rangit lying vacant in most of the year serves as the town's dustbin and open latrine. The pebbles and sands of this river bed are used as 167 construction materials for the town. Due to the shortage of land the town is gradually extending towards the higher northen part, Sa1ghar i area. 1B8 NAMCHI Namchi, "Skytop" in Tibetan,is the headquarter of the South district and is located on a ridge top over the Tista - Rangit di vide [Fig. 31.The town lies at an altitude of about 1525 m though the undulating terrain has an altitude ranging between 1450 and 1600 m . Namchi is connected with Siliguri via Jorethang and with Gangtok via Singtham, taking part in regular passenger and goods services.According to 1981 census it covers an area of about 41.95 hectares or 0.42 sq km (according to Survey and Settlement Depart ment of Sikkim 68.86 ha) with a population of about 1,444 IFig 231. The name *Namchi' first appeared in the modern history of Sikkim in 17th. century when it became one of the 12 Dzongs in Sikkim after the Dzong wise (District) division of the country in 1642 . It became the headquarters of the Kazt (local chiefs) and the Dzong was named after the place of residence of the Kaszx ,S\no^ then the Kctst of Namchi has played a-n important role in the poli tics of Sikkim. In course of time Namchi became the Tahasil head quarters (during 1950s) and finally the district headquarters in 1963 with the division of state into 4 districts. The monastery 21 of Namchi was established in 1836 and by the end of the 19th. century,Namchi came to be well connected with the rest of the cou ntry, As mentioned earlier, Namchi appeared as a market centre since the beginning of the 20th century and very soon a h.at (weekly 20 arov«r,BSK. Si-kkim and Indvo.. N*w D«Lhi.,J ISO market) started functioning in this centre. With the introduction of planned economic development, different administrative institu tes , schoo 1 s , hospi ta 1 s , etc. star ted to appear in this Thasil headqu arters. However, the major development took place after the merger of the stJfte in 1975 when several district level offices, schools, banks together with their staff quarters were built mainly on the western side of the market area. Namchi appeared as a town only in 1971 census during the last decade it witnessed about a three-fold increase in population without changing its size-class. Namchi showing the lowest density (3442 persons per sq km in 1981) among the urban areas of Sikkim is 1 ike many other towns In having Nepa- lese constituting the major part of the urban population. Accor ding to 1981 census, about 54,8 per cent of the population were speaking Nepa1i/Gorkha1i followed by Hindi (30.8 per cent) and Be ngali (4.4 per cent). The Hindi-speaking population, by and large, belongs to the trading communities. In Namchi about 54 per cent of the land is developed and put into different urban uses where the remaining part of the land is occupied by agriculture and forest CTable - 69!). Agricul ture alone takes up about 30.6 per cent of the total land of this settlement and is practised in the southern and eastern part of town. Among the urban uses of the 1 and,residences happen to be the major user taking up about 21.3 per cent of the total urban area, The land used for administrative purpose, together with land under forests and the open space amount to about 7 per cent under each category. According to the recent field survey (1984), there has been very little change in the proportional share of land under different categories cTable - 73!) but the intensity of use has in- leo creased,particular1y in the residential and commercial areas which happens to be true in the case of almost all towns in this state. In Namchi,about 29.5 per cent of the land belongs to the various government authorities and rest of the land was un der priva?te ownership in 1979/80 CTable - 823. It is interesting to note that the major part of the government land is used for ed ucational purposes which takes up about 32.8 per cent followed by such uses as residential (16.7 per cent), administrative (16.6 per cent), medical (12.2 per cent) and roads (10.3 per cent). Agricul ture covers the major part of the (Nepalese and Bhutias) land fol lowed by residential use. it may be pointed out that here almost equal amount of land is devoted to residential uses by every comm unity CTable - 82D. The land owned by the Bhutias occur in two Table - 82 Community wise Land Use Pattern in Namchi: 1977/78 (i n percentage) Landuse Category Govt. Nepali Bhutia Lepcha Residential 16.816. 86 20.82 23.11 38.77 Commerc ial 2. 64 Admi nistrative 16. 61 Educational 32. 86 Medical 12. 24 Pub lie Utilities 0. 38 Places of Worship 1. 11 Road £- Road Reserved Area 1010.2. ,288 Agricultural 58.17 55.01 37.70 Forest 44,0. ,011 9.09 8.38 13.96 Drain/Jhora 0, . 87 Open Space 2.12, . 144 11.92 13.50 9.57 TOTAL 10100.00 .00 100.00 100.00 100.00 so.jrc* : Survey & Settlement Deptt. Govt, of Sikkim. continuous pockets, one in the east and the other in the north of the market area tFlg. 311.The Nepalese community on the other hand occupy their land in th periphery of the town,just beyond the Bhu- lei tias land whereas the Lepchas occupy several small patches occur- ing between the areas inhabited by the Nepalese and the Bhutias. The land owned by the government appears as two distinct large pockets one comprising the entire market area and the other lying in the weStern part of the town [Fig. 311. At present, an indigenous small shopping centre in the eastern part, and the administrative bui1dings,the schools and the hospital lying in the western part with residential houses built around these two pockets comprising the major component of the urbanscape I Fig. 371, The entire western part developed in very recent years. The town may be divided into three distinct zones in terms of its land use pattern such as (i) the indigenous shopping area in the north-eastern part; (ii) the western develop ing part;and (iii) the rural eastern part. The shopping area forms the older core of the town [Fig. 371. The market area consists of indigenous shopping buildings constructed of wooden wall and meta lled roof which occur on the both sides of the main road having no specialization in their distribution. The market area is divided into two parts: (a) the market square in the north where shops are found clustered on all the four sides of the square leaving open space in the middle through which the main road passes used on the ha.t or market-day by vendors. developed along the both sides of the road, attached to the south west of the market square. Most of the shopping buildings are sin gle-storied though few multi-storied modern buildings have also come up. The upper stories of the buildings in the commercial area is mainly used for residential purposes. ie>a In contrast to the commercial core,the western part of the town consists of modern bui1dings,housing different distri ct level offices, schools,hospitals, together with the residential quarters for their staff members. Recently, isolated residential houses of"higher income groups are gradually appearing in the nor th-western part of the town, par t icu 1 ar 1 y along the roads IFig. 371. The majority of the agricultural land occurs in the eastern part of the town. Isolated residential houses of traditio nal type are also common in this area. Besides,one primary school, one monastery and small patches of forest land make contrasting features of the agricultural landscape of this part of the town. At prsent,residential houses are gradually appearing close to the market area. A major part of this area was, however,excIuded from the 1981 census boundarytFig. 231 but the actual reason is not gi ven by the Census authorities. One of the possible reasons is that the 1981 census was conducted long before the preparation of Cadas tral maps although the survey was conducted during 1979/80. 163 SINGTHAM Singtham, located at the confluence of the river Tista and Rongni chu, lies on an elevation of about 380 m CFig. 261. It occupies a narrow strip of land on the river terraces which abru ptly ends in the south at Rongni chu and in the west at Tista. In the norther part the land rises abruptly forming a mountain wall and terrace gradually rises from the river beds which forms very gentle slope. The northern and eastern boundaries of the town merge with the Sakyong and Chisopani block of East district respe ctively. In the south,West Pandim of the East district is located across the Rongni chu. In the west, Namphing block of the South district is located across the Tista (Fig. 261. Singtham is the lat-3est town in Sikkim and is located 30 km south-west of Gangtok, at the junction of National Highway (31A) and Namgyal Highway. The entire settlement has developed on the both s'ides of the road, for ming a linear shape (Fig. 26], Singtham came on the map at the very beginning of this century and by 1913 it had developed into a ha.t (weekly market) when the basar consisted of 4 to 5 shops and hardly about a hund- 22 red people used to attend this f^ctt . At that time, the settlement was confined to the both sides of the road across the Rongni chu bridge. John Easton on his way to Tibet from Siliguri in 1928 ref ers to Singtham as the "end of familiar civilization" who found a few shops there offering a smal1 variety of goods and the workers 22 Accordi-ng to lh« sla.l«n-n«rit of the loiicil inhabilanla 164, 23 including a number of blacksmiths and carpenters . The wooden and thafched houses were strung along the both sides of the road, form ing a shape like the letter J . By 1931,Singtham had formed into one of the principal centres in the country . The centre entered into a new phase during the 1960s when importance of commercial activities increased in all the southern located bazars due to the stoppage of the Indo-Tibet trade. But the major development took after 1975 under the new political and economic set up. At present it is an important transport and business centre in the state. Singtham appeared as a 'town' in 1971 census and according to 1981 census it covers an area of about 16.12 hectare (approximately) with a density of approximately 25,080 persons per sq km. Among the urban areas of Sikkim, Singtham shows the highest density per unit area. Singtham has a mixed population including a number of communities where the Nepalese constitute the majority of the ur- 25 ban population. According to 1981 census , about 62.9 per cent of the population speak Nepa1i/Gorkha1i followed by Hindi and Urdu. Hindi and Urdu speaking population mainly belong to the business communities who started to settle here since the establishment of marketing activities in this centre. Like other towns of southern Sikkim, the number of the Bhutias and the Lepchas are very few. In Singtham, the residential (30 per cent) and the commercial (25.3 per cent) uses of the land lake a leading role with administrative and other uses taking a very little amount of 2lan9 d CTable - 69D.The forest covers only 8,5 per cent of the total CcLaton.J. An Unfr«qu«nt•d Hi-ghwoiy IhrocigH Sikkim and Ti.b«t to ChumoLoorv. London.Th* SchoLarlla Pr«sa,t&2a.p land remains vacant,the major part of which is dry river bed lying in the south-western corner of the town where Tista meets Rongni chu. Accfording to the field survey (1984), there are definite indi cations of forest land being converted into residential uses and though proportional share of land use under different categories has remained almost same as before CTable - 735, the intensity of use has increased in each and every category, particularly in the shopping area tFig. 341. The internal structure of Singtham is very simple with rows of shops arranged along the both sides of the main road and the residential houses occupy a narrow strip of land just be hind the shopping rows [Fig. 34,1. The shops occupy the ground flo ors of the buildings and the upper floors accommodate residential quarters. Besides,a good number of residential quarters occupy the rear part of the shop buildings. Thus,mu1tistoried commercial bui ldings accommodate the majority of the town's population. The tra ditional single storied residential houses built of wooden wall with corrugated roof along with the bamboo huts occur in the east ern and western part of the town, mainly along the river banks and accommodate people of low income groups. The residential houses are connected with the main road by the narrow footh-paths. incre asing activity in different spheres giving rise to an increasing demand for residential quarters in the recent years has forced the town to grow vertically and this is particularly noticeable in the shopping area. The modern multistoried building is one of the cha- ractieristic features of Singtham's urbanscape. 166 Among the 1'86 shops in Singtham (1964), the tradi tional buildings accommodate only 86 shops and remaining one hun dred shops are housed in the ground floor of the modern multisto- ried buildings. The older part of the town lying in the eastern section' consists of traditional buildings though recently many of them have been replaced by modern buildings. However, there is no separate market for grains or vegetables in Singtham and the shops of all descriptions are found close to each other without forming any one of speci1ization. The hat meets at a specified open square in the south-western part of the town where rows of traditional shopping houses have developed around the square fFig. 34). The open space of the square is used by the vendors for spreading the ir merchandise on the days when the h^tt assambles. There are a few sheds in this square for the use of the vendors. This part of the town 1ies vacant during the rest of the days in the week. Besides the residential and commercial areas,a very small part of the town is used for other functions which play a minor role in th spatial arrangement of the town. The bank, post office,po1 ice station and state transport offices are located with in the shopping zone. The district hospital is located just across the Rongni chu-bridge (West Pandim) and the Public Works Depart ment offices are located in the north-eastern periphery of the town, along the National Highway. Due to the shortage of land with in the existing boundary of the town, horizontal expansion of th© town is taking place across the two brVdges (Tista and Rongni chu) and also along the National Highway towards Gangtok.That means the town is spreading along the three major roads and it is interes ting to note here that the residential expansion has taken place 167 across the Tista and Rongni chu bridges. Several repair shops (ma inly motor workshops) have clustered along the National Highway across the Rongni chu bridge whereas the residential and administ rative offices are gradually appearing in the north--eastern part along the National Highway, as dictated by the factor of slope in each case. lea CWAtPTER V FUNCTIONAL CHARACTER OF THE TOWNS, RURAL-URBAN LINKAGE AND URBAN HIERARCHY FUNCTIONAL CHARACTER Types of Function Urban centres are the foci of various activities;social,cultural and economic. Thus, urban centres are not merely an aggregate of poulation but rather an aggregate of functions. The types of func tion and their concentration m a centre depend on the nature of the•comp1ementry region . All towns have some common functions and the characteristics and urban status vary greatly according to the variety of functions. Many authors have tried to classify urban centres functionally and they have adopted different methods - both empri- 1 2 cial and statistical. Authors like Aurousseau (1921) , Hall(1934) s 4 Janaki (1954) and Lai (1959) have classified urban centres based on emprical methods while statistical methods have been adopted by Auroua8*o.u,M. Th« Dial ribut ton of PopulatLon:A Conatrucliv* Probl*m<0*ogra- pical Rovi«v. v. 0,1021. p 574-> Hall ,RB. Ci tt.«« of >la.pari;Not«a on Di.atrCbutt.on and Inh«rit«d Porm 169 Harris (1943)°, Pownall (19531*', Alexander {1954)'', Hart (19551°, Nelson (1955) and Webb (1959) in making functional classifica tion of urban centres. In the present study, however,both empirical and statistical approaches have been made.Data available from 1971 census ffove been taken for consideration as the detail working cl assification for 1981 census has not yet been published. In the empirical judgement various functional units like shopping facili ties, transport, administration, education, health and other urban amenities have been taken into consideration. At present there are only eight urban centres in Slkkim while Nayabazar and Jorethang have been treated as one unit due to their close proximity IFlg.71 In terms of occu(ij)pat ional structure the majority of the working population in these urban areas is engaged in tertiary activities CTable - 273, Among the tertiary activities, trade and commerce engage about 14 to 41 per cent of the total urban working population. This large share in the trading activities implies the dominance of marketing activities in the urban areas of Sikkim. The proportional share of workers engaged in trading activities is comparatively low in the East district where the functional diver sification is very prominent due to the presence of Gangtok, the largest town of the state. The urbanscape is dominated by the coro- mercial activities in the smaller towns of the other districts. In 5 Harri*,CD. Functional cLaasif teat Ion ot Cit\.** in th* United Stat** ia»og- raphical lt*vi.*w. v. aa,i£>'4a. p atf-i^»> PovnaL L , LL.. Funct iona of N«v SS*aland Tovna 171 tlon and the antlra construotional procasa raqulrad more man power in auoh an unstable mountain topography with heavy rainfall than ordinarily nadded. Tha increasing share of the industrial sector is not due to the industrialization of the state but it is the smaller manufacturing units of household goods such as match.soap, bread etc, the printing press and the repairing units dealing with moto<- vehicles, watches, radios and similar household goods that raised the number of industrial workers. In the tertiary sector as wall there has been increase In employment in the urban areas of every district though it has not been with transport, storage and oommunloatlon which, on tha other hand, recorded a reduction not only in the proportional share but also in the total number CTabl* -53>. Introduction of modern transport and communication system has obviously reduced man power in this category. The proportional share of workers in trade and commeroe has daoraased in the East and South district, though they have increased their number during the last decade. The towns of these districts are not only perfor ning as marketing and administrative centres but they ara also tha centres of higher education with medical and other public facili ties CTable - 83). The occupational structure of population alone never reveals the actual functional charactar of these newly -born towns. In regional context,the number of people engaged in a par ticular economic activity hardly brings out the Importance of a function. As for example in Namohi, the largest number of working population (42.6 per cent) was engaged in trade and commeroe in 172 Tabl-«! 83 Distribution of Population and Different Urban Annities in Sikkii:l984 Gang' Gyai- Jore- flangan Naichi Rangpo Sing- tok shing thang thai Adiinistrative Rank CAP. DH PS m m PS PS Kuiber of Shops- 1146 56 194 39 94 92 164 Higher Education 12 1 1 1 2 — 1 nedical Facility SH H HC H H HS H Vetenarary Hospital 1 1 -- 1 1 — — Nuiber of Banks 5 2 2 1 2 2 2 Printing press 8 — 1 — -- 1 I Rice and flover Hill 5 6 2 3 — 1 1 3 Factory* 15 — 6 — 1 2 3 Population (1981) 36747 745 4873 780 1444 2452 4043 Bafi«d:Riftid survey in 1984. t Jorethang and Nayabazar taken together. I Bakery,Moddle,Agarbati,Hatch,Logence,Candle,Soda.Soap and Icecreai. SH-State Hospital. H-Hospital HC-Heaith Centre. HS-Health sub-Centre. X Above Friiary level 173 1971 and in Mangan the h^lghest number of working population (36.2 per cent in 1981) engaged in trade and commerce but the Importance of the administrative function of these district headquarters were not revealed by the occupational sturcture. Another important fac tor has a part to play in this regard and that is, as mentioned earlier, the census boundary did not coincide with the town bound ary and a good amount of developed area were left out. As for exa mple, in Mangan the 1931 census only included the bazar area while a good part of area lay beyond the boundary taken by the census for the town. In Gyalshing the district secretriat complex is I oca- ated 5 km north of the census boundary. In most of the towns boun dary problem created such anomalies.In spite of that the number of working population engaged in a particular service gives an idea about the functional character of the town.Use of statistical met hod in the urban functional classification is found to be totally unfit for this tiny Himalayan towns mostly of very recent origin. A thorough field survey was undertaken during 1982-84 for the analysis of functional character of the towns in Sikkim In this connection the author has collected information about each and every functional unit of the towns from various government de partments. In order to obtain a correct picture about the marke ting activities of the towns, further details were gathered on the number and types of shops including wholesale from the Trade Lice nce Registrar of the Bazar Department, under Local Self Government and Housing Department, and also from the Municipal Corporation of Gangtok. At the same time a thorough market survey was made in all the towns to ascertain the shopping arrangement in the market ar eas. Besides, informations were also collected for the classlfioa- 174, tion of the shops in the towns. The Interior location of Namchi, Gyalshing and Mangan limits their marketing activities, and these towns are recognized also as administrative centres carrying marketing function along with that% In general,the district headquarters in Sikkim consists of a smal1 indigenous market with about 40 to 90 shops,a number of d13trlet-1 eve 1 offices (except in Gya1shing),one hospital,one vet erinary hospital and at least one high school with a population ranging between 750 to 1500 CTable - 835. The grocery and general stores happen to be a typical traditional type of shop dealing in all sorts of goods for household consumption like medicine, foot ware, hardware, etc. which,at the same time collect ai! sorts of agricultural products including cash crops like large cardamom.gi nger etc (Fig. 40 - 4131. It is the most common type ot shop in the hill towns representing the majority of the retail shops. The num ber of shops with distinct specialization in dress, stationary etc is limited CTable - S^D. The proportional share of workers in trade and commercial activities was very high in the last decade (1971 and the available date show similar trend during the recent years ,r these towns. On the other hand, by virtue of location, Singtham, J orethang-Nayabazar and Rangpo play the role of a place for trans hipment where a break-in-transportation takes place for merchan dise travelling up or down-hill. The commercial activities emer ging out of such function have given rise to these towns, often consisting of a market with 90 to 200 shops dealing in more speci- 175 SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE SWOPS NDEX GANGTOK 1 «• Cif.ni-imi :,f.r:rr".- E.T GT-I 1'-.:'I->' •• Ga'id J r. J ;>t fi1.1 • 'lidI ,v m Te-. !»-al • '"i"'.h aii'i ''i;!!-!! en 1 ' « Hardware , \'n i ti', •i Mf>-tnr par' * . m Automubn ie rei •n 1 ; ••• 'Jfz-rv 1 r- J CJ Petrol pumc r } EJ ectrii. gi "'«;• m Uteris il;: m Mfd 1 ff.'i)'' ^ i J we 1i ery m r . 1 I'.r m oa luotj s'/ Dry 1..-1 itiii_ -iri'i 1 ^j • Handicrafts tin i nit I'-jui t.'s 1^ otud i o Si Instrument:; in Radio and TV «» Watch t$| Kurniturfc CZi Ghoe and shoe makinf? (sil Leather good f • V r -f'p ! .'il'lOC ) ta^ Games and sp'.ir t • * I'.f'(_ik , riif)/''!'^ iri' •)r,.; n''>S p.'ipfl ^ Ti'.- [-'ji ^ • 'i '>J•r1^ - - . • .-.^ r -' Rill. ,IIK1 fiour m 1 ! bakery and cijn :'"•:! 1 . in.-jry I , 'v.'ci"!. t f •,•! .ill' . «i Rr-s taijf t-iiL ii;'i Ca Htif.el with )' ^H r i or 1 "»m Betal and '-'hiia p .V 1'. I juary Liquirp shor m Tr-anspor-* ij?'-:! m • 'Iji.ifiown m fiarik !•« %^ '%6 % SmtlAL ARRAN H °^Or, P^i •fOJ NAY A BAZAR ^ g3 Med i cene |H J w e 1 i e r y Hi Ta i lor lOOmt INDEX ]tj} Sa ! con {•BDry clinic and iondry V^^ K^ Studio tZDGenp r a 1 stores Tf".T! Rad i o and T •^^^•aof^K BiG r oce ry [^Uatch BiiG3Cid i |^«Shoe and shoe making ^gRepair ot Uatch and Radio Bl S t a t i o n a r y MB Bakery and confectionary - --'Tea I e o { ^2 Sweet, tea and snacks Hi Cloth and Garments ^^ Restaurent and Bar HJHardware,Paints,ett l^h Hotel w i 11] lodging ^! n t o r . r t c ^2Betoi and cheap t^tationary ! A u t omcil e /epa i r ^ "~^, L ; t;ii i r e s hop [, J r et r o 1 pump i^ Trans pi-, r ' agent Bi i- i e.r t I 1,; goods HB ^n c -> Fig- 41 SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT RANGPO Of" THE SHOPS v^^^m, ^B Ta i lor s tores COUJn SSSaloon 'jrocery fcSDry cl I I C >5 to GanqloH n pn-Ti^erri *"''^ n .mi 50 100 mt Fig- 42 / lOOmt Fi2- 43 Tabl-e 84 Types of Shops in the Urban Areas of Sikkit: 1984 X Types of shops as per N i 1 e 0 f t h e Tow n s •ajor goods offered 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 feneral 5tores-^ 243 19 4 10 11 10 4 11 Grocery 57 6 22 3 19 13 18 29 Gaddi 30 3 12 3 3 5 7 10 Tobaco etc. 3 ------Stationary 64 1 3 1 4 2 4 4 Tea leaf 6 ------Cloth and Garaents 69 1 10 2 2 4 6 14 Hardware,Paints,etc. 34 - 11 - 1 - - 6 Hotor parts 28 - 3 - ' 1 - 7 Automobile repair and servicing 5 - 1 - - - 1 1 Petrol puip 3 - 1 - - - 1 1 Electric goods 16 - 3 - 1 - - 2 Utensils 4 - - - 1 - 1 1 Medicene 8 - 2 - 1 - 1 3 Jwellery 17 - 4 - 2 3 1 4 Tailor 25 5 10 2 6 3 3 4 Saloon 22 I 3 I 2 3 2 5 Dry clinic and londry 14 I 3 1 2 - J. 2 Handicrafts and antiquites 2 - - - - - Studio 9 1 2 - 1 \ Instruients 14 ' 1 - - - - - Radio and TV 13 ' - - - - Hatch 3 - 1 - - - - - Furniture 20 ' 2 S - 1 2 Shoe and shoe taking 19 1 4 I 3 - 2 4 Leather good (except shoe) 4 ' - - - - GaKs and sports 4 ' ------Book,iagazine and newspaper 4 ' 1 - - - - 1 Repair of Vatch and Radio etc. 10 - 2 - 1 1 - 2 Rice and flour lill 6 1 3 - 1 - 1 2 Bakery and confectionary 24 - 2 - - - - - Sweet,tea and snacks 82 4 9 5 6 2 9 13 Restaurent and Bar 29 5 3 2 7 3 5 5 Hotel with lodging 66 1 2 1 1 - - 1 Beta! and cheap stationary 166 5 7 6 14 2 14 19 Liquire shop 12 3 4 2 3 6 7 8 Transport agent 3 1 2 1 1 - 1 1 Printing press 8 - 1 - - - 1 • 1 TOTAL 1146 58 135 41 94 59 92 164 Based on :Field survey in 1984 » Teiporary/iobile shop 4 Grocery,stationary,Kdicene,cloth and garients,shoe,hardware, collection of agricultural products and wny other necessity goods l.Gangtok 2.Gyalshing S.Jorethang 4.nangan S.Naachi S.Nayabazar 7.Rangpo 8.5ingthaa 176 1Ished goods some of which on a wholesale basis IFig.dl ft 42].Such locational advantage is further reflected In the presence of a few small factories making candIes,matches,noodd1es,bread confectiona- ries etc.a printing press,a health centre and a few administrative offices,' In these centres, the number of general stores is compara tively low and the number of shops dealing with specialization in goods like grocery,cIoth, stationary,hardware,medicine etc.is high. Here, again the number of temporary/mobile shops dealing in betel and cheap stationary goods Is high and at the same time the number of gadbdt is high CTable - BA'H , Besides commercial act iv 1 ties, these centres serve as a transport nodes with a good number of workers engaged in transport, storage and communication. Gangtok, the capital town, is the only big town (clasE-lll) offering more specialized urban amenities which is to tally absent In any other towns in Sikkim.It has already been men tioned that there are five recognized markets in Gangtok and of these, themain market, namely Gangtok Bazar, accommodates abovit 65 per cent of the total shops including temporary/mobile ones. Among the other markets, Deoral i contains about 9.3 per cent of the total number of shops and about 8.7 per cent is located in the other three markets. Besides, 17 per cent of the total number of shops are in the residential areas. Here again the traditional general GadeLis: Th««o shops dsal vith tho purchas* and sal* of agricultural produ cts, I iks larg* cardamom, gingor.orong-o , sic , in wholssalo basis, tn thos* cou nter purchasos ars mads dirsetly from ths farmors or via middlsman or from ths similar gaddi from small towns or bazars. As for oxamplo^ths gaddis of Oangtok purchas* from t ho gaddis of Mangan, Dikohu, rokyong and othor sma ller csnt ros. Thsss count or dortot havs any show room but thoy havs godovnx warohouss. Zn many casss tho traditional gonoral shops of smal l*r towns ioxeopt Oangtok) and bazars purchas* similar agricultural products from ths farmor or via middlomah. 177 shops are larger in number and they are we I 1-distributed both in the recognized markets as well as in the other areas. The number oispec id-^ized shops is quite large and they are mainly concentrated in the Gangtok Bazar area IFig. .401 . The shops are located in rows and highly specialized retail shops, gaddi, wholesale shops and ho tels are mainly concentrated in the main bazar. Gangtok has the largest number of gaddis (about 40 per cent of the state's totial) because it Is wel1--connected with the large cardamom producing area and it function as the main collecting and exporting centre of large cardamam which happens to be the main cash crop of this state.This administrative town is not only the headquarters of the state but it Is also the centre of higher education,medicai,recre ational , pol i tical and commercial (both retail and wholesale) acti vities. Besides, Gangtok is a tourist centre for its outstanding scenic beauty, cultural heritage and above all,its closer location to the Inner Himalaya. In considering all the statistical and empirical facts, the small urban centres of Sikkim has a strong base for co mmercial function. The rural areas need a focal point for exchan ging their local commodities and this basic role is played by the towns with their shops, (^.ats ( week 1 y market ), banks, of f ices and simi lar institutions, the sum of which form the urban character. Func tionally they may be divided into two distinct groups -(a) commer cial and (b) commercial-cum-administrative. By virtue of their location, all the valley-site towns,like Jorethang-Nayabazar,Sing- tham and Rangpo function not merely as retail service centres but at the same time as good wholesale markets. In contrast,the admi nistrative headquarters like Gangtok, Mangan, Namchi and Gyalshing 17© offer higher order medical, educationaI,prof essiona1, recreationa1, and various other services and at the same time a good retail mar ket. Service Area of the Town I* The types of services offered by these towns show that the number of population of a particular town is not the basis for the location of many functions in them. In other words,the support of the town depends not on the service it peforms for itself but for its rural surroundings. Each town has its own 'service area' or 'hinterland' and the nature and extent of this area depends upon the transport facilities available and the functionai varieties of the town. In Sikkim,the basic role of the town is to provide ret ail shopping facilities for its scattered population with its poor economic and transport system. To carry out this particular respo nsibility, there are 32 ba.-za.rs or rural places centres besides the 12 towns,distributed almost at random (RN-1.39) throughout the sett- led area IFig. 91. Their service areas obviously are quite as co mpared with those of the towns as the latter have a greatei noda iity, often extending beyond the district boundaries. 12 Ndareat N<»i.ghbour Index (RN) : „^ RA ^^^ RE d. d= aum of actual distance of the nearest neighbour N * N= Mumber of centres 1 * RE= Number of Centre ^ p = ______To t al Area * Here 92 bazar and 7 towns has been taken due to the close proxtrntty of Jorelhangi 170 The range of goods and services has been taken into consideration to demarcate the service areas of the towns. Among the services, three basic services, namely (i) marketing including including wholesale, (ii) medical and (iii) education - have been taken into consideration in regional context. Here range refers to the areal extent of the goods and services to and from the towns, which means the surrounding rural areas from where the people att end the market and obtain such urban services as medical and edu cational services. The range of goods and services directly influ enced by the transportation system plays a vital role in Slkklm. For the demarcation of service area, each and every good and pass enger services including the local taxis and jeeps have been taken into consideration for all the towns. Besides, the place of resi dence of the people has been collected from the retail and whole sale shops which serve them and also from the people who attend the hat in the towns. The service area of the fxat plays an impor tant role In the delineation of the town's service area In such a difficult terrain. The dispersed rural population with poor pur chasing capacity and transport facilities prefer going to the town once a week. For medical services,InformatIon on the place of re sidence has been collected from the outdoor and indoor patient li st of the medical centres (hospital,hea1th centre,etc). Similarly, Information on the place of residence of the pupil has been coll ected from the enrolment list of the schools, colleges and other educational institutions. ISO RURAL-URBAN LINKAGE * Factors Affecting Rural-Urban Interaction It has al ready^^ment ioned that the state covers the upper catch- i& ment area of the Tista basin which^bounded by inaccessible high mountain* wall on three sides; north, west and east, making inter national boundries tFlg. 31. The state is open only from the south where it merges with the hill divisions of West Bengal. Sikkim is connected with Siliguri, the gateway--city in the Terai region of Darjeeling district, by National Highway 31A runs northward upto Mangan via Mel Ii,Rangpo,Singtham,Gangtok and Dikchu tPig. 71. Ano ther major road follows the Rangit river from Me I Ii to Gyalshlng via Jorethang-Nayabazar. In this way two major roads connect all the towns with Siliguri city.The other roads of this state meet at several points with these major roads and the entire transport ne twork system is totally guided by the surface topography where roads mainly follow the rivers or go over the ridge-tops. This re sults in the convergence of roads and development of nodes mainly at the confluence of the major rivers and sometimes at the ridge top (like Namchi and Gangtok). As a result this region is open for contacts and interactions only from the south. Consequently, all types of movement to and from the country is unidirectional- from north to south tFlg. 71, The products of hill region maintain a 'downflow' or 13 'gravity flow' system . The state is highly dependent on other re gions for most of its necessary commodities,including food grains. 19 t Bha t achojryya.B . Urbanvz at i. on i.n Hi mal a.ya;CaBe of North Bongo. L . 7 >"i. ( S tngh , TV. and Kaur,J.*d. Studios in Eco-D*val opm«nt: Himalayaa Mountain and Man. Luck- now Pri-nling House,lP63.p 417> 181 All the commodities moving into Sikkim or out of the country get assembled first of all at Siliguri, where primary break-of-bulk occurs. In other words Siliguri eKcercises effective control on the collection and distribution of all the commodities to and from Sikkim. Thus, the price of goods differs considerably from south to north as the transport cost is very high over the mountainous routes. At the sametime this has an effect on the pattern of con sumer movement where people travel a greater distance towards th« south than towards the north to buy any goods.This has an inherent danger of impairing the economic morale of the state in the long run. For instance,if the habit of the people travelling south (to Siliguri) continues for the nearness of the 1 atter,people may not remain dependent at all on any higher order centre within the state however big the town is.The only way to put restrain on this Is, perhaps,the price-index of materials or services obtainable at different regional centre of the state.The quality of materials or services should be of competitive nature and above all a greater encouragement for enterpreneurs to create more specialised service f ac i I i t ies , In this Himalayan state the settlements have develo ped and are almost restricted to the souther part,the latter repr esenting only 24 per cent of the total geographical area [Fig. 101 where the settlements are generally confined to the major river valleys or are found on the upper slopes upto a certain level. As discussud ear Iier,there is no village in true sense in this highly dissected region. The revenue blocks consist of a few house clu sters sometimes 5/6 houses forming such clusters, locally known as B-us t ee. 182 The physical constraints have played a significant role in the country with a poorly developed transportation system. As per 1981 Census, only 50 per cent of the inhabited revenue blocks, covering about 61.3 per cent of the rural population of the state, was appToachab 1 e by pxxcca. or hard-surfaced roads and only 36 per cent to the revenue blocks, covering only 46.6 per cent of the to tal populat ion,was connected by road service IFlg. 8], Thus,a la rge section of the people have no means of travel other than to walk [Fig. AA\. In the dissected highland surface walking distance and direction are controlled by the surface-slope. People always avoid steep slope to reduce physical hardship in travel. In this way the surface configuration plays a decesive role in carving out the service area of the towns. The physical hardship in travel and poor purchasing capacity of the highly scattered population limit the frequency of the rural--urban movement and the visit to the town ultimately gets restricted to once a week, that is on the hat day, the day on which the weekly market in the town assembles. The location of the town and the administrative set up of the country further influence the interaction pattern where the seat of the district administration is located in the higher interior part and the non-administrative towns in the lower south ern part, the latter offering,as explained earlier,a more convenient .ituation for the development of an urban centre than the northern higher parts. All the major roads of this state ultimately conve rge at these valley-site towns and commercially they play a more vital role in virtue of their location in such 'unidirectional' flow system. People from long distance, mainly from the same dis trict, visit the administrative towns for administrative service 163 SIKKIM FREQUECY OF BUS SERV1CES(DAILY) I •\ V /•- S^vj-V-- \ r' r^ d S f Gysl^hi" ) •v •—- I Service HI I O Services •I 20 Services S.l(9urr7 Fig- 44 along with the other higher order services provided by the big hospital, the high school, the col lege,the cinema, the stadium etc which are usually concentrated in the district headquarters. Besi des, all of them provide retail shopping facilities. Although peo ple perfcer to exchange their local products for dally necessities in the nearest bcLzar < rural market place) and some of them provide some of the important services with their health centres, schools, post offices, etc. The district headquarters always have a greater pull for their better provisions. However,there is no doubt that the location and distribution of these 6 32,exert profound influence on the rural-urban interaction pattern evolving out of the 'unidirectionaI'f1ow system- Extent of the Service Area In this connection it may be said that an extensive field survey has been made by the author during the 1982-84 for ascer taining the character of the service areas of the towns. For this purpose major emphasis was laid on three of the most common servi ces demanded by the service areas, such as (i) retail shopping fa cilities, (ii) education and (iii) health services. As mentioned earlier data relation to the dependence of the villages or revenue blocks on the towns for the retail service has been col lecte^^ *-rom the attendance in the retail shops and h.c3;i£ {week 1 y markets) in each town. Second 1y,data has been collected from the visit^or's list of outdoor patients in hospitals as well as health centres and add ress of the students were collected from the enrolment list of the schools in each town to determine the degree of dependence and the intensity of the rural-urban linkages. Besides these three tvpes of services,the wholesale service has also been considered for de- 184, termining the hierarchial order of service areas which is discu ssed in detail in the later part of this chapter. The following noticeable features have been detected during the survey:- The three specific services such as re,tail shopping, education and medical service offered by the towns appear to be very limited in areal ex tent.However>the retail service extends over a much larger area than the remaining two services and each case the extension is noticeable more in the northern part of the respective towns than in the southern part IFlg. 451. Two factors seems to be res ponsible for this: First, the role of marketing activities is much greater than the other functions in the socio-economic life of this region. At the same time the unidirectional flow pattern lim its the southward extension of the service area whatever might be the size of the town as the price of goods Increase towards north. Second,the educational and medical institutions are,rather,distri- buted adequetaly though the institutions may not be higher in ord er in many cases which keeps a large area of the state beyond the scope of the urban centres (Fig. -451. The areal extent of the service area varies conside rably among the towns. Table- 85 shows the coverage of the service area for each town. In this context, the population-size is more important than the spatial extent of the service area as the popu lation is not uniformly distributed in such a dissected topography For instance,Gangtok serves (retail marketing)about 26 per cent of the total population CTable -853. In comparislfon the corresponding figure varies betewwn 4 to 9 per cent in case of other towns. It 195 is,however,much interesting to note that all the 8 towns taken to gether serve only 50 per cent of the total rural population with retai1,educatlona1 and health services. Apart from the urban cent res, there are 32 hcLzctrs (rural market place) offering similar ser vices with their limited capacity to their immediate surroundings. The educational and medical facilities are also available in some of them. It may be further noted that in many cases these hctzax-B Table -85 Service Area of the Towns by Different Functions in Sikkim Towns Dependent Dependent Dependent Dependent Village Population* Village Population* • Rural Total Rural Total Gangtok 61(15.0) 17.0 25.9 40(9.8) 11. 2 21.0 Gyalshing 44(10.8) 10.4 8.9 23(5.6) 6.6 5.8 Jorethang# 19(4.7) 5.0 5.7 15(3.7) 2.8 3.9 Mangan 26(6,4) 5.8 5,5 26(6.4) 5.8 5. 1 Namchi 34(8.4) 4.9 4.5 20(4.9) 4.2 3. 9 Rangpo 16(3.9) 4,4 4.4 4(1.0) 1.8 2.3 Singtham 43(10.5) 8.7 8.6 30(7.4) 6.7 7,7 sourea:Census 1981 # Jorethang and Nayabazar taken together * In percentage. In braket percentage fig. are not dependent on the urban centres for major services like re tailing and wholesaling. They are Ranipool, Rhenock, Rong1i,Mel 1i , etc. IFig. 4S1 . Types of Service Area The "ridge and val1ey'topography of the Himalayan state produces quite different types of urban service areas. For instance, the urban areas of Sikkim form two distinct types of service areas-- the'ridge' and the 'valley'-- pattern in terras of their location, Mavthani.BP. Interaction Pattern and Spatval Organization in the HvlLs:Som« Observation. 7n 186 These typical spatial patterns are also common in the other part of the Himalayan region.As mentioned earlier,some physical factors like drainage and the relief have played a decisive role in carv ing out the service area where the alignment of the transport line as well Ss the distribution of settlements are absolutely contro lled by the surface configuration. The towns located in and around the meeting points of two rivers, give rise to a 'valley'- pattern interaction system. The examples are- Jorethang-Nayabazar,SingthaM Rangpo, Mangan and Gyalshing. In a valley-pattern service area the urban influence follows the direction of the valley including the higher slopes of the catchment;and the intensity of this influence is more in the north than in the south as the price of goods vary considerably in the opposite direction. In contrast the 'ridge*- pattern of service area occurs in the towns with location on ridge -tops, like that in the case of Gangtok and Namchi where urban ser vice extends over the ridge following the lower slope down to the valley sides. As a result the towns on the ridge have a command area 'convex' in shape where as the valley towns have 'concave' service areas. HIERARCHICAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE TOWNS The hierarchy of the urban centres denotes the ranking of towns in the successive group on the basis of size or functional crite ria. They are functionally arranged in such a manner that the low er order centre occurs within the influence-orbit of the higher order centre. They form a nesting pattern where centres of higher order sucessiveiy decrease in nunber or in the other words occur at a greater distance. The size of the settlement ae^y not be coln- 187 cidental with the functional order as "an urban settlement is fun is damentally a question of functions and not population" . The fun ction or service which an urban centre performs or offers is not merely for itself but primarily for its surrounding rural areas. The hier'&rchial concept is based on the idea of central place whi ch is centrally located in a homogenious area and offering goods and services to the area, where there is a demand for them. The ce ntral places, as such, perform one or a group of central functions A number of studies have been made on the central place system and the marketing hierarchy in India and abroad such as Christailer (1933)***, Loesch (1940)*'^, Smailes (1944)*®, Singh (igSB)***, Berry and Garrison (1958)^**, Kar (1960)", Siddall (1961)", Mayfield (1963)^*, 24 Bhattacharya (1972) and many other authors.in the Himalayan terr itories settlement plays a diverse role in their interaction patt ern and the so colled hierarchical system is totally absent in the three dimensional surface. Many Indian authors have written on the i5 Dvckunaon , HE. The Dlat r tbut ton and Functtone of Smaller Urban Settlemeni-a of Co^t Anglia < Qeographera. v. 7 ,lpa2 . p 20 > Cnrtstal I er,V. Central Place In Southern Qermany. tr. Bosktn.cv. London,Prvntlc© HalL,lP<5 188 interaction pattern and the hierarchical system in the Himalayan region such as Tirtha and Lall (1967), Mukherji (1974) , Maithani 27 2fl 20 (1978) .Bhattacharya (1983) and Singh and Prasad (1983) , In considering the existing socio-economic background and the'commodity flow system,marketIng activities have been taken into consideration in the centrality test as the trade and commer ce are the most ubiquitously present urban functions in the region under study. In the classification of towns into different hierar chical order,two different types of central activities, namely the retail and who Iesale,have been taken into view. All the towns have been considered in their 'spatial' and 'functional' context . In the functional context,the market centre of certain order provides a number of goods and services to the lower order centre Including certain special types of goods and services which are not availab le in the lower order centre. Thus,the number and variety of shops offering both retail and wholesale services in any centre is the most important index for attributing or determining the order of the centre CTable -863.In Sikkim,both the total number and variety of shops including wholesale,is very large in Gangtok whic^ is fo- 25 Trtlha.R. and L.aL I ,A. Sarvico Centr«a in th« V<»at«rn Himalayas Table - 86 Distribution of Different Types of Shops in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1984 RETAIL WHOLESALE Towns Number Type Number Types Gangtok 1115 38 31 10 Gyalshing 56 16 1 1 Jorethang* 175 29 15 4 Mangan 39 14 Namchi 92 23 1 1 Rangpo 82 21 8 1 S ingtham 152 26 9 4 B 31 India. Ministry of CoT«rn*rc». Cardctmam Board. Report on Internal Market Survey of Large CorAxmaw. doc hin, i^as. lOO In spatial context,the service area of the lower order centres fall under the sphere of influence of its immediate higher order centre. In Sikkim, the extent of service area of any town is highly influenced by transport facilities of the centre. As ment ioned eanrlier the extent of the retail service area is not so wide as we find in the case of wholesaling CFig. 4S1, The rural people living away from the towns depend on their local hazar and Kats for retail goods which ultimately limits the town's service area although these boLzars are linked up with some of these towns for wholesale goods.The unidirectional flow system extends the service area, both retail and wholesale, in the northern direction as the price of goods increase from south to north with the distance from the nearest city Siliguri (Fig. 71. In fact, the entire commodity flow to and from Sikkim is controlled and regulated by Siliguri, the base town of this state and its surrounding hi 1 I territories. tn considering the large concentration of the wholesale shops and collection and distribution of the goods, Gangtok, Jorethang-Naya- bazar and Singtham function as the wholesale market in Sikkim. The transportation available at these centres extends the range of goods in such an inaccessible mountainous country, jorethang-Naya- bazar function as a main collection and distribution centre for the entire Rangit catchment area while Gangtok and Singtham for the upper and lower Tista catchment area respectively. In spite of strategic location, Rangpo lost most of its wholesale area as the emerging network system, after 1975, changed the prevailing flow system of goods to and from the different parts of the country. The interior location of Gangtok tFlg. 4S1 limits the movement of 191 :ig- 45 wholesale goods as the price of goods increases towards north due the unidirectional flow system of the country. In considering the marketing activity concerning retail and wholesale trade,the urban centres of Sikklm may be arranged into three dnstinct hierarchical order IFlg. 461. The classification is based on the awarding points to each shops and their types. For retail shops 1 point has been awarded for each of the 10 shops and their types. For exaraple,Gangtok having a total number of 1146 re tail shops,scores 144.6. Similarly,45 types of retail shops make a score of 4.5. In the case of wholesale shops and their types,point is awarded for each unit as well as type on the basis of which the score for each centre is represented by the actual number as found for each urban centre in the Table - 86. There is only one first order town Gangtok,havingthe largest number of shops offering lar ger shopping variety than any other place in the countryCTable 863 and with the greater transport facilities it obviously has the largest areal coverage in the country as its hinterland tFlg. 4S1. In contrast,there are two second order towns namely Jorethang -Na- yabazar and Singtham. Each of them has a large number of shops dealing in retail and wholesale goods.Like Gangtok,these two towns as well have a number of small factories producing readily mark^e- table products like match,bread, noadIe,candIe, soda and mills for sawing wood, making flour and rice etc CTable -843. In virtue of their location these two market towns commercially link up a much more wider area than the first order town--Gangtok IFlg. 451. For instance--Jorethang-Nayabazar serves the entire Rangit catchment area spreading over the West District and the western half of the South District which together include 13 bazars and two district 102 SIKKIM URBAN HIERARCHY ^ ^ j, ^•^•^r^^ ) ') ) s / J J ) ; ) J r '? ^ MANGAN "7 ( " 1 1 i ~v. ) • GANGTOK T ( GYALSHING ^ ( o • SINGTHAM '^ ^•^ ^ NAMCHI RANGPO INAYABAZAR Q. JORETHANG ' ^ ^^^ — ~- ^^ r^ ^First Order • •Second Order 10 20i Fig- 46 towns (third order) -- Namchi (South district) and Gyalshing (West District). Actually, all the transport lines (roads) of the Rangit catchment area converge at this particular centre which extend the range of goods.This town not only serves the rural areas of Sikkim but a g(5od number of neighbouring villages of Darjeeling district (West Benga1 jfedependent on it. SimiIar1y , Singtham serves the low^r part of the Tista catchment area comprising the eastern half of the South District and the western half of the East District,incIud1ng 8 ba.i3a.r-s within it IFlg. 451. There are 4 third orde centres such as Mangan,Gya1shing, Namchi and Rangpo. Each of them has few shops offering limited range of goods CTable -84). Except Namchi, other three towns function as collection centres of exportable agricul tural products like large cardamom,orange and ginger. The rote of Rangpo in the marketing function is more important due to its lo cation at the entry point. Thus, the hirearchical arrangement of these Himalayan towns is quite different where the centre of hig her order have location in the southern region bordering with West Bengal, along the two major entry points of the state from the south. As for example, Singtham, Jorethang-Nayabazar (both second order) and Rangpo (third order) have commercially links with the entire state in virtue of their nodality. The role of Gangtok, the onlv first order centre is rather different, in offering services, it is more comprehensive in nature, In Sikkim, the economy is not yet strong enough to sustain any large urban centre. Gangtok is the only town and that of moderate size and with its largest number of urban functions it has, so to say,made the entire state its 'comp1ementry region' in terms of socia 1,cu1tura1 ,economic and even sentimental attachments 193 No other town in this state takes this role though some of them are commercially linked up with a large number of rural settleme nts and are thus exerting some influence over them. Besides the towns, a number of bajzcirs (32) serve within their limited surroun dings and in many cases thrive independent of the high order cent res in the state [Fig. 471. There are strong extra-regiona 1 forces which effect the interraction pattern between the markets. As has been mentioned earlier, the second order even sometime the third order centres are not dependent commercially on the first order centre. The pull of Siliguri,the principal commercial centre for the entire North-Eastern India, is very strong throughout the reg ion.Sikkim is connected with Siliguri by National Highway and this road helps to control the wholesale market of the state. On the other hand, Kalimpong serves as a wholesale market for the bazars, located in the south-eastern corner of the state like Rorathang, Rongli and Rhenock. Even pefople from a number of villages of the East district attend Kalimpong regularly for their daily necessi ties. Thus, the spatial interraction pattern is very complex and it is more complex due to administrative control of the district towns, poor concentration of functions, including marketing in the bo-sars, and the strong ex tra-regiona 1 dominance. In this way the over-lapping of service area is very common where the same popu lation is served by more than one centre for different purposes. 194 Fig- 47 CWACPIIEK WD URBAN AMENITIES AND URBAN ADMINISTRATION URBAN AMENIliES Towns are not only the aggregate of population but also the aggregate of functions. Every town has some particular function for which they are recognised in any region.Besides particular fu nction / f unct i ons , each town offers some amenities to the local peo ple as well as to the surrounding popu1 ation.Some of these amenit- ties are purely for the local inhabitants like residence.transport and public utilities (water,power,drainage and senitation etc). On the contrary,a number of amenities like shopping and those offered by social and public institutions (medical,edu cat ion.cinema, liti ra- ry,c1ub,park,re1igious centre etc.! are provided for both the loc al population as well as the people residing far beyond the town boundary. The availability of such amenities thus depends on the demand of the local inhabitants as well as on the regional popula tion. In other words^it is the demand of population which rather create such amenities in the urban centres. Tfie concentration of such amenities is very limited in the urban areas of Sikkim 'exce pt Gangtoklas the size of the town population is very small and at the sametime the demand is very limited for the highly dispersed rural population together with poor transport facilities and poor 196! economy. But the importance of such amenities is v e v v h i v: IT i r: the regional context as it is totally absent in the surrounding rural settlements. The picture of Gangtok is quite different from the other small towns. In fact,urbanisation is mainly confined to this capital €own. Besides other functions, the town is an important tourist centre in the Eastern Himalaya for its outstanding scenic beauty and cultural heritage. Thus the cumulative demand of ameni ties is very high in this town. Some of the basic amenities essen tial for the local inhabitants and also for the surrounding rural population are discussed here. Social and Public Institutions Every town functions as a socio-cu1tura 1 centre for a wider spectrum of society.Thus,the town is a social organism and various institutions like school,college,library,hospital, religious cent- r e , c i n e m a . c 1 u b , pa r k , e t c . f u n c t i o n to fulfil the social and c u ! t LI r a 1 needs of the population residing in and around the urban areas. These institutions play a vital role in the processes'of urban gr owth and in shaping the townscape. In many cases some of these in stitutions are highly specialized and the town is recognized by s LI c h specialized f u n c t i o n s . T h e following institutions are very r e - levent in this regional context. HEALTH SERVICES In every town in Sikkim (except Nayabazar) there is.atleast.one hospital or health centre with both indoor and out door facilities The size and function of these centres vary among the towns accor- i©e ding to the status of the health service centre CTable -87:) In the primary health centre (Jorethang and Rangpo) there are 1 to 2 doc tors without any specialization,4 to 5 nurses and oniy 10 beds. In the district hospitals (Mangan.Gyalshing and Singtha mi there are 5 to 9 doctors of which 2 to 3 have specilizations,!! to lA nurses Table -87 Health Service in the Urban Areas in Sikkim Name of Number Number Number of Number of Status of Towns of of speclised nurses and healt h bed doctor doctor others centre G 3 n g t o k 300 40 16 73 State Hospital G y 3 1 s h i n g 60 8 12 District Jorethang 10 1 5 Health centre M a n g a n 60 5 3 11 District Hos. Namch i 60 S 3 14 District " Rangpo 10 2 4 Health centre Sing tham 60 8 12 District Hos. sourcorDepar tment of Health Govt, of Sikkim and 60 beds on an average. Besides,there are T.B.Clinic and Family Planning centre in most of the hospitals and health centres. In the 5tate hospital (Gangtok),there are 40 doctors of whom about 16 are specilized, 73 nurses and 300 beds which obviously mean that all types of medical facilities in the state are found only in the state hospital at Gangtok CTable -87!). Besides the Government hos pitals, there are private nursing homes, private medical praction- ers and several medical stores in Gangtok but this is enti^rely absent in any other part of Sikkim including the towns except 2 or 3 smal1 medical stores in Jorethang and Singtham. These medical facilities are available for the town's population alone but a. la rge part of the rural area depend on it although there are lower 197 order health centres in the rural areas. T hi e w e 1 1 - e q u 1 p p e d r, e a 1 t h centres are located only in the towns. The service areas of which have already been discussed earlier, "the people of this state,how ever, depends on Siliguri particularly for bettermedicai facili ties offered by the medical col lege,clinic, nursing homes etc. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS There is at least one primary school in each and every urban ares and the number varies among the towns, reaching 12 (including private school) in Gangtok CTable -883. In Singtham,J orethang Ran- gpo, Gyalshing and Nayabazar there are schools below secondary Table 88 Educational Facilities in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: ld&^ Name of P r imary Sec ondary H i gher Col lege t h r r: Towns S choo 1 choo 1 Seconda ry Gangtok 10 2 c^ --> Gyalshing 1 1 - - Jorethang 1 1 - - Mangan 1 - J- - Namchi 1 1 1 - Nayabaza r 1 - - - Rangpo 1 - - - S i n g t h a m 1 1 - - s:ourc«:Depar tment of Education Govt, of Sikkim level and there are no separate schools for girls in these towns. There are higher secondary schools teaching upto 12 class in Mangan, Namchi and Gangtok. Besides,there are girl's schools in Namchi (secondary level) and Gangtok (higher secondary). There are two colleges one of them offering teaching in Law,and one research loe institute (Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetoiogy) at natjoniai importance, one Basic Training school and a number of typing and shorthand school in Gangtok. Each secondary school has 200 to 250 students and in the higher secondary schools the role varies from 300 to 500. The total enrolment in the colleges hardly reaches the number of 300 to 350 students. Sikkim Research Institute of Tibe toiogy draws scholars not only from the state but also from diffe rent parts of India, Besides these modern educational institute, Eanchy monastery, one of the oldest mones tair i es, offers Lamaistic teaching (training to the young monks) and the Sikkim Institute of Higher Nyingma studies at Deorali conduct courses on Nyingraa Phi losophy upto Post-graduate level. RECREATIONAL AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS The development of recreational facilities in the small towns of Sikkim is not comparable with that of the other towns of India.The play grounds,the video centres and sometimes the cinema halls (Na- mchi and Jorethang) are the most common recreational facilities available in ail the towns. In some district town like Gangtok, Namchi and GyaIshing there are public libraries.In Gangtok,besides three cinema halls, there are a number of video centres, stadium (1), community hail ( 1 ) ,zoo (1), children's park (1) and a number of small parks. There are also a number of clubs belonging to different communities. On* oJ iho various aocta of Buddhtat r«li.Cf».ori 199 One notable feature about these hill towns is that there are several religious institutions like monastery,temp 1e,ch urch, mosque and gurudwaras of which the first one makes a remar kable sight with its beautiful architecture adding an exotic ele- * ment to the urbanscape of the centres wherever they are present. There are three Gi-inipa. (Monas te ry ) and one Chort&n (Tomb) in Gangtok People of several religious groups live in Gangtok and each of the major groups has its separate religious institution which is another aspect of the social life of the town. These are represen ted by Temple, Church, Gurudwara and Mosque. There are temples in Rangpo,Singtham and Jorethang; mosque in Singtham and monastery in Namchi. Among these religious centres, Eanchy monastery of Gangtok and tieadong of Gyalshing have wide fame. Further, as the place of congregation of different religious communities the monasteries create a different atmosphere. Shopping Facilities The shopping facilities of the small towns in Sikkim is not so developed as we find them in a big town 1ike,Gangtok. The smaller size of the urban population and the limited purchasing capacity of the surrounding rural population limit the size of the shopping facilities in these towns. But the case is quite different in the capital town -- Gangtok where the large number of shops not only serve the rural surroundings but also cater to the needs of the urban population. The details about the types of shops and their spatial arrangement have been described in the previous chapter and here the focus is on some other important feature of the sho- p p i n g facilities of the towns. In these t o w n s , a h o p p i n g a i- e 3 forms the older core of the settlement. The number,type and specialisa tion of the shops vary widely according to the size and functions of the €owns. As mentioned earlier, these tiny settlements have a number of shops with a few specilised shops offering a variety of goods [Fig. 41 - 431. In most of the cases the rows of shops are located along the both sides of the main road, occuring in the heart of the towns. Majority of the shops occupy traditional buil dings made of wooden wall with corrugated roof though medern buil dings are gradually replacing the traditional ones. For instance, there is a market square of modern buildings in Jorethang.There is no separate market for grains vegetables or clothes and at the same time there is no separate wholesale market in these towns although some of the towns (Gangtok.Singtham,Jorethang and Rangpo) function as wholesale markets.The most interesting feature is that in every town there is a hat (weekly market), which sits regularly on a particualr day of the week where sellers comming from distant area spread their merchandise on the pavement or in the specified sheds and the town be comes crowded on the hat day. These hats are the main vegetable markets for the town people. "There are altogether 5 markets in Gangtok where de mand for shopping facilities is quite different from that of the tiny urban settlements of the state. The spatial location of these market plays a dominant role in the localisation of residences and related amenities in Gangtok. The main market consists of 3 shop ping streets (namely the Mahatma Gandhi Marg, consists of Old and New market; the National Highway, attach with the M.Marg; and the 201 Lai Market road, between M.G.Marg and Lai market) and the Lai mar ket, the latter being the specified site for hat and also is the permanent vegetable market. Different types of shops strung along the both sides of the main road without forming any shopping clu ster for similar goods IFig. 401. Majority of the retail shops are specilized in nature though traditional shops offering variety of goods are not uncommon. Besides the main market, there are 4 small local merkets in Gangtok which are the products of local de mand of their surrounding residential areas. The shops of these markets spread along the leading roads.The shops are less special ized and not we 1 1 -stocked, Beside the above mentioned well-defined markets, isolated bunches of shops dealing in groceries, station er i es , ta i 1 or i ng , vege tab 1 es etc, occur in scattered fashion at many places, along the leading roads, within the residential areas,like the Kazi road, the Tibet road and in the 'Development Area',along the road leading towards TNHS school CFig. 191. Housing in the urban areas of Sikkim the proportion of houseless popu lation is very small, constitute only 0.86 per cent of the popul- at ion in 1981 . About 5,3 per cent of the total urban popuiStion lives in different institutions Iike,hote1s,boardings,sanatoriums, ja i 1 , asy 1 urns , hospi ta 1 , monas ter i es and ashrams CTaJ>le -89) leaving 2 Indi.a. C«n«ua lv>fll. Sikkim. Part-<5. Tciblas on Houa«a ctnd Dioa,bL*d PopuLatton vi-lh AnaLyti-cal Nol«c. T^KI «a Houseless and institutional Population and Households in the Urban Areas of S i k k i m : 1981 , ( i n p e r c e!" 13 g e ) Name of HOUSELE ,SS INST ITUT lONAL 0 T HER •~. Towns Popu- Househo 1 d Popu Househo!d popij H O U S G> h o 1 d 1 at ion lation 1 a t i o n G 3 n g t o k 0. 7 1. 6 6. 2 5.0 93. 2 93. 5 Gya1shing -- -- 100.0 100. Jorethang 0. 6 1. 3 2. 0 0. 9 97. A q 7 8 M a n g a. n 0.3 1. 3 7. 7 7. 1 92. 0 91 .6 Namch i A. 1 2. 6 95. 8 97 .ix Nayataaza r -- 1. 6 1. 6 98. A 98. A Ra ngpo 2. 6 A. 9 A. 0 3. 2 93. A 9 1 .9 Sing tham 2.6 6.4 3. 2 3.3 9A. 2 90 .3 sourc*:Census 1981 93.8 per cent having residences in the urban areas. At present.ab out 7 3.8 per cent of the t o t a! occupied houses (1931) are 'js ed for purely residential purposes in the urban areas and 6.2 per cent as * shop-cum-residences,0.7 per cent as workshop-cum-residences (incl uding household industry) and the rest of the buildings accommo date other activities including shops, offices, workshop, business and • ' industrial establishments and so on. It is interesting to note here that the proportional share of shop-- cum--residentia 1 house is quite high in north and West district CTable - 90). The Table - 90 District wise Distribution of Houses in the Urban Areas of Sikkim: 1981 (in percentage) House Category North East South West Total Res idence 37. 9 75. 8 70. 1 51. 1 73. 6 Shop-cum-res idence 23. 3 A. 5 10.8 23. A 5 _ Uorkshop-cum-res idence 0., 5 1. 7 0. 3 ("! ,7 others 38. 8 19. 17.4 25. o 19., 5 T o t a i 00. (3 100, . 0 100.0 100, ,0 100. . 0 sourc«:Census 1981 203 three tiny urban settlements ( M a n g a n . Hay ahazs t and •'J v 3 s I h i ;".;-: ' o f these two districts have a limited market area with a small number of people living within their shopping areas. • During the last decade ( 1971-81 ) . the decennial growth of I e s i d e ri t i a 1 houses is higher than the growth of p o p IJ i a t i o n (Table yl "J which reduce the residential density (person per residential Table 91 Decennial Growth of Population and Houses in the Urban Areas of S i k. k i m : 1971-81 North East South West o t a Population 135. . 7 154. 7 339. 0 45. , 8 159 . 7 Res idence 230. 8 165. 1 613. 7 61. , 0 18 1,, 0 Shop~cum-res idence 221. 8 16. 4 152. 6 47, . 5 41. . S Uorkshop-cum-res idence 100, ,0 17. , 8 1600, , 0 93. . 8 24. 1 JL. aiur:c^.: CensuE 1971 and 198] h o u s e : in m o s t o f t h e t o w n s t Fable 7 d) . £':• e f o r e t h g' IT, ':^ r c ':• \ f t h e state most of these small towns were limited within the shopping areas but the post-merger development has engaged more people in the non-trading activities which has given rise to a larger number of residential houses. In the urban areas of Sikkirn, densitv per residential houses varies between 4.5 ' Ra.ng po ) to 5.3 persons (Namchi) in 1981 with an average density of 5.2 pe r sonsC Tabl •- 7f5') . In these tiny tj r b a n settlements the v a r i a t 1 o n in the d e ST s i t v per residential houses is not significant but it is noticeable in Gang- tok where it varies widely among the different parts of the town, being mainly high around the market area [Fig. 391. A detailed account of the housing condition has been Ir.dv.:!. G.=-ri9us ls>Bl. SLkkn-tr.. PcLrt-2AS.B. aen«r'al population Ta.bl«.a arni PrLLiary Cc-r.3.-is Abslr.acl ao4 included in a pervious c h a p t e r and he r • e some o t the i m p o t t a ri t a s p - ec t s of the urban housing of these tiny towns are d i scus s eid . The physical quality of the residential houses is not good in the smal11 towns, other than in Gangtok. Majority of these houses are of traditional type, made of wooden or bamboo walls and metalled roof. Modern br i cV; - bu i 1 t buildings are restricted to the shopping rows and sometime to government staff quarters. The traditional HJngle-storied buildings ai-e gradually being replaced by the mod ern multistoried buildings. One of the most characteristic featu res of the houses is that in every town the shops make a part of *•.'-le residential houses in the form of the upper floor or the rear portion of the buildings used for residential purpose. Actually separation between the work-place and the residence is a rare fea- ': u re of the u r b a n s c a p e where the s e 11 1 e m e r^ t is mainly confined w i - ''•-.in the market areas. But the picture is quite different in the capita! town wh-ere the cl-iriice of residence with respect ^-o the tJ i ace of work and other amenities is rather different because of its large area! extent and undulating nature of terrain. Increa sing demand for residential houses together with the higher cost r. f land r ec 1 ama».& t i on and shortage 'of land within the town areas force to increase the height of the buildings, particularly in the shopping area. In Gangtok about 47.7 per cent of the families live in rented house, 28.5 per cent in their own houses and the remai ning 23.8 per cent in the government. qviarters (data based on the household survey in 1984). In the other towns,the number of rented houses is very small. There is no Rent Control Board in Sikkim as a result of which the rent is determined arbitarily by the owner i 205 of the house. In spite of that rent-rate varies with t he i oc,^. t i on (close to the market or other i n s t i t u t e s ) . a c c e s s i b i 1 I t v . a 1 t e s ; j ii n y side) and the build of a particular hous^e. Besides, the rent also varies between the floors of the multistoried buildings, the sunny side being more comfortable- in such a. hilly ecological condition. There is no slum in true sense of the term in the urban areas of Sikkirn as the size of the town is not so large as create any problem of housing.But there are houses of poor quality located in the periphery of the towns and occupied by the low inc ome groups, mainly engaged in construction works in and around the towns. .In Ga ng tok, for instance, a number of residential pockets look like slums in terms of the a p p e a r e n c e of the houses a f\ d ;:> c- v e - r t y in amenities like w a t e r, s a n i t a t i o n, e1e c t r i c i t y, r o a d etc. They are 'c-cated in different parts of the town occupying the most un- 3 u i t able sites 1 i 1< e those along the j h o r a s . steep s i o pes, shaded sites etc. which are p h y s i c a M y very poor for any c o n s t r u c t i on w o- r k s . Trarispori and Communicatiori Roads are the only transport lines in the urban aieas of Sikkim. A detailed account of roads have been given withi thie morphology of t ti e towns. Here focus is given on a few aspects of urban transpor tation. The concept of urban transportation is totally a new phe nomenon in Sikkim and is entirely confined within G a n g t o k. in G a n- g tok, total length of metalled roads within the municipality area is about 35 km (1984) of w h i c hi more than 6 km constitute the N a t i - 2oe 4 3 ona 1 Highway . There are about 111 local taxies (198A"' en.ei-sed in carrying passengers within the town area and its immediate surrou ndings. Generally, the need of vehicle is comparatitaly high in the h i gh 1 an'd towns as the undulating surface increase the physical ha rdship in travel. The vehicles not only serve the local [3 o p! j 1 a t i o n but also people visiting the town on business and the tourists. Besides, a number of trips are made by local buses for taking stu dents and governm%ent employees to the respective institutions and offices. On top of this a large number of government vehicles, inc luding military v e h i c1e, r u n within the town area. T h u s. t h e town is crowded with public and private v e hi i c t e s , particularly d u r 111 g the office hours and create several traffic bottle-necks as the roads are na r r ow, f or m i ng several sharp bends to avoid the steep gradient of the surface. However, a nev/ military by - pass . between o i •.•; and new can tonmen t, i s under consturction to avoid traffic jams. Several roads converge at the main market (fi.G.Marg) from all directions and they connects schools, different administrative buildings and other important places [Fig. lyl. Besides, there are a.bout 12 km length of f o o t h p a t h and s t e pi s or stairs . The f o o t h p a t h s a n d s taitr s or steps usually rjccur on the moderate or often steep slopes runn ing across the contours and they reduce the spatial distance t'o a great extent. Most of these foothpaths and steps are not we!i-mai ntained and need regular repair in such inconsistent topography Isii'oi 'I'-il. Lori coll.wcl,*d i'rotri aciriytoV Maractpal Corpoi alLon tn {.^'84 I-:l"-.,T>rial.i.or-, coUtrCLsd lioir. Tianapoit Dwpo.)-t.ir,6.i-,l,0iovt . ol Si.kki.JT; I-;J .:•! iri'at,i.or. collecl&cl irom Oan.jlok Muraci-pal CorporatLOi i \.ri it-e-i ao7 with 3 f"iea Vy as we i 1 long rainy season. A ta o >j t 90 per c e n t o f the households '; f revealed by the household survey, are located within a 5 - minute walking distance from the main motorable roads. All the other towns are very smal ler in size and one can easily go f rorri one end to the other end of the settlement within 10 m i n u t e s.T h e r e is t h e ~ refore,no question of urban transportation. Here the major settle ment spreads over the two sides of the main roads and short and narrow footpaths connect the buildings to the main road and the shopping area. Among the communication systems,there are post offices and telephone connections in each and every town. There are radio and TV transmission centres in Gangtok, Besides, there are se'.'era! w e e k 1 y . b y - w e e k 1 y and monthly news magazines and i o u r n a i s pi u b i i s h e d fromGangtok. Wa t er S'uppl y In the urban areas of S i k k i m. water is mainly used for drinking and domestic purposes wtiere consumption for industrial anc' other "purposes is very much limited, and the s'jpply is mainly made by go- vernment departments though pirivate arrangements are not uncommon in the urban areas. The pi e r e n n i a 1 r i v ij 1 e t s or rivers are t tt e major sources for the town areas. Each town has alteast one reservior. fed by perennial streams, wherefrom water is distributed through pi i pes . The storage capacity of the r es er v ' a r i e s b e t v.j e e n 1-10 ^Ay\^ ! 3 V:h litres among the sma : i towns and the s 'jpp i y i ;; r e g 'j i B r t h r o- 1J g h o ij t t he- ye a r e x c e pi t in cl r y season v^ h en it ma \' b e' i r; t e r r u p t e c: for a short period Table - 'JSJ . Besides piped water, water for other than drinking use is a v a i 1 a ID 1 e from the t w f3 large rivers of T i s t a and Rang it for the towns 1 ike,Rangpo,Singtham. Jorethang and Naya bazar, located on their banks. However,piped water is available in Table - 92 Water Storage C a p a s c i t y of the Towns in S i k k i m : 1971 and 1979 Name of System of Storage capac1ty (in Litres Towns Storage 19 7 1 19 7 9 Gang tok SR 1,136,500 10,000,000 Gya1sh i ng SR 181,840 1, 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 J o r e t h a n.g SR ¥ -» 5.000.00Q Mangan SR #« 1,000.OOC N a m c h i SR 418,252 2 , 5 00 , O'^'O Nayabazar SR 316.220 i. 50 (J. c-'r^C' R a n g p o SR 318,220 2 . 5 0 C?, 0 0 0 Sing tham SR 45 4.6 00 2,500,000 sourcwzCensus 1971 and 1981. ^^Jorethang and Nayabazar treated a: # Temporary arrangement one town in 1971. SR- Service reservior these towns from the street hydrants and so far no house have hi e e n connected with pi i p e lines except g o v e r- n m e n t quarters. In G a n g t o k m u n i c i pa 1 i t y.w a t e r is distributed form the two different sources having a total reservior capacity c- f about 10 iakh litres. The records of Water Supply Department(under PWD) show that only 26.6 per cent of the households (in 1983) are conn ected tiy water pi pies and others depends on public water taps or ,-• t- V, ^, r sources ] ike, jhorcis (smal 1 streams! or springs. About 58 per Ir,.Ji..-j.. G'anaus ls?81. Si-kkum. Part.-13 A&B. Di.j;lii.'-t Cerisui H.andbojk ao9 cent of the total connections is f C'r private cori::; :jn";? t i on .-i^c the rest is f iD r the g o v e r :i m e n t s I e s t a b ' i - h m e n t n . 0 n I h e b a :-• i s •_ :" h o u - 5 e h Old s u r V e y (1984) c o n d u c t e d for t h i s p LI r p o s e , i t r i a s b o e n. * o u n d t h a t a b o u t 78.5 per c e n t ID f the t o t a 1 h o u s e h o 1 d s dene n d o n. p i p e d water available from both private and public taps for d r i n !•: i n g and o t h e r p 1J r p o s e s , w li i 1 e the remaining 21.5 per c e n t 'J e p e n d s o n. p e r e - nnia! Jrvor.as or springs. It needs mentioned here that each and every government qua r t e X' s . 1 n c 1 u ding t hi o s e i n t hi e housing e s *: a t e , has direct water connection. It is rather disturbing to n c t e t h a t a large number of private households are still dependent c^ r. ;'\or-a< or springs and they are mainly located in the periphery of the town w here t h e s u p p I y line s '"i a v e n o t y e t re a c h e d . Water supplied by pipes is not properly trea*;ed but distributed mainly in silt^free condition. During the last decade the supoly of water has impriived in each and everv +. owi- t Table ^-92,) and a number of s c h e m. e s ha v e b e e n taken up to improve t r, e q u a 1 i t y of water through proper treatment and to r egua 1 te the water supply including in the dry season. Sani tary and Consei vency Services In the small tow n s the ::> e w a g e s y 3 t e .T; is ',' e r y s i IT: p i o , c c r, s i s t i n g of a few open drains along the roads and s oTIe t i mes cove i- ed d rains in the market area ma \< i n g a common f e a t u r e . In spite o f h e a v v a n d t r e q ij e n t p r e c i p / t a t i o n there i s n C' w -r^ t e r ! C' g g i n g ;J r C' b 1 e m ; n these hilly towns as the slope is sufficient to drain o u t ever y o r o p of w .";< tor. 1 r; G a n g t o k , a b o u t 0 . 6 2 k m o f t;: OK- * •/ u e d r a i n s e x i s ' in t h e mar 1-: o t area and about 11. -'' '-< k m ? t j p en drains ',:• c c ;j r a i c n e the PA O g r fD 3 d s within the municipal are.?". A number c f s m a i i r i " LI : e ' 3 o r ?rior CIS taking rise cm t he Gs n r: t ok i i ci g e E , hi e ! a t t serving not o n i y out 1 ay f or drainage bv) more as s e w e r- s . Like G a n g t o k , the drains are c ci n n e c t e d w r t ti one or two such jhorcLS in the other high iand towns. in the va i i ey town such drains are connected with the rivers along which the towns art' lo cated. There is no regular systems of garbage disposal in most cf t !•! e t o w p. s t hough there are sweepers e m p 1 o y e ci hi y the c i v i c a '•: t h o - r i t i -' •:. for sweeping the r 'j t^ ti i s ti from t ti e p u t' i i c pi! a c e s . t a c Y: s mall town, has at least one sv/eeper for tr,e pvupose but it. \s oniv •. n Ga- n ;: + c i; t h at t h e r e a r e -i '3 5 w e e JD e r s w o r !•: ; n g i- e g u i a r 1 y ' . There are public toilets in e •-.< e r y t o w n t h o u g h f •.) r a t o w n 1 1 k e G 5 t-, e t C' k t h e i r number is v e 1 / s m a 1 i o' o n s i i.i o ring the 3 i z e o t' t t .=; p o - pnjlation CTabie -93J.Most of these pLitiiic toilets are not maio^ai- n e d pi r o pi e r i y t ci the great in c ci nv^e n e n c e o f t he users. A + t' 1 e same Table - Q3 L'! i s t r i b u t i o n of Latrines in the iJ r b a n Areas So fi k k i m : 1 9 Name of Number of Number of Number of P o p u 1 a t i o n T owns Househo1d L a t r i n e P u b i i c p e r L a '. r i n e L a t r i n e G a n g t o k 76 13 6122 7 6 . O'J G y a i s h i n g 127 15 3 1 4 . 67 J o r e t h a n g 86 1 7 1C* fi a n g a n 154 1 16 1 Namch i 271 2^2 5.9' Nayabazar 127 153 1 4.8 7 Rangpo 572 5 13 4.78 Sing tham 878 817 4. 95 Sourc«.:CenSUS 1981 I tif.jr mat ton iioLLect&d from Oariglok MuracLpaL Cor por-aLLori i.n lPe4 i 1 fit 01" molvon •loLV&cled from OavigloV MuracLpaL Cor p'jral\.ovi i.n 1P84 time the number of toilets is far be low the number of ho'j-~ :-r~)0 I ds 10 an every town CTable - 93.). Most of these are "water tiionE' tvpie when the service iartines comprising harcliy 4 to 12 per '..•'^nt of the total latrines are found in a, town CTable- 941) . F u r t n e r , it was f o \j n d d t! ring the h lo u s e h o i d survey t h a t 7 8 . 3 per c e n t o f t h e ; a m i - i ies in Gangtok use sanitary latrines aiMj 6 jner cent service type ( ku t oha) v;here as 1 5 . 7 per cent of families go withou t any ; a t r i ne . ij ij t o f t h e total h o u s e h o i 6 2 9.1 per c e n t of the families ha v e c o - m m C' n i a r t i n e s where t w o o t t n r e e fa ir, i i i o s i o i n t I y v s e o n e i -5 t r i n e .3 n d i t is main! y f c u n a i n t ri e r e n t a LI h o \j s e s . Table 94 J y p e s of L a t r i n e i n the U r h a n Are a s o f S i k k i rr, : 19 "' 9 ! i n percentage! rJ "I n; e o f ' W a t e r b r o n e ' Service 9 "" h e r T C' w Pi s L a t r i ri e Latrine L 3 ^ r i Gangtok 81.8 8.2 1C'. ' 'a yalshing 75.8 11. i 13. J o r e t h a n g 9 2.3 3.5 a . M a n g a n 8 7.1 8.6 A . N a m c h i 83.5 12.4 '4 . X Nayataazar 86.8 8.8 /i Zi R a n g p o 7 6.6 6.8 i '-^. Ti Sing tham 85.9 6.1 8. , 0 Sc.urctr:Cens us 1981 lu Indi-a.. Conaus lS>ai. SLkkLm. Parl-13 A&B . Dv.3tr\.ct C'Snsus Handbook .^IS Power Supply Electricity has already reached a the towns of S i k !••: i m . Accor - 12 ding to a recent report .the n LI m b e r of d o nn e s t i c c o n n e c tio n s m u c h less than the actual number of the '"(Ouseho ! ds C" Table? - 96 J . On the o t h e r ti a n d , in m o s t o f t h e t 'O w n s the n u m b e r o f commercial connec tion exceeds the number of domestic connections taut it needs to be p o i n f e d c u t at- the s a m o t i ni o- *", h a t i n man v c a s e s the s h o ID S ') •-> v i n g r e r i i en t i a • qua r t e r s on t ho- s 3 me precinct, ha v e c ! ec t r i c i t y f '_i r t he Table - 9*5 E 1 e c t r i f i c a t i o n i n t hi e U r ban Areas of Si k k i m : 1 9 '.' 9 Name of Number of Number of C onnec t i oi Towns Household E» o m e s t Commercial industrial RoaCi i ight G a n g 10 k. 7 6 1 3 iOOO 1300 G y 3 i s h i n Et 127 1 (~) C-, 1 -; - 250 J 0 r e t h a n g 86 1 X 10 li a n g a n 154 1 C' 9 3 N' ? IT! '•:: h i 2 7 1 1 4'J M a V a b a 2 a ; 190 K a n g ]:< 0 5 72 S i n g t h a m 6 7 6 s-ource.'Cens U5 1981 w h die though it i a re c c r d e cl 'j n d e r ^ ti e h e ad of c o m m e^ r c i a I •: c '-^pac tion. In the urban areas of Sikkim indus';rial ccinnections are '.'e r y few and they are particular ly involved in the smal le; induntrial units as there is no large scale industry in Sikkim. The ti o u s e h o 1 d survey c a r' r i e d out in t fi i s connections reveals t h a t . a k' o u t S 9 . 5 p e r cent of the households in G a n g t o k are s u p> p 1 i e d with electricity. 12 Ii-id'.a. Cc-naus IvQi. S>.kki.rn. Part-i3 A&.D . Di-stii;:'. C«5ri&u5 Hari.Jbook 213 In every town there are street lights and their number varies with the size of the town C Table - QS'J . URBAN ADMINISTRATION Urbanisation has just started to appear in this smail Himalayan state where only 16 per cent of the total populsttion was ii'.MOg in the eight urban centres in 19 81. Again, about 72 per cent c-f the total urban population of t ti i s state were the residents or the ca pital town--Gangtok--and only 28 per cent resided in the remaining seven tovjns, the latter obviously smai 1 in size C Table ~y6 ' . The Table - 96 U r ta a I'l Status in S i k k i m : 1961 N a m e o f Popu!at ion own Civic Administration T o w n s - 1 ass Stat u s Gangtok 36 747 I 1 ! Municipal i ^,;/ C. o r p o r a t i o n G y a 1 s h i n g 745 V I N o t i f i e d B a z. a r C o m !r. i t t e e J o r e t h a n g 3921 ••/ [ M a n g a n 780 y [ N a m c h i 1444 V I N a y a b a z a i 952 y i Ra ng po 24 5 2 V ! S i n g t h a m 404 3 y I sc'jrc«;Cens us 1981 towns are, above all, an aggregate of populaition and a large popula tion in a place create many problems, giving rise to the question of local self government. "Local Government is a r e p^ r e s e n t a t i v e b o d y , r e p r e s e n t i n g a pi a r' t i c i.i 1 a r set of local v i e w s , c o n d i t i o n s . n e e d s and problems, depending on the characteristic of population and 214, 13 economic elements" . The general function and responsibilities of the local government is to promote and ci r o v i d _e for t h e c i v i c a m e - n i t 1 e s essential for the c o m m i.i n i t i e s w ti i c h in other words mean ma nagement of local affairs of a hi u m a n settlement. It ti a = already been mentioned that urfcianisation is mainly concentrated in Gangtok and other towns are nothing but rural market centres. In spite of that, every urban centre witnessed the development of some sort of local self government either in the form of Municipality 'Gangtok* or Bazar Committee (other towns). In S i k k i m . t h e c c> n c e p t of ! o c a ! self g o \' e r n m e n t t o o k form ci 1.1 ring the first W o r^ 1 d War when a committee was formed at -G a n g t o k w i t hi a 3 u b - c o m m i 11 e e a t R a n g pi o , S i n g t h a m and N a y a ti a z a r and in other important bazars 1 ike Rhenok, Pa ky ong and Soreng . The furiction of t ti e s e J c; m m i 11. e e s in t h o s (- d a y s was t o r e g u i a t e t h ^i m a r k e t p r i c e a n ci freight charges "" . W i *• ti the origin of t ti e Bazar D e pi a r t m e n t '15- 2,1: I and other government functionaries, the administrative control of these markets came into the hands of the Bazar [department wtiiie civic amenities came t ci tie t f i e r' e s pi o n s i b i 1 i t i e s of t ti e re s p e c t i v e government departments. in 1-334, there were two major types of bciscLj-s in terms of their management . For instance, the revenue of the bazars in Gangtok , Singtham, Rangpo and Nayabazar (including Pa- kyong,Rongl i and Soreng br-r.i-ar) were merged with ttie state revenue 13 Mut La I i.b.MA . and AUkh.ar,,MA . Th-jory of Locol Oov€>r |-.iYi«^r,l. Mt-v lJ«rh..,& f i .ilir,.^ i.<>e?.. p Ibvd. and the responsibility of m a r k e t i n g p r o v 1 s 1 o ri s to r c- l '! l c -t ;< c i i i t i - es lay with the government. But ther«:were t>ci£-ars in-:, iLiding Namchi, G y a I s h i n g and M a n g a n whose revenue used to be <; o 1 I e c t e d ij y the monasteries in few cases and the respective local landlords who control led its management which included civic amenities as well. The situation changed fundamentally with the implementation of the Bazar Committee Act of 196 9, accord i ng to which an elected ijody was formed in the important fcasars(market place), inc1uding•Gangtok,to look after the civic amenities and other facilities except the co llection of taxes and issOing licences '. in this way these impor tant h'XS,o.TS (Gangtok.Singtham, Rangpo.Jorethang-Nayabazar, Namchi. Gyalshing and Mangan) came under a well-defined local self govern ment , a s mentioned e a r1 i e r,a n d ail oi them were treated as towns in 10 19 7 1 Census . Soon after t ti e merger of the state in 1975. G a n g t o k Municipality Corporation was formed but the Bazar (J o m m i t t e e s of the othei towns gradually became defunct. All the power and funct ions relating to civic administration of these towns came to be centralized in the hands c^ f the Local Self Government L> e p a r t m e n t, t he I a t t,e r replacing the earlier 'Bazar L>epa r t men t ' . T he Loca I Self Government Department itself was howe v e r, r enamed as Loca i Self Go- V e r n m, e n t and Housing D e p a r t, m e n t, in 1979. The powers and fijnctions of the Gang tok Municipal Cor poration (GMC) is quite different from the other municipal •r,Qrpor- S'Lkki.m Bazar CoiritTaltww A c t., i <.' G a n g t ci R municipal <; o r p o rati o n a n d it functioned 1 i 1-: e a n v o t ri e r s o - V e r nmen t departments. The activities of the corporation were divi ded into different sections like, sanitation, e n g i n e e r i n g, i i c e n c e and tax, accounts and general. In 1983, the Gangtok municipality changed its bounda.ry with targe tract of area on the periphery ex cluded from the municipal jurisdiction [Fig. 1. The new boundary (1983) of the municipality does not demarcate the wa r (3 bo\anda r i es where as there were nine wards under the first municipal co r po r a t- ion '-1975). The c o r p o r a t i o r, was n e v e r full y a u t o n o m o u s a n d s u r p r i - :, i n i; 1 ••/ t h e m'jn i c i JDa i " iJ r po r a t i i::• n h a s o ec a me t o t a I i y •i e t 'j n•:; t •;; i nc e the s e ,, Ttk f i V e year p i a n per i od '• 1 385 -'' 9C' ) . A f pj«.e5 o n •, t h e M i n i s t r v of L,LJ^:^l Self Go>.'enmeri t an^j ''ousing Deua r tmen ^! oo Ks a t •: e r t,ne affa- 1 r s of ijar.'g t ok . T h ere is n o u pi to ci a t e f i n a n c; i a ! rep o :• t c n t r; e a c X i v i t i e s o f G a n g t o k municipal c o r p o r a t ion. i- o r h a v i ri g a n i ci e a a n c. v. •_ t h e f i n a n c i a 1 position oi the a c: ;• p o i a t i o n o ne may ha'.' t a i o o k a t t h e rinaiiciai report for 19?6-?9'' . Ace-j r d i n g to that report M'abi>=^ -Q7} a b o u t 9 1 per cent of t h e re ':• e i p t c a m e from g o v e r n m e n * g r a r '<:_ 3 a n d 7 6 per cent of the total expenditure was incurred under the heads of public works 1 i !•: e r o a d s , w a t e r s LI p p i y , s a n i t a t i c^ n ? '.' a <~ \ '':•. era. T h e air,oijn *: received throug h t a >: w as very little as t here was no hous e - h (• ' d or b u i 1 d i n •£; tax i r; ^^i ? n :=; t o k at t h -. t ', 1 m e . 0 (T *; h e o t h ^ r "-and z<^ \y.\\.--^. C»i.:^v;i li>8i . Sikktin. roil-i3ASiB. Di3i.it.,i. Ct'i Hctr.ao ai 7 the expenditure on public works was v e ry ^1 i gh . part! c-u ! a i 1 ••• oti t he roads and the water supply. The ecclogicsi cond i t i ot'. ore3ts=-d by aii 'J n d ij 1 a t i n g t e r r a i n a n d h e a v y r a i n f a i 1 with i o n g r a i n y s ^~' a s o n o f the region i n c r e a s e d the c o s t o f c o n s t, r u c t i o n a n d m a i ri' a •'- a p. c e o f r- o a d s a n d f oo t h pa t h s . Tablt- 97 Gangtok Municipal Finance Report: 1978-79 RECEIPT i tern. Rs. (in hund red) R e c i p t through taxes etc. 8 Municipality property and power /i 15 -7 G o •-' e r n m e n t grant A .•; la n Total a P,,,-'l" l n E X F E N [ U R E G e r e n a i a d m i n i s t r a t i o n F u !:• i i c health an d c o n •.• e1 ionce : '4 b a P Li b i i c works T o t a i MiJ i Sourc«>:CenSUS 198 1 21 O C!H&!P¥E!R VQD PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF URBANISATION PROBLEMS The problems of urbanisation varies widely between diffe- rent regions and at the same time within a region it varies bet- ween the individual centres. The problems of urbanisation is quite different in this newly born small state from the other parts of our country. Actually the problems of urban devel j^opment is very complicated and /it is more complicated in the Himalayan region where the entire human habitation is largely controlled by the na tural environment. The unstable nature of terrain not only gives rise to a series of problems in the physical development of urban settlements but at the sametime it complicates the situation in many ways. The major problems of urbanisation in Sikkim may be taken up for discussion in the following order: Growth and Distribution of the Towns The uneven distribution and unbalanced growth of these small towns is the key factor for any problem related to urbanisa- tion in this Himalayan region. It has already been mentioned that Gangtok alone accommodates about 72 per cent of the total urban population and the remaining 28 per cent are distributed among the 7 tiny towns. In considering the settlement size of the state, the size of Gangtok is exceptionally large. Gangtok has witnessed a three-fold increase of population during the last decades(1971-81) 219 This staggering growth not only has decreased the land-man ratio but also puts pressure on existing urban amenities. Besides Gang- tok, some of the smal1 towns also have witnessed a high rate of growth during the last decade, as for example Jorethang (414 per cen t > , Namt;h i (214 per cent),Mangan (136 per cent) and Singtham(125 per cent). The rapid growth puts pressure on land, particularly in the valley site towns like Jorethang and Singtham where favourable land for construction is totally absent in and around the urban sett!ement. The spatial distribution of the urban centres is mostly guided by the topography of the region.It is interesting to note here that the administrative towns are located in the higher northern part and the non- administrative towns, mainly based on trade and commerce, are located along the river valleys of the low er southern margin of the state. Thus,the function of the centre selected such ridge-valley sites from where they can exteded their services towards their rural surroundings,Under this function ori ented location of the centre,the unidirectional flow system (north -south) and increasing freight charges towards north offer a very typical rural-urban interraction pattern where a smaller order ce ntre may not be functionally dependent on the higher order centre of this state. At the same time,a good number of people remain hi ghly dependent on the centres of the neighbouring state (Siliguri and Kalimpong of West Bengal). Landuse Unplanned nature of growth is one of the common features in the urban landscape of our country and this picture is not uncommon in Sikkim although the size of the town is very small.But in the reg- 220 17.Long view of Rangpo I 'm-i 18.Changing Land use (Gangtok) ional context they are large enough and such concentration of pop ulation at a small place puts great perssure on land. All the se tt 1 ements, whatever may be the size, sustain on land.Thus, the land or the site over which the settlement spreads, plays a vital role • s \ for any construction over such unstable surface, ^The development of town or city creates a new landscape which reflects certain chara- ctistics of pre-existing landscape , But the problem arises when the processes of physical development progresses without conside ring or just ignoring the landform character over which the town develops. The large rate of growth,both in size and area, within a short period encourages>I and degradational processes by destroying the protective forest cover and construction over slope for the accommodation of growing population and functional institutions. The undulating nature of the terrain together with heavy and con tinuous rain encourage different types of land degradational pro cesses I ikejbroslon, mass wasting etc. Erosion by running water and water assisted mass wasting are very common in and around the to wns and it cannot be stopped by just expensive engneering measures The processes of land degradation (erosion, mass wasting etc. ) and their allied problems in land use varies among the towns of diffe rent localities. However, the problems of highland towns are diff erent from that of the towns located along the river valley,at the meeting point ot the two rivers. In the valley site towns, as mentioned earlier, two sides are bounded by the rivers while the other two sides rise ab- L.«i ghl on ,FB . Lands I. I d es and Hi. II at do D«v« lopni<»nl . In 20.Land erosion for violation of civic rules (Gangtok) ruptly or gently from the flat river terraces over which the town is spread out. In these town river bank erosion, land slides and water-assisted mass wasting processes on the higher ground are active.Besides,there are towns located on the higher ground (Cliff and Ridge) where the availability of flat continuous surface is uncommon. In each case the older part of the town, mainly occupied by shops and shop-cum-residential houses, are located on the flat part of the sloping surface. In course of time the town extended beyond it to either the upper or lower slopes where favourable land is available. The direction of expansion is strongly guided by the topography where the towns located over the cliff (Gyals- shing and Mangan) extends towards higher sloping surface as the other sides suddenly end by the deep gorge.In these towns the pro blems of land slide/slip over the hanging surface is very common Any construction over the unstable sloping surface leads to various forms of mass wasting and at the same time the pattern of infiltration totally changes over such surface which increase the shear stress so much that water-assisted flow occurs Besides the construction of roads and buildings, the drainage line consisting of the j'hora and the open drains mainly following the roads encourage land degradational processes where percolation of water through these channels leads to various forms of water-ass isted mass wasting over the sloping surface. The shortage of flat surface and the higher cost of land improvement leads to vertical rise of buildings which further put pressure over the slope. In many cases the tall buildings cross the stipulated height proposed by the civic authority. As in cliff towns, the land degradational processes are very active in the ridge top-towns (Namchl and Gang- tok) where the urban area spread out vertically over the sloping surface. The problem is very acute in Gangtok where density of co nstruction, both roads and buildings, is very high over the higher slopes.* On the contrary, the gently sloping ridge top offers much stable ground for construction in Namohi^ In several cases the co nstruction over the up-slopes creates problem on its lower slopes through the deposition of silt washed from the up-slopes. In fact, the spread of urban establishments changes the geomorphic charac ter of the land and initiates a series of land use problems some of them appearing very quickly while some others very slowly but in a much bigger way. It has already been mentioned that the smaller size of the towns has not led to the formation of morphological zones in the urban areas except to a certain degree in Gangtok. In Gang tok imperfect mormhologica) zones have started to appear very re cently though large compact zones are totally absent due to sudden changes of slope. Thus, it is very difficult to propose any tradi tional land use plan within the framework of existing morphologi cal pattern. Urban Aineniti«s and Administration The towns are not merely an aggregate of buildings but also an aggregate of population and such a large concentration at a small place invites a series of problems in their way of life The problems arise in residence,transport,medical,educational,rec reational and above all publ ic utility services like water,sanita tion and drainage. The social and public institutions like, medi cal, educational, recreational etc. are not uniform^ly distributed among the towns. The location of such institutions varies aocord- 223 ing to the size and nodalIty of the centre. The higher order ins titutions are mainly concentrated in the administrative towns (Di strict headquarters). The higher concentration of such instituti ons in a few centres creates the problems of availability for the scattereti rural population with poor transport facilities. The ca pital town is well equipped with medical facilities and other soc ial and public institutions. But the other towns are rather poor in this respect in comparison to Gangtok and a good section of the population of this region depends heavily on the neighbouring st ate (West Bengal) for this purpose. The problems of shopping facilities has not yet appeared in the small town though the specialised shops are almost absent in them. In Gangtok, the picture is quite different where the local shops for different residential localities have not yet appeared in true sense and people have to depend on the main mar ket,Gangtok bazar,for most of their daily ooneuming goods. In con sidering the population size and areal extension over the undulat ing surface the demand of such neighbouring centre is very much 1ogical. Generally,majority of the urban problems are related to over population of the centres as th rate of population growth is higher than the growth of housing,transport and civic amenities like water ,sanitation,etc. Here again,the problem is very serious in Gangtok though the rest of the towns are yet very sAal 1 in size to feel the effect. However, irrespective of size,the shortage of residential houses is a common problem in most of these faster growing towns. In Gangtok, the demand of accommodation is not only for the faster growing population but is also for the administra tive offices and other institutes in this newly emerged state oap- 224 ital. Increasing density of residential houses togeter with unpla nned construction over the slope, destroy tho. ground stability and invite a series of environnental problems.//The shortage of favour able land for residential houses is very acute. This together with the higher cost of land ifflprovement as compared with that in the plains and the soaring prices of the construction material raise the net cost of building construction. In many cases, to reduce the cost the builder ignores the cost - oriented engeering techniques and proper building plan particularly suited for such ecological background. The allotment of government land for private residence has totally stopped since 1983. Thus, the demand of private land (constitute 34.2 per cent of the total land in 1977/78 In Gangtok) is very high and totally dependent on the whims of the owners.Un der such circumstances the house rent is very high as a result of which the density per residential room too very high.In 1984,39per cent of the families were having only one living room CTable - 7tS3 There is no Rent Control Board in Sikkim and the fixing rent Is totally at the mercy of the house-owner without considering the proper living faoillties like size of the room, water connection, electricity,sanitation system etc. ^Sanitation and drainage create a series of environmental problems including pollution. There is no problem of stagnation of water in these hilly towns as the suffident slope is quite adequ" ate to drain out the surface water. The volume of houselold waste material 8,including water,is directly related to the size of popu lation. In Gangtok,the open drains,mainly running along the roads, are connected with swift flowing j'hordu»( r i vul ets )« On several occ asions particularly after the heavy rains, the narrow channel of these Jhox-aa gets blocked by the waste material s, stopping the fldw 225 for a :v: n o r t perl CH3 . i r: e ;£ r iI i y--'Z w a •: a I ij o 1- c c^ i a ^ e £ t r, i s u I 1 5 r, e an d a t t h e s a rn e t i m e P'" u ! e o t T n' taster the process of erosion a i ong t he t wo sides o f t h e • Icz- •: a. i n the other towns such problems are nfit so active due to their ";^-ca- t 1 ci n a n d ''s 1 2 e b u t t he p r IJ IJ i e m of s a n i t a t i o n is p r e s Ve fi/" r' V •..; r'i ere. A go rid number of urban hout^erioids of this state do not ha n V 1 r :• w ;! 1 a t r i n e and t h e y J j s e e ; t ri e r p u IJ ! i c 1 a t r i n e s o r go e i ;; e w h e r e . Tho n'jmber of publ ic: latrines is very smai 1 in ail town:;; a no ;-art- ic'jiariy in Gangtok, the capital and the main tourist cen*-re of *:, h i s state. //The rivers and j HOT as are the sources of water in the .;rban ares ',' i n g a gradual r e d u c t i o n i n t h e i r v c^ 1 u m e o f w a t e r or a r e /^ u s * d r y - i n g u p u p d u e to deforestation in the source a r e a, m a i n1y a t higher elevations. The problem is very serious in N a m c h i where the exist ing sources are unable to meet the p i~ e s e n t d e m an d , G a n g t o k faces similar prob1eros occasiona1 1y now-a-days. In Gangtok, only 26. t per cent c;f the households depend on publ ic water taps and the rest on perennial j.^'ioras ( 1984 ) . Thie genera! reduction in the voiurpe of the '/'; f r'v: .e and the increasing ra+e of urban growtF-i/put tremendous. -":'^•s- s u re on trie existing a u p p 1 y system. At t ti e same t i m e , t h e w a t e r p i p e network system faces some s e r i ovi s pi r o ti 1 e m s in this high land t o p o - g r a fi ti y w h e' r e the entire system LI ! t i m a t e 1 y comes to h i g ti 1 y d e p e n - d e r": t. c:i n n ,a t u r e . The fi r ci ti 1 e m like t h e collapse of t ti e r e s e r '•! n i r s , s uti- I es V V o i r or t tie d i s 1 oca t i on of *". hie pi i pe- net wor V: due t c -nass '.^' a s ting and landslide, pia r t i c L: 1 a r 1 ;,' after h e a v y rainfall, i 3 v e r y commL.ri. On the ottiej- tiand, i:;eg/a; waiter tapiping in some j-cali- r e 3 t e another type i:• i p : C' ij 1 e ni. The •:; c; n t a m i n a t i o n c^ t i r ; r; 1: i n g i A t l"i e a n o t h e r s e r i o'.j s [> r rj b 1 e m i ri t hi e s e h i i 1 y '. o w n :-; . A ' ;::-;- e - sent, the rj r i n k i n g water is not properly treated. ^''. o r e o' :n 3 n y p ere n n i a i sources g e t g r a d u a 1 1 y c o n t i^m i n a t e d d u e t o t h e ; 3 d O f s €' * t i e m e h t s and t h e r e m o'.' a i of •/ e g e t a 1 c o " e r a t t h e .? c !_• r :: • ! 'i i:: a n y ca ;-• e s t h P i IJ W e r pa r i o f t h e;:. e per e n n i a i c ha n r. e 1 s the maior so'jrces of water f sj r hL^uaehold purposes.^ W, ^The management of t he local affairs of any ur ba n settlement and to promote and provide for the civic amenities ess ential for the communities is the basic function and r es pcMir i b i - 1 i t y of the local government 1 i k e , m u n i c i p a 1 i t y , c o r p o r a t i o n e t •:. It has a! ready been mentioned that at present there is no su-c'r local institution in the urban areas of Sikkim. The Local l?e; 1 ;i ov e r i- • Tent, and the Housing Department ;ook after Gangtok, w^iiie the L-ep- :< r <", m e n t s i i i-. e the F u b i i >": W r. i k a . E d u •: a t" i on. Health e t c . ^ a i r- ': : -.• < oak after the ather towns. Thus the local pi obi ems in reiati^n *'- civic amenities are neg1ec ted due to the absence of any local supervis ion. The cost of construction and mainte nance works is very high and regular mainte nance of roads and drainage is necess^rs- in d i s s e c t e d t o p o g r a p h y . Any small dam a g e of r o a d s . d r a i r\ a g a o r 1- , , ; ' : n 2 m crea. te a ho?t of other problems in such a eco i o:?; i ca 1 setting. The maintenance of rioads e *: c i ;:• the r es pons i b i ' i t v r.f t-h^? 3 a V Kj ]• a ! g I'j y e r n m e n t ;;1 e p a i t ni e r. t -: a n d g e o. e <. a i ; -,• i fi t n e a o a a t"i o a ._. * c^.. y proper coordination between them it takes uery loiig to initiate the p r o c e s s . 0 V e r and a ti o v e t h i s , t f i e frequent '•.' i o 1 a t o n o f c C' t"i;: t j u c- - t i o n r vj 1 e s is a common p r a c t 1 '::• e d u e t c^ t he a b s e n c e a i"i v p i o p e i i n - '.•• i g -. 1 a t i on. Oi'> the jja r t of t I'.e 1 oca I a u 11\-: r i t i es . PROSPECTS Development under Different Plans i ri 5 i i< k i m , the planned economic development was i ri i t i a t e -d i •••, 1 9 5 'i w h e 5 a seven year plan (195^-621 was introduced with t r- c h e i p. of Planning Commission, Government of India. This was ro: i .j^.-.-ri Ijy three successive five year plans '1961-66, 1966-71 a n d 1'[' ~' 1 i 9 ^'' 6 ' w h1 i e in May 19 7 5,S i k k i m joined Indian Union as one o f i t s s t a t e s. The last three p 1 a n s - - t h e 5th, t ti e 6th and the 7 t h - - h a v e o e e; -, f o r - (Ti-ilated more comprehensively in considering its status as 3 new s * a t e together with its strategic location and physical b a c k '-:; r o u n d T' i.i r i n g the pre-merger plan period ( 1 s t - - 4 t h Plan) the schemes with dirv-c*- impact on urban development were very limited. At that ^ime ornptiasis was given on the cons t r uc t i rjn of ha. I sheds, puta nes, drainage sfid carpeting of the surface in '.-'arious tr-iz< i n c ! 'J • ding the ^owns. Al ! these schemes were ai lotted under the h.ead of of ' !1 a r ke t Centre' o'j t i a y . Bes i d es t \\ i s s pec i f 1 c ou t 1 ay , empha s i s was given on educa t i on , med i ca. 1 s e r v 1 ce , wa t e r supply, roads and residen- \ i 3 1 Ci u a r t e r s for the e m p 1 o y e e s u n d e r the general o u t i a >• n f t h e p 1 a r. a s t, h e t e w e r e n o s e p a i' a t e all o t m e n t s f c r t h e urban areas. L; '•.:' r i ; I g the p o s t - m e r g e r p 1 a n per i o d , b i; i k o f these o u t 1 a y s were pro vided for the different schemes of Gangtok in considering its size a n d s t a t u s . A team o f Indian e x p e r t s v i s i t e i:i G a n g t o k a t the e n d o f 2 1973 to prepare a project report for Gangtok Planning Area .At the .•^ 1 \ r: •• T: . Pi. irmi nq ar.d Dt>'-'t. lop nf.>'•, •. Dep'ir' i":-. r r . F' •:• u 1 I.! , V •• -J a \ •^••x\ P I. r' -••'l the pro J,?-.it Kj- i:...-,or! puh-l .-,!'i«-'i, (Bi. iLani . HO. a-:i'-,Qi. •.-.•)•• A S:!..jdv : r, ri w V ^ 1. o pn-n^nt Planriiri-^. t n < (.J r ban Pr.obl ms . N<=v De L h, I , I r- d L ar-^ In? ! i, '. u t. .? of r'j'o 1 ). -•. Adm 1. r,t 3 t r al '. o^n , 1 v77 . i. 07 - t lO > t? n d o f the 4th plan JJ e r i o d . some r e c o m m e n d a t i o n £ o t t)-, ^ t, t a a fn n a y e ta e e n i m p 1 e m e n t e d . The f 1 f t ti p 1 ai n w E< s in t r o d u c e d just a f t e r t h e m e r g e r o f the state in 1975 when the existing plan allocation not on i v was i n c r e a £ e cT but also included a wide range of new schemes. T h >j s , the pos t - me r ger plan had a t'oos t i n g effect on the processes of urban development along with the overa! i deueiopment of the state ?nd at the same time development of different social and public institu- * ions and public ii t i 1 i t y s e r vices was e n c o u /• a g e d . The p o s + ^ m e r g e r plan outlay of different s chiemes which had a direct i mpac * "ri t he urban development may be grouped under three major headings: URBAN LifivELOPMENT The m u f, i c i p a 1 i t y form o i 1 o c a 1 self government was i n •_ r o d u r e d in Gangtok in 197 5- In view of the growing need of the newly i o r n state capital, initially Rs. 1^.36 lakh was alloted for ttie est.ab~ lishment of Gangtok Municipality Corporation and at the end of that plan period the total outlay for this purpose was raised to about Rs.39.7 lakh. The schemes under the Gangtok Municipal Corpo ration were mainly gro'jpied into (ii Drainage and sanitation, (ii) Improvement of shopping centres and (iii) Recreation. During the 5 tY\ plan period, 8 public latrines have been constructed in the areas like Tibet road and Kazi road,Chandmari,Sichey gao. Baltiatch- khani.Burtuk.Tadong and Nayabazar. Besides.four public urinals ?nd new drains have been constructed in different parts of the town.as in Tibet and Ki a z i r o a d . S LI n d r i gao e t c . D LI r i n g the same p e r i o ci t ti e r e u' e r e separate outlay for- parks at T a d o n g . S i c h e y g a o , B a 1 u a 1: h a n i and 3 Town Ha 1 1,/, Du r i ng the 6th. plan period (1980-85) a sum of R £ . 112 iakh has been alloted to assist the Gangtok Municipality Corpora tion in view of its growing size. There were 11 majior schemes of which the muitistoried Super Market Complex in the main bazar, one parking complex, garbage disposal, a few small shopping centre and environmental and slum improvement schemes represented the most important items. In the 7th plan fresh provisions were made for completing the ongoing projects. Ciuring the middle of that plan period.the population was estimated to be about 50,000 in consi- d e r a t i o n of which the government f e ! t i t n e c e s s a, r y t o p r e p 3 re a f r e s h ill -;< :3 t e r plan f C' r t ^l e c a p i t a 1 * o w n . "A m o s t e r p 1 a n w i t h 3 w e i i concei'.'oi^ landuse patt,er!i a;v:i adequate r-rovision for f'jt'jre ^v:'3^- i n :4 , r o a o s , e c t r i c i t y , drain ? g e an d •"• e w e r a g e a s !w je I w a 1 e ; ,'jp 1 Y need s to be formu I a ted a nci f u r the r growth channelised tC' f i t 4 • n t c- t'"; e pa 11 e r n o f s uc h p i a, n " F'- r i ..^ r to the merger of the state in 1 9 7 5 , t h e r e w a s no separate p i a p ^j u t 1 a y for any of the s ra all t o w n s in S i k k i m, Even i n the post- iTierger period these 7 omal 1 towns aiid all the bci^^a.rs '32^ have been taken together and priority has been given to car pet ting the b -5 z a r s . e s t a b 1 i s h m e n t o f c o m m u n i t v h a i i in the id i s t r i <: t h e •;:< d - quarters, construction of hat sheds and meat stalls along with the prepration of a master plan and steps t Ci be taken for land gccpji- s i + i c n for piroposed construction. However, the^re were some prosra- m m e s f c' r t f) e d e v e 1 o pim e n t of certain facilities featuring in ci i f f o - S; I k V:'.-n-.. Plaiiriiriy and Developrne-nt. D&p'ai-tni.&nl. Ani-.uciL Plan:i«>BT-BB . p 149 Si.VkLrfi. plar,ni.fig and D-jvelopiiienl Depai Im^fnt. Annual Plan:l«>a7-fl8. p 143 rent t i v e year plans for the smal i towns. For i ns t a ^-': e , in *, h.:- 5 th p 1 a n . f o I 1 o w i n g schemes were taken i n t. o c LT n S i O e r a t i O n : ( a '' ' h e - o n s - traction of public latrines in S i ng t ham, Rs t-ig po and Mangan;{b^ dra inage and sanitation improvement in N a y a b a z a r, S i n g t h a m, Jorethang and N?mchi;(c) construction of permanent hat shed for Singtham,Na- mchi. Mangan, Rangpo and Gyslshing; id) construction of community hall in G y a i s h i n g , Mangan and N a. m c h i . At the end of the 5th plan period (1979-80) one Town Planning Ceil started functioning under Local Self Government Department for preparing master plan,regula ting construction works, making arrangement for beautification and e n'-' i r onmen t protection of the towns,! nc 1 ud i n g Gang t o!•; . ! n the 6th plan emphasis was been given on comp 1 e t i rT g the ongoing projects and there was outlay for boundary piller in t he n o n- -m u n i c i p a 1 tcwns when Joetha. ng was selected for centra! iy s 530ns o red iiJOr sch- e m e s . L 1 v ring the 7 t h p Ian period, J c. r e t h a n g a n d N s m c h i r e c e i v e d separate fu n d s from the centrally sponsored 1D M S T s c h e m e s.E e 3 i d e s schemes like ppepftfstion of master plan for Namchi and Jorethang and construction of boundary piller in Joretha.ng and also general improvement of civic services in the towns and bazars were taken up. UATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE The surface water (river,streams and springs) are the main sources of water in Sikkim and each settlement has developed close to these sources. The demand of water increases with the expansion of the settlement whereas the supply available from such natural i>'v.k> ..vi,. Plarirn-iiy and DfefV^-Lopmej-il Dop-ar t.rn&ril. Ar.riuaL Pl'ar\:lC»7a-SO . 231 sources remain either constant or in many cases, get reduced. in Sikkim, separate outlay for water supply and drainage has been made for the first time in the 4th p 1 a n v e r i o d . D u r i n g t h a •; p' e r i -"j d w a t e r b r o n e sewerage system was introduced in some of the towns and sch emes for p o/t a bIe water supply in N a m c h i and R a n g p o and water fil tration in G a n g t o k were introduced at this time, in the 5th plan, the programme for water supply and drainage system has been fur ther i n te/ns i f i ed, and about Rs.l36.3'^i lakhs have been alioted for this purpose for the towns and bazars. Needless to say that the major part of the outlay is confined to Gangtok Municipal Corporation where schemes of water reserviour with a capacity of 1 million gallon of filtered water at S'eiep. the intake work at Rat.ey chu source, the extension of pipe -rii-'*:work and the instal latinn of water m.eters has been taken u'p.At the sametinie a comprehensive water supply [Dr eject for a r^roiected population of 75,000 has been prepiared and cleared by the CPHEEP with a estimated cost of Rs . 3 <:; ro r e , These schemies were installed during the 6th plan period with a total outlay of about Rs.310 lakhs and another R s. 15 0 lakhs has been a i 1o t e d to cover the ent ire town during the 7th plan period for a projected population of 1 lakh at the end of the century. In contrast the other 7 towns of this state received only 17 per cent of the total oi.it 1 ay during the 5th plan period when the schemes like spillover wcirks for Mangan and Jo ret hang,and water- treatment for Rangpo.Singtham, Namchi and Mangan and Joreth- a n g have been taken into consideration - E> u r i n g the 0th plan period <5 Sikki.m. Plarin'>. ng and Development D&par I mont . Drcf t Fifth Five Yoar Plan it% 7<3-77 to 10aO-ei> and AnnuoA Plan ; 107d-77 , 232 a I.Jg me n t a i i on works continued and some serious steps \.; e r e i a k e- n for the most problematic town — N a m c h i . " S o m e t h i n !•: i ti g has gone i n t c> the matter of constructing basin type reservior to be f i i 1 ed u j: tjoth artificially and n a (. u rally s o t ti a t t h e g r o w i n g r e q u i r e m e ri t o f t h e town cou|,d be met"'. in Namch i , Rs. 5000 laktis have been alloted in the 7th plan period for the cons t r i.ic t i on of •'•*2 km long F^ i pe line from the source to t ti e r e s e r v i o r . D u r i n g the same period ( 7 t ti plan) extension the of pipe netwoxk, the construction of new reservior, and water treatment schemes have been taken up for the other towns The w a t e r b o r n sewerage system was totally absent till t ti e end of 41 ti plan period. As mentioned earlier, at the end of 19 7 3 a team of experts from Delhi pre pared a p r' o j ec t r ec^o r t on Gangtok for a overall development of the s ta te. Dur i ng the StV; plan period, some of the r ecomenda t i cms of that team were trar:S!ated into action including sewerage. In the 5th plan.Rs ?C> 1 akhs" were alloted f c> f u n d e r g r o Li n d sewerage schemes including full treatment s V stem (a p p r o v e d by C P H E E 0 1 . This ti a s been alloted for t ti e ! phase of that scheme in the 61 hi plan period. In the 7th plan another Rs. 140 lakhs has been al loted for the 1 i phase of that pr ogramme so that the entire town c o LI 1 d be covered by the u n d e r g r o - ound sewerage system. There is no specific schemes of sewerage for the other small towns but money has been alloted to extend the dr ainage system and for the repairing v^orks of the existing drainage chiarinels. it will be worthwhile to mention here that the mainte - nance cost is very high in such an unstable ground together with heavy rainfall and for this reason a heavy amount is reqi.iired un- Si.kki.rTi. PlatinLvig and D«vwl.opiri.int. D.=jpar tin&nl. biLKLr, Fivw Y^ar Plar,:l!>80-ar;. p 172 do d e r the heads of repair and m a i n t e n a n c e in e a c h and e v c v t o v; n . HOUSING DEVELOPMENT There was no housing development scheme prior tc the 51'n plan p e r i o ci although different Government Departments have c o n s t r 'j. c t e d various ty pies of houses for their staff members and mos t of them are concentrated in the administrative towns. For instance.a t the end of the 4th plan period about ^00 buildings were constructed in Ga n t' t ok alone for d i f f eren i pvr pos es . s uch as f or accommc:d a t i n g ;• c .^'i o o I , ^i o £: pi t a i , an d g o v e r nm e n t e m p i o y e e s , e t c . In the 5 t ti D ' -" r- h c w - ever, a sLim of Rs . 57 ialchs was al lote^d f o x' the estat'I is timer* of a Stat e H o tj 5 i n g Boa r d . A c c o r ci i n g t h e Housing Development B o a r d was set up in 1979-80 for the purpose of cha Iking out plans 5 r-" the implementation of social tio'.jsing sctiemes hy ut i : i s i ng i ns t i ^ v.t i o- n a i finance .Another m a i o r scheme involving the removal a n ci s'j ti s e - q u e n t r ei h a b i t a t i o n of t ti e squatters in t hi e major urban areas has been t.a 1;en up dur i rig the same period. Besides, housing schemes for the Government e m pi 1 o y e e s in the urban areas like G a n g t o k . Ci y a ! s h - ing.Mamchi and Jorethang has been taken up.As a result of which by the end of 1979-80 'financial year', 1100 Govt quarters have been constpLicted for Government employees in the state. But the demand for accommodation is very high in these faster growing towns. in view of the huge shortage of Government quarters, the major objec tive of the 6th plan was " t ti increase the number of government qu arters so that 1 a r' g e percentage of t hi e staff could ti e or o v i cl e d i.*Lkk'..n,. Plar.t-.vr.9 and D^-^veLopiriwriL Dwi;-;ii-tirn^i-,1. . Si: ;:> a r 1 i c u i a r 1 y t o b e n e f i t t h •:- e c' r; n o m i c 3 | ! y w 9 3 k e r G S e •:: • i o n s i nc \ ij - :i i !"i g industrial 1 abIDu r e r s and t he d owri t r odd en s ec t i on 2 o f t he '::C' - mmiin 1 t y or the same C! 1 a n p e i' i o cl a s LI m of R E . 2 3 0 I a k h 5 •.•? e r e H 1 lot e ci f o f the const s u c t i c n of 792 staff q '.J B :• t e r S ( e x c i u d i n q 114 polict? quarter) of which -i'-iO in Gangtok and 188 in the district t o w n 5 3. n d 1G '^ in the other places . B e 3 i d e s , a good am o u n. t w a s ? ! i •' - ted f J r the completion of t hie ongoing schemes , pr oy i ded i n t he f o r m of loan for Govt, servants, found for Cooperative Housing and Hou- ? : n g 1J cards. At the c o m m e n - e m e n t o f the 7 t h p i an, a b o u t 1.3 8 6 c n i t s J f g ,;i 7 e r n m e n t quarters o f v a r i o ij 3 c a t e g o r i e ? had bee n c o n s t r ' j :•'; e ''i r>'jring the 7th plan period emphasis was laid on i n t ens i f v i nj the e X 1 s r -, n j schemes of house building with the assistance of H'JDCO ari.d Lie. A sum of Rs. LZ'^ lakhs were al loted for Gangtok alcine, Rs, 1';.') 6 i a k h s for 4 district headquarters tow n s i n 7th p ! a n p e r 1 •:? d ? '-: d ? t t h e same time g r a n t w a s s e t aside f lO r d i f f e r e n t o n g o i PI g a c h e ni e 3 - In fa c i , G a n g t o k n o t o n i y a <•; commodates the largest number of urban population of the country taut at the same time it faces many problems and these are totally absent in any other small t o w n of this s 13 t e.T h e s e problems are m a i nIy associate d with the land u s e , residence and c" i'.' i c amenities 1 i k' e water, 3 a n i t a t i o n a n d drainage etc. ! t has already been mentioned that a number of schemes ha v e been take n up t c overcome s uch problems a nd t c i mp- rove the general qua!ity of life in thesecentres. No master plan I ':• V .-i. t- 1"? Hi It I 1. looo flr.. 11 Sil'y.r-i. PLar-nLTiq and Dv-vf^LOpto Y D>->t;-ai' IVnwr.L . Arir^a al pi.o> uoae-av. p izi. has so far been prepared for this capiital town althoutjb in tt\e 7 th plan pe r i od ( 1985 - 90 ) attempt has been made to prepare S'jch a ;-1 a n . At present, the town sprawls over the upper part of the ridije. The proposed planning area will 1J e c o'.' e r the entire r i :d g e . starting f r o.T t he" r i V e r ba n k t o t he r i d g e top, s o t hat proper en v i r onmen ta 1 (j r :• t e c t i At the same time an integrated land use plan is necessary for the other f a £ t e r g r o w i n g small t la w n s so that the town can develop in t, h e right direction without disturbing the environment. Futare Prospects of the Towns In Sikkim, urbanisation is mainly concentrated in Gangtok.the state capital, and other seven towns are very smaller in size even remaining belovj the minimum level prescribed by the Cens'.is of India f 5000) . These sm.all towns are nothing but the rural market places though some of them, function as headquarters of the distri cts. Among the i our major functions tie 1 pi ng urban development-- commercial. administrative, industrial and tert. iaty--the first two activities (commercial and administrative) are largely responsi ble for the growth and development of the towns in Sikkim. Those two functions jointly or individually con tributes fat he process of urban development in this small Himalayan state. It has already been mentioned that,Nayabazar,Singtham,Rangpo.Mangan and Gyaishing have grown from a feasar or a rural market place of which Mangan and Gyaishing are functioning as district headquarters since 1963. On ttiC' other hand Name hi and Gang t ok had ttie experience of admini strative activities as headquarters of the local chiefs long be fore rn a r k e + i n g . activities started in t ti e s e centres. At present, '"Aa n g t oV:, N a mch i and Mangan function both as adm i n i s t rat: v e a nd mar- - keting centres. The rate of growth is very fast in these tc-wns. Res t r uc t 'J r i ng of the administrative set- vjp. after 197 E., e;-• •:c :; a s ed fijrther the process of development where concentration of seve ral 3 :i ni i n i s t r a t i V e i n s t i t u t i o n s t o g e t h e r VJ i t h the emerge n c e o f a host of ' s o cia ! and cultural institutions n o t only i n c r e a s e d the size of the towns but also contributed to the increase of •he cen tra 1 i t y o f t h e s e pa 1 c e s . 0 n t h e c o n t r a r :/ . G y a 1 s h i n g , the off i c i a ! i-: e t place when the new district s e c r e t r i a t e has bee n c o n s t r u c t e d 5 Km north of this centre for reasons not very conveneing to an ou t 3 i de r . The interior 1 oca t i oi-s and smaller concentration of social and cui tura! institutions has slowed down the rate of growth as compared with that of the other towns in the state. The c o m m e r c e - b a s e d tow n s . s u c h as N a y a b.? z a r ^ .' or e f h a n g . Singtham and Rangpo.are located along the vaiieys and by •: i ^ '.'j'S of o c a t i o n *: h e y are f 'j n c t i o n i n e o 0 n o o ; the m.? i •:= r roads f o 1 1 o v*; the river v a 1 i ey s . T h u s . t h e i o c a t i o n a 1 a d v a i-1 a g e t o g e t h e r with the u n i d i r e c t i ID ri a i ' n o r t h - s o u t h ) f i o w patter ;" ~ o i n t 1 y he1 iJ i n boosting up the trade and commercial ac t i v i t i es of these centres. As for instance, N a y a b a z a r - J c r e t h a n g s e r v e s c o m m e r.? i a ! 1 y the entire western part of the state, Rangit basin, since all the transport routes of this region <::onvergG at this point, in virtue of its 1ocation.Nayabazar-J orethang performs as a collection point for the entire Rangit basin area where all sorts of goods and pas sengers to and from Sikkim converge at this centre. Similarly. iingtham dominated commercially in the eastern part of the state where all the major roads converge at this centre. Actually, the emerging transport network during the post-merger period has incr eased the nodality of these centres, contributing to the steady 237 grow'h of these centres. i r-i contrast Rangpo, situated L2 km :;outh o f Singtham. looses it s n o d a i i t y i n s j- i t e of i t s 1 o c a t i o ii a 1 ? c> • a \\ t - age. in f a c t, t h e first break o f movement for go o d s an d p a s 3 e ri g e r s . to and from the eastern S i k k i m, o c c 'J r at Singtham. Previously, the importan*ce of Rangpo as a border town, between West Bengal and Sikkim. was undeniable but the merger of the state ti a s changed the situation.During the recent years steady improvement in the trans portation system has increased the accessibility between S i 1 i g u r i and the higher part of eastern Sikkim as a result of which the co mmercial importance of Singtham a.nd Rangpo has gradually decreased 1 t i 3 true t ha t t he urban character has no t v e t t a k en f u i 1 f o r IT, i n t h :- ''C i o -• e c o n o m i c 1 e v e 1 of t h i ? H i ma 1 ay a Pi region c o u i 6 r\ o t s u \-j D •" r t too many big towns. By virtue of its ad m i n i s t r a t i •' e f unc t i on as a s t a t e ca p i ta 1 .Gang t C'!: ac-<.:.^ammoda t es the bLJ i k -rjf t he ,' i v i n c am enities of this state along with the largest number of 'jrb.B'" pop- ijlation. During the last three decades ( 195 1-8 1' the population of Gangtok has increased 10 times.On the contrary.the 7 other smaller town are nothing taut rural service centres for their immediate su rroundings. all of them reaching the status of urban centres only in 19 7 1 , a n d having grown rapidly during the last decade. But • r, no case they can compete with Gangtok and they are unable to exert much of influence on their rural sui roundings.Neverthe 1 ess, inspite of small size and limited urban amenities, their role in the rural- urban interraction pattern is very strong and commercially most of them are not at a!! dependent on Gangtok. It has already been mentioned that the processes of urban development started at a faster rate since the merger -oi the ? •: a t €•. During the p o s t - m e r g e r period G a n g t o k , t h e only urban c e n t r e 238 i n ' r 'J o sense of + h e term, n o t o n ! y i n c r e a s e d in s i 2 e 1J U t also there w-15 increase in the number of shops including special i sidled shops, industrial units and transport facilities. The impact' of such development completely changed the urbanscape of this princly capita1 * where traditional single-storied,wooden buildings were re placed by the multistoried modern buildings; the narrow footpaths got converted into w i d e-m e t a 1 1e d r o a d s,a n d the t r a d i t i o n a i , i n d i g e- nioijs isolated shopping areas turned into we 1 '-developed shopping s * r ee ts w i t h modern s how r ooms of s pec iftl i s l^ied goods . A t t he same +, i m e , the p o s t - m e r g e r period witnessed a steady f 1 HI w o f t 'i: L; r i s t s , both other states and abroad, into this erstwhi ie prin!;e!\- state capital. During the last few years this Himalayan state not only has improved its transportation facilities ID u t a I s o h a s d e •.• e i o p e d new sites and an increase in, accommodation facilities for ^_ h e t o u - r i s t s . At present, Gang t o "K is functioning as the s e c o n d i m s? o r t a n t tourist centre in the E a s t e r fi H i m a. 1 a y a n r e g i o n , n e x t t o D a r i e e ; i n g , by virtue of its nodality. it is true that, stiil now Dar.ieeling is performing as the primary attraction for the tourists in the Darjee1ing--Sikkim Himalayan region but it is expected that very soon Gang t ok will replace Darieeling. C'uring the recent plans emp- hasis have been put on various tourist development program luding the lifting of certain restrictions,both for home and fore ign tourists. The total impact of such development together with other i nf ras t rue t ur a 1 facilities v/hich help the flow of tou rists has obviously been to the advantage of Gangtok increasing its importance as a tourist centre endowed with an outstanding na tural beauty and cultural heritage. 239 Prospective Urbanhood In Sikkim apart from the existing eight urban cent r es. t hc-r e are altogether 32 Bazar or rural market places fFig. 471. These bctsar-s are functioning as rural service centres along with other s ma i ! towns and some of them have hat or weekly markets. it has already been mentioned that these bazars play a vital role in the marke ting activities of the state. The unidirectional flow system, the higher transport cost and the lack of we 11-deve!oped marketing fa- cilities in the towns these bazars function as local service cen- t r e£ catering t.o the needs of the rural habitations. T n5 r 'jr a 1 ;; 'J r v o M n d i n g s need a { o c a i pi o i n t f o r e x c h a n g e ^:. h e i r ! o c a i p r o d i,j c t s with ^tie goods for daily cons'-impt i on including food grains and ag- r i c >j 1 • -J r a ; implements and o •: ^) e r s . Am •' n r ' f ? ti a z a r ^ , t '"! e n -• -' ^ ; i t y i ;3 high in the bazars with >'!.at , These hats piay a very significant role in the interactio-n pattern in this Himalayan region wi^h sca ttered piOpulation, poor purchasing capacity, inadequate transport facii it.ies -and extreme phv'sicai hardshijDS in travel . The 'people perfer to attend the basar once a weel';, that is the day ctn which 'i he ha. t takes pal ce . The o v >? r a 1 1 d e v •? 1 opmen t of t!-. 9 state a .•"• d the growth of pioputation have a positive con ^. r i bu t i on to the s^_eady growth of these ba£:ars. By virtue of their location some of them, particularly those located in the southern part, ha'.'e witnessed a steady development during the last decade, it may be interesting to observe here that some of these ^-.-'/s.-'/r •?• 1 ike Mel I i, Rhenok, coreng, Ranipoo 1 , Rong! i , Pakyong, Ravang and Chungthang exceed the -ice of vi;,. a 1 3 h i ng , Mangan and Nayalja.^ar and Namiihi in terms of pop'j • s t i on . ' ' . howe <••-^ r , n eei5 s '; o \-'e i:;oirited oijt in this i:onnec':ion in ••^•I'side- ring the population of the b a 2 a r the entire revenue b ! o c i-' c o r, •_- ; •.- - ting of a number of bus t&&s is included in the count as thert is no separate census made for the bazars in 1981.Thus.in most of the cases the population size of the settlement is large although the bazar its&lf occupies a part of the respective revenue block the latter happening to be the lowest unit for census in Sikkim like the villages in the other parts of India. Besides the location. some cither factors are also involved in the pirocess of development of the tiazars which vary widely among them.As for example Ranipool functioning as a satellite town of Gangtok maintains a steady growth where the price of land is cheaper and rent of houses is lower t'nan that of the mother tciwn. in the case of Me! li. i + s gate - w a _y 1 c- •:•. a t i o n and t ti e e s t a b 1 i s h m e n t o f a n e v.' d i s t i 1 ! e r y f a i;: t o r y iointiy ha'.'e increased the rate of development. In Majitar. close to n e 1 1 i , t hi e pi r o c. e s s of development started recently with the est ablishment C! f leather tanning factorv and f e-w other units. The interior 1 oca i on of Ra v ang and C'hijn g t ahng encourages the steady growth of these focal points in the vast rural s ti x- r o '..i n d i n g s . The older t' a z a r s like S o r e n g , P a k y o n g , R .0 n g ! i and R h e n o k have entered into a new phase of development during the recent years.The staove m e r.'. i o r-, e d t; i g bazars not ci n i y serves a'.- important r e x. a 1 1 m ? r k e t places hut at the same time they offer better educational and medical facilities b o t ti of which appear to be the two m o 5 t v i t a i central functions of them. In terms of population size,these bazars are larger than t tie district headquarters like Gya 1 sti i ng , Mangan and Namch i (Table - 9S-99'). At the same time the economic activities of the population of these centres are mo r e diversified where majorat;' of :4 1 Table -98 Complete List of 'Bazars' with existing ; e r ^' i c e facilities in Sikkim: 1981 Name of Population Types of Education Status o f H 3 t d a y Bazars (1981) institution Med i c 31 per F a c 1 i i t i e: Week B u r m i k 1101 p, M C h u n g t h a n g 1779 p. M PHS Damthang 422 p. M Li a r a m d i n 1200 p, M Dentarn 295 p, M, H PHS Dikchu (Old) 37 4 p Dikchu (New) 11 18 p H ee 1282 p,. K,H PHS K a 1 u k 858 p,, M,H K e w z i n g 258 p .. M PHS K i t a m 784 p L.eg sh i p p ii a n g a 1 bar i. a 136 9 D M M a k h a 6 6 6 PHS M a z i t a r 310 Mel i i 1647 P , M PHS N a m t h a n g 36 6 P , M PHC P 3 k y o n g 137 0 P. PUC PHC Pen i o n g 56 5 P, H F' h e n s ci n g 603 P, M, H PHS Rani poo I 1975 P D R o r a t h a n g 888 P P, 3 V a n g 1200 P, f^, H PHC ReFh i 47 5 P PHS R h e n o k 2664 P, M. H PHS R i n c h e n p o n g 7 38 P PHC R o n g 1 i 2594 P,, PUC PHC Sa mdong 1408 P,,f1, H PHC oomba r i a 1711 P., M. H PHC Song 794 P,, M, H PHC So reng 1757 P., M, H PHC Tern i 44 1 P,,M, H PHC U 11 e r i 878 P SourcerCenSUS 1981 PUC = Higher secondary(10+2 PHC = Primary health centre H = High schoo1 PHS = Primary health sub-centre M = Middle schoo1 D = Dispensary P = Primary school 24; Table -99 Bazars with I nfrastrueturaI Facilities for Future Urbanhood Types of Status of Male working Name of the Population Education Medical population Bazars (1981) institut- facilities in non agricul- ion tural activity^tf? (in (jepfcgnU Chung thang 1779 M PHS 68 Mel 1 i 1647 M PHS 97 P a k y o n g 1370 PUC PHC 61 Ra n i poo 1 1975 P D 84 Ra vang 1200 H PHC 64 Rhenock 2664 H PHS 68 Rong 1 i 2594 PUC PHC 6 0 Soreng 1757 H PHC 17 sourc*; Census 1981 PUC = Higher secondary(10+2) PHC = Primary health centre H = High school PHS = Primary health sub-centre M = Middle school D = Dispensary P - Primary school tt All activities except Cultivation and Agricultural labourers 243 the male w o r i< i n g p o p u 1 a t i o n is e n g a g e Ci i n n o n - a g r i c u i 1 u. r a : ? c t i v i - ties t'Table -99J. Thus, in respect of size, function and economic activities of these centres may,perhaps,claim to be more urban-or iented *than the remaining bazars. 24 A CIHAIPUEK WODO CONCLUSION jS Urbanisation is a very recent phenomenon in Sikkim, noted for the first time in 1951 with Gangtok appearing as the lo ne town and the rest of the seven towns appearing only in 1971 on basis of "having Notified Bazar Committees". In 1981,they are again treated as towns "in order to maintain a similarity and comparabi lity". The towns are situated in the southern part of the state where all the settlements are concentrated. In Sikkim only 16 per cent of the total population living in the urban areas and majo rity of them is still concentrated in capital town,Gangtok (72 per cent). The rate of growth of urban population has been high du ring the last decade. In general, the proportion of females is low and the rate of literacy among the male is higher than the females though it is steadily increasing in the female section. The sche duled tribe population, mostly Buddhist,constitute a sizeable por tion of the urban population and their percentage is comparatively high in the towns which are located on the highlands. The majority of population belongs to Hindu religion which is followed by the Buddhists and Christans. The majority of the working population is engaged in the tertiary sector where trade and commerce together with transport, storage and communication hold the major part of the working populat ion.About one-fourth of the workers are engaged in the secondary sector and majority of them are engaged in cons truction works. Industrially, Sikkim is very poor where a small number of workers are engaged in industrial activities. A section 2Hb of workers is still engaged In primary sector though their number is gradually decreasing.The newly-born towns of Sikkim have recei ved a large number of migrants which has a direct impact on incr easing the rate of growth as wel1 in changing the entire composi tion *of population. The urban areas have received majority of its migrants from the surrounding areas of the state and neighbouring states like West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The majority of these migrants have settled during the last decade, particularly after the merger of the country. The migration is male - dominated and particularly belong to the working age-- group. Employment is the main reason for male migration which is followed by movement of the fami Iy. The land use and morphological pattern of these Hima layan towns, whatever might be the size and location,are guided by the topography. In the highland towns the land use pattern is in fluenced by the ground stabi1ity,sunny face, and other altitudinal aspects. On the contrary the land use pattern is simple over the flat surface in the valley site towns. Most of these small towns covers only less than one sq km (except Gangtok) where about 30 to 80 per cent of the land is occupied by different urban activities and rest of the land by different non-urban uses like agriculture, forest,etc. But during the recent years land under agriculture and forest and the open spaces are gradually being eaten up by differ ent urban establishment in spite of heavy cost on land reclamation Residential uses cover the major part of the developed land follo wed by commerce and other uses. The internal structure or the morphology of the town is very simple as the towns perform very simple functions. The size 2i| 2^7 calities which is again controlled by the topography. There is a number of shopping centre,in Gangtok but there is no wel1-developed Central Business District and the main market consists of two'business streets'and the shopping row cons ists of*both residential and wholesale shops and there are no clu sters or segregations of the same variety of shops like cloth, me- dicene etc. Considering all the functional establishments and the functional character of the working population,the small urban centres of Sikkim have a strong base for marketing activities and at the same time the pul1 of the administrative function of the headquarters towns Is undeniable. These small centres perform very simple functions where the rural areas need a focal point for exc hanging their little surplus and this basic role is played by the towns with their shops including hat or weekly market, banks, off ices and similar instltutions,the sum of which form the urban cha racter. The types of services offered by these towns show that the size of population of a particular town is not the basis for the location of many functions in them as the towns depend on demand of the surrounding rural population. The functional character of the town is strongly influenced by their location. For instance, the valley towns function as commercial centres by virtue of their transport nodalIty while the highland towns thrive on the support of administrative functions. The extent of the'service area" depe nds on the transport facilities and functional dominance of towns. Beeldes, a number of factors influence the extent of service--area in this Himalayan state which is characterised by thin distribu tion at population, poor transport facilities strongly guided by &<(6 the topography, limited purchasing capacity, unidirectional flow system, and strong extra--reg lonal dominance. Th#l^economy of this small Himalayan state is not yet strong enough to sustain any la rge centre except Gangtok, the capital. Gangtok made the entire state i^s 'complementry region' in terms of economic, social, cul tural and even sentimental attachment. No other town of this state takes this role though few of them are commercially linked up with a large number of rural settlements and thus exerting some influe nce over them. The rest of the towns are nothing but rural service centres. In the Himalayan territories settlements plays a di verse role in their spatial interaction pattern and the so called hierarchical system is totally absent due to the uneven distribu tion of population.The region having a typical interaction pattern under the 'downflow'or 'gravity flow'system of commodities, is de pendent on other regions where the higher order centres are gene rally located in the southern border of the region, and the lower order centres appear in the interior northern part. The pattern is further complicated by the unidirectional flow system together with higher transport charges where the lower order centres of the region may not be commercialy dependent on the higher order cen tres of this state. There are strong extra--regional forces which effect the interaction pattern between the centres. Besides, the spatial interaction pattern is again complicated by the concentra tion of administrative functions in the lower order towns and poor concentration of functions in the non-urban market centres (bazar or rural market place), At persent, all the powers and functions relating 249 to civic administration of the towns has been centralized in the hands of a ministry of Local Se1f-Government and Housing Depart ment. There is no notified boundary of these small towns except In Gangtok. Among the towns,Gangtok not only accommodates the largest number of urban population but also offers better living facili ties which is totally uncommon in other small towns. The smaller towns of this state have only a very small number of social and public institutions but their inportance is very high in the regi onal context as the latter are totally absent in the surrounding rural areas which are dependent on their nearest towns. The lower concentration of such amenities in the small towns is the result of a limited demand of the thinly populated rural surroundings to gether with their poor socio-economic condition. Thus,there is no question of a we 11--deveI oped network of such amenities as one finds in Gangtok. /The problems of urban development is very complica ted in this Himalayan state as the entire human habitation is lar gely controlled by the natural environment. The unstable nature of the Himalayan terrain not only creats a series of problems in the distribution and physical development of the urban settlements but at the same time it complicates the situation in many ways by cha nging the nature of problems in long run.Many of the problem rela ted to urbanisation in Sikkim may be traced to the uneven distri bution, unbalanced growth and disparity in the size of these small towns. The structure, irrespective of size,of these small towns is strongly influenced by the terrain over which the towns have deve loped. The unplanned growth of these fast growing towns has resul ted a series of land degradational processes by destroying the pr- 250 otectlve forest cover which cannot be stopped by just expensive engneering measures.On the other hand,the lack of favourable space increases the intensity of land use which further puts pressure on the limited land, inviting a series of environmental problems. In fact,the spread of urban establishments changes the entire geomor- phological character and it is very difficult to formulate any traditional land use plan for these small towns. The urban problems are closely related to large concentration in a small places where the rate of population gro wth is higher than the growth of housing, civic amenities and such other facilities. The problem is very serious in the capital town of Gangtok,the size of which is too big considering the settlement -size of this Himalayan state. The rapid growth during the recent past has put enormous pressure on residence, civic amenities and existing public institutions. Any development of civic amenities like water,drainage and sanitation is highly influenced by the surface configuration and the unstable topography together with heavy and long rainy se ason makes the cost of maintainance works very high. At present, there is no local self government in the urban areas of Sikkim and different government departments look after them essential for the communities. The ecological background of this state needs regular maintainance and any small damage of road, drainage, water pipe or buildings may create a host of other problems. The post merger-plan had a boosting effect on the process of urban development along with the overall development of the state and at the sametime development of different social and public institutions and public utility services were encouraged. 251 During the post-merger plan period several schemes have been taken into consideration for the improvement of the quality of life of the urban population. In many cases the schemes are taken in iso lation and coordination between different government authorities is very jjoor which limits the progress of such schemes. In this connection different government institutions like Town Planning Cell,Housing Department etc have started functioning. In spite of several development no master plan has so far been prepared for these towns including Gangtok. Even there is no specific adminis trative boundery for these small towns except Gangtok. In this Himalayan state,urbanisation is still,mainly con centrated in Gangtok and other seven towns are very small in size, even remaining below the minimum level prescribed by the Census. These small towns are nothing but rural market centres though some of them function as headquarters of the districts which makes them diffirent from many of the bazars (rural market place). The.comm ercial and administrative activities are largely responsible for the growth and development of towns in Sikkim and both of them co- ntinute the process of urbanisation in this state. Restructuring of the administrative setup, since merger of the state in 1975, have encouraged the process of development in the district towns where concentration of several administratit^e institutions together with the emergence of a host of social and cultural institutions not only has increased the size but also has contributed to the inc rease in the nodality of these centres. In contrast, the commerce based valley towns have increased their nodalIty with the support of post-merger development in transportation system. It is true that urban character has not yet appeared in the towns of Sikkim. 252 except in Gangtok.By virtue of its administrative function Gangtok not only accommodates the bulk of living amenities but also the largest number urban population. In fact,the socio-economic level of this tiny Himalayan state could not support too many towns. The seven small towns are able to exert very limited influence on their rural surroundings but in no case they compete with Gangtok, But their role in the spatial interraction pattern is very strong and commercially most of them are not at all dependent on Gangtok due to the unidirectional flow system of this bordering state. Besides these towns, the bazars (rural market place) play a/^domi- nant role in the interraction pattern. BDBD-DCxDKADPOH^? Administrative Report of the Sikkim State, 1908-09 to 1922-23. Calcutta, Superintendent,Govt.Printing, India. Administrative Report of the Sikkim State,1931--32 to 1933--3A, w 2v. in one,Kal impomg,Mani Press, 1935. Ahmed,E. Social and Geographical Aspects of Human Settlements. New Delhi, Classical Publications, 1979. Ahmed, E. Service Area of the Himalayan Towns. G A1exander,JU. The Basic - Non basic Concept of Urban Economic Functions. Eej3n.om.ic G<^ogra.phv- v. 30, 1954 July, p 246-61. Allan.NJR. Periodic and Daily Markets in Highland - Lowland interaction System: Hindukush-Western Himalaya In ( Singh, TV. and Kaur,J.,eci. Integrated Moun tain Development. New Delhi, Himalayan Books, 1985. p 239-56. ) Allwin,E. Pasangram and Talung Val 1 ey, S ikk im. WtmaLavan JotjLrnal. V. 5, 1933. p 58-68. Anderson,N.,ed. Urbanism and Urbanization.Leiden,E.J.Bri11,1964. Aurousseau,M. The Distribution of Population :A Constructive Problem. G&ographical R&vi&w. v . 11, 1.921. p 574- Bandyopadhyay,G. Life and Culture of Lepchas of North Sikkim. G&ographical R^e•^Jie^t> of India. v . 38 ( 2 ) , 1976 June, p 203-14. Basnet,LB. Sikkim :A Short Political History.New De1hi,S.Chand, 1974. Belfig1io,VJ. Indian Cultural Similarities with Bhutan, Sikkim and Hepal . Indo-Asian Cultxir^. \j .ZOi A) , 1B7 1 Oct. p 48-58. 254 Bibliography Bell.W. Economic, family and ethnic status : an emprical test. American Sociologicctl R^-uiew. v. 20, 1955. p 45- 52. Befry,BJL. and Garrison,WL. The Functional Bases of the Cent ral Place Hierarchy. Economic G^ogrcLph.^. v . 34, 1958. p 145-54. Berry,BJL. Geography of Market centres and Retail Distribution New Jercey,Printice-Hal 1, 1967. Berry,BJL.and Horton,FE.,eds. Geographical Prespectives on Ur ban Systems. New Jersey,Printice-Hal1,1970. Berry,BJL. and Kasarda,JD. Contemporary Urban Sociology. New- York,Free Press,1962. Beshers,JM. Urban Social Structure.New York, Free Press, 1962. Bhasin,V. Eco1ogy,Cu1ture and Change : Tribals ot bikkim Hima layas. New De1 hi, 1nter-India Pub Iication,1989. Bhattacharyya,A.Human Ecology and Socialisation in the Darjee- 1 ing and Sikkim Himalaya. North B&ngal Lhti-o&i— stty RiS-uii^w. V . 2( 1-2) , 1961 Jun-Dec. p 39-46. Bhattacharyya,B. Locational Analysis of Siliguri and Kalimpong Towns in West Bengal, India. Pctpsr pe-rs&nt in {21st. International Geographical Congress,Gal- cutta,India.1968.). Bhattacharyya,B. Factors determining Central Function and urban hierrarchy in North Bengal. G&ographical R&x)iew o/ IndLia.. v . 34 ( 4 ) , 1972. p 327-33. Bhattacharyya,B. Geography of Market Places : A Case Study of North Bengal. Journal of North East India. Geo graphical Society. V. 5 ( 1&(2) , 1973, p Bhattacharyya,B. Urban Development in India : Since Pre-Histo- ric Times. Delhi,Shree Pub Iication, 1979. Bhattacharyya, B. An Eco - system Approach to Urban Development with Special Reference to the Darjeeling Hima layas, N<^r^th. B^ri.^ 1980 June, p 59-65. Bhattacharyya,B. Urbnanization in the Himalaya - Case of North Benga I . Zn.( Singh, TV , and Kaur , J . , ecSs. Studies in Eco-DeveIopment : Himalayas Mountain and Man. Lucknow,Print House, 1983, p 413-25.) Bhutan. Planning Commission. Fifth Plan 1981-87,Main Document. Thimphu,Bhutan. Bijlani.HU. Gangtok- A Study in Development Planning. /nCUrban Problems. New Delhi,Indian Institute of Public Administration,1977. p 87-110.) Blanford.UT. Account of a visit to the Eastern and Northern Frontiers of Independent Sikkim, with notes on the Zoology of the Alpine and Sub-Alpine Regi on. Joxirna.1 of th& Asitic Soci&ty of Bengal. v.40(4) 1871. p 367-420. Boot,DP. Population Structure in Sikkim and Some Observation on Future P 1 ann i ng. Paper pr&s&ntiBd. in (Seminar on Applied Geography in the Prespective of Planning the Environment,Urbanscape and Regio nal Population. Deptt.of Geography and Applied Geography,University of North BengaI.Nov. 16-18 1984. Boot,DP. The Origin and Functional Role of Small Towns in Sik kim. IncLian G&ographicctl Studies ; R&s&arch Bull&tin.Ho.26, 1936 March, p 31-43. Boot,DP. Agricultural Landuse and Land Holding Pattern in Sikkim:Some Observar ions. Journal of Himctlayan Studies and Regional Deuelopment. v . iit< 12, iBQ7- 88. p 57-63. Boot, DP. A Note on Urbanization in Sikkim. Indian Joijxnal of Regional Science, v . 20 (/I ) , 1988. p 95-100. Bose,S. The Bhot of Northern Sikkim./fan in India, v.46(2), 1966 April-June, p 164-71. 256 Bibliography Bose.SC. Geography of Himalaya.New De1 hi,National Book Trust, 1972. Bourne, LS. , <&«£. Internal Structure of the Ci ty :Read ings on Space and Environment. New York. Oxford University , Press,1971. Bourne,LS. Sinclair,R. and Dz1ewonski,K.,ecte. Urbanization and Settlement Systems:International Perspectives. Oxford,Oxford University Press,1984. Breese.G. Urbanization in Newly Developing Countries. New- Del hi, Printice -Hal 1,1978. Brown,P. Tours in Sikkim and Darjeeling District, Calcutta, U. Newman, 1944. Buchanan,WJ. Recent trip into Chumbi W 3.1 I my, Tibet. G&ographical Journal. V.S3.IQ19. p 403-10. Camman.S. Trade Through the Himalayas :The Early British Atte mpts to Open Tibet. New Jersey, Princeton Uni versity Press,1951. Campbell,A. Itinerary from Phari in Tibet to Lasha;with appen ded Routes from Darjeeling toPhari. Journal of th& Asiatic Society of Bengal.v. 17(1), 1648. p 257- Campbell,A. Routes from Darjeeling to Tibet. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.v.17(2),1848. p 488- Campb©ll,A. Journal of a trip to Sikkim in December,1848. Jou rnal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, v.18(1) 1849. p 482-541. Campbell,A. Diary of a Journey through Sikkim in the fronti ers of 7ihet. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. V.21,1&52. p 407-28. Campbell,A. Notes on Eastern Tibet, Journal of the Asiatic So ciety of Bengal. V.24, 1655. p 215- Carter.H. The Study of Urban Geography. London, Edward Arnold, 1972. 257 Bibliography Catanese.AJ. Scientific Methods of Urban Analysis. Urbana,Uni- versuty of Illinois Press,1972. Chand.R. and Thakur.MC. Planning Regions for Hill Area Develo- pment:A Fresh Approach. 7n(Joshi,SC.,ed. Rural Development in the Himalaya: Problems and Pro- spects. Nainital,Gyanodaya,1984. p 331-352.) Chandra,M. Trade and Trade Rdutes iii Ancient India. New Delhi, Abhinav Publications,1977- Chandra Shekhar.CS. Landuse and Zoning. Indian Journal of Pla nning and Ar-chitsctnr&. v. 14(3), 1968 July-Sept p 652- Chattopadhyaya,K. and Bandopadhyaya,S. Some considerations on the Human Factor in Urban GeogT3.phy.Geographi cal RsMiev} of India, v. 25, 1963 June, p - Chatterjee,SP. Physiography. In (The Gazetter of India. Vol.1: Country and People.Publication Divis ion,Minis try of Information and Broadcasting,1965.) Chaube,SK.,ed. The Himalayas : Profiles of Modernisation and Adaptation.New Del hi,Ster1ing Publishers,1985. Chib,SS. This Beautiful India : Sikkim. New Del hi,Lights Life, 1977. Chie,N. A Plural Society in Sikkim : A Study of the Interrela tions of Lepcha,Bhutia and Nepali. In (Furer- Haimendorf ,CV. , e Chopra,PF. Sikkim. New Del hi,S.Chand,1979. Cintury,BK. Planning for the State Capital of Sikkim. Kharag- pur, Indian Institute of Technology,1978.(The sis for the degree of Master of City Pinning). Clarke,JI. Population Geography and The Developing Countries. 258 Bibliography Oxford,Pergaraon Press,1981. Coelho.VH. Sikkim and Bhutan. Bombay, Vlkas Publications,1971. Cullen.l. Applied Urban Analysis:A Critique and Synthesis.Lon don, Methuen,1984. Daniel,P. and Hopkinson.M, The Geography of Settlement. Edin burgh, Oliver & Boyd, 1983. Dansereau,P. An Ecological Grading of Human Settlement. G&o- /orxrni. V. 6(3), 1978. p 161-210. Das,N. The Nepalese of North East India and the Po I it ics. Joiu^- nal of thje lnsttt\xt& for- D&f&nc& Stxidi&s arud Analysts, v. 15(3),1983 Jan.-March, p 329-96. Das,SC. Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet. New Del hi,Manjusri Publishing House,1970. Dasgupta.M. Structure of Sikkim* s Economy, Indian. Joxirnal of R&gional Science, v.12(2),1980. p 135-42. De,PJ. Study of Market in Darjeellng District, West Bengal. Bulletin of Anthropological Sxir-v&y of India. v,24(l«<2), 1978. p - Desai.AR, Urbanization and Soicial Stratification. Sociologi cal Bull&tin. V.9(2),Sept.1960. Desai.lP. Small fowns:facts and problems. Economic WeeMly.v.16 (6),1964 April 18, p - Dickinson,RE. The Distribution and Functions of Smaller Urban Settlements of East Anglia. Geograph&rs. v. 7, 1932. p 20- Dickinson.RE. City and Region.London,Rout 1 edge and Kegan Paul. 1964. Dixit,KR. The Concept of Functional Zones. National Geographi cal Journal of India, v.7.1961 Sept.p 191-205. Donaldson,F. Lepcha Land or Six Weeks in the Sikkim Himalayas. London,Sampson,1900. Doig.D. Sikkim. National Geographical Magazine, v. 123(3),1963 259 B ibllography March, p 389-98. Douglas,!. The Urban Environment. London, Edward Arnold, 1983, Dozey.EC. A Concise History of the Darjeellng District Since 1835 with Complete Itinerary of Tour in Sikkim m and the District. Calcutta, Art Press, 1922. Dutta Mazumder.N. The Sikkim Diary, Oct.1948. Calcutta, West- Bengal Govt. Press,1950. Easton,J. An Unfrequented Highway :-through Sikkim and Tibet to Chumoloori. London,The Scholorlts Press,1928. Eadger.JW. A Report on a Visit to Sikkim and the Tibetan Fron tier. New Delhi, Manjusri Publishing. 1969. Edit,RC..Singh,KN, and Singh,PBP.,ecte. Man, Culture and Settle- ment. New Delhi,Kalyanl PublIshers,1977. Freshfleld,DN, Round the Kanchenjunga, Kathmandu, Ratna Pustak Bhander,1979. Furer-Hamaindrof,CV.,©d. Asian Highland Societies : Anthropolo gical Prespective. New Delhi,Sterling,1981. Gawler,JC. SikkimrWith Hints on Mountain and Jungle Warear.Lon don,Edeard Stenford,1873. Ghosh,A. Models of Periodic Marketing and the Spatiotenporal Organization of Market Places. Pro/esstsnct I O&o- grapher^s. v . 33 ( 4) , 1981 Nov . p 475-83. Gibbs, JP. , Gore.MS. Urbanization and Family Change.Bombay,Popular Prakash- ana,1968. Gorer,G. Himalayan VillagerAn Account of the Lepchas of Sikkim. Mel borne,Thomas Nelson,1967. Gowda, KSR. Landuse Pattern in Urban Areas,/nCSympos lurn on Urban Land use,21st.Internationat Geographical Cong ress. Cal cutta, Nat ional Committee for Geography 1972. p 47-51. ) 260 Bibliography Grover.BSK. Sikkim and India:Storm and Conso1idatIon.New Delhi, Jain Brothers,1974. Gugler.J.and F1anagan,WG.Urbanization and Social Change in West Africa. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1978, « Gupta,RK. Aspects of Environment and Resource: Ecology of Garh- wal. New Delhi, Today and Tommorow,1983.v.1. Hall,RE. Cities of Japan ; Notes on Distribution and Inherited Form. Annals of Association of Anusx-ican G&ogx-a- ph&Ts. V.24,1934. p 183- Handworker,WP. Daily Markets and Urban Economic Development. Hximan Or ^ani sat ton. v . 38 < 4 ), 1979 Winter, p 366- 76. Harris,CD. Functional Classification of Cities in the United States. G&ographical Rsvisw. v,33,1BA3.p 86-99. Hart,JF. Functions and Occupational Structure of Cities of the American South, Annals of Association of Anu&- x-ican G&ograph&rs. 45, 1975. p 269-86. Hauser,PM.,ed. Urbanization in Asia and the Far East. Calcutta, Unesco Research Centre,1957. Hauser,PM. and Schnove,LF. The Study of Urbanization. New York, John Wi1ey,1965. Hawley,A. Human Ecology : A Theory of Community Structure. New- YorkiRonald Press,1950. Hedin,S. The Silk Road. London,Gorge Rout 1 edge,1938. Herbert,DT. Urban Geography ;A Social Prespective.Newton Abbot, David & Charles,1972. Herbert,DT,and Johns ton,RJ,,ed. Social Areas in Cities :Spatial Processes and Form. Chichester,John Wiley, 1976.V. 1. Herbert,DT,and Jons ton, RJ.,ede. Social Areas in Cities :Spatial Prespectives on Problems and Policies.Chiches ter,John Wiley,1976. v.2. 261 Bibliography Hi1berscimer,L. The Nature of the City. Chicago,Paul Theobold, 1955. Hodder,BW. Traditional Markets in Developing Countr ies. In.{Sel- ected papers of 21st International Geographic al Congress,India,1968.V.2,Economic Geography. Calcutta, National Committee for Geography, 1970, ) I Hooker,JD. Himalayan Journals. New Delhi, Today and Tomorrow, 1980. v.1-2. Hudson,FS. Geography of Settlements.London,Macdonald and Evans 1970. Hunter,WW. A Statistical Account of Bengal.Delhi, D.K.Publish ing House,1974. v.10. India. Census 1931.Bengal and Sikkim. v. 5. India. Census 1951.West Bengal,Sikkim and Chandannagar,v.6. India. Census 1961. West Bengal and Sikkim.Part 1. India. Census 1961. West Bengal and Sikkim.Part 2B(1 I),General Economic Tables. India. Census 1961. West Bengal and Sikkim. Part 2C(I). Social and Cultural Tables. India. Census 1961, West Bengal and Sikkim.Part 2CC(11).Migra tion Tables. India. Census 1961. West Bengal and Sikkim. Part 4(1). Report and Main Tables on Housing and Establishment India. Census 1971. Sikkim. District Census Handbook. India. Census 1971. Sikkiro. Part 2(A to F). General Population Tables,General Economic Tables,Social and Cul tural Tables, Migration Tables and Fertility Tables. India. Census 1981. Part 2B<1).Priraary Census Abstract and Ge neral Population Tables. India. Census 1981. Sikkim. Part 2 A&B. Genreal Population Ta- 262 Bibltography bles and Primary Census Abstract. India. Census 1981. Sikkim. Part 3 A ?^ B and Part 4A. General Economic and Social and Cultural Tables. India, Census 1981. Sikkim. Part 5 A £. B. Migration Tables. Inflia. Census 1981. Sikkim. Part 7.Tables on Housees and C>iS3- bled Population with Analytical Notes. India. Census 1981. Sikkim. Part 13A & B.District Census Hand book : Village and Town Directory. India. Census 1981. Sikkim. Paper 1 of 1983:A Special Paper on Literacy. India. Census 1981. Sikkim. Paper 3 of 1985: Household Popula tion by Religion of Head of Household. India. Census 1981. Sikkim. Paper 1 of 1987. Households and Household Population by Language Mainly Spoken in the Household. India. Census 1981. West Bengal. Part 2A. G.eneral Population Tab 1es India. Census 1961. West Bengal.Part 13B.District Census Hand- Book : Village and Town-wise Primary Census Abstract.Darjeeling District. India. Forei!§-;\ Depai-ti-n&rit . Report of the State of Sikkim and Bhutan for 1889-90.Sec ret E No . 286 - 292:August 1890. India. Forestgri DfE^partme-nt. Report of the State of Sikkim and Bhutan for 1886.Secret E.No. 86-87. India. Hiriistry of ConurtGr-c India. MiniBlry oj H&alth. Committee on the Development of Sm all Towns in Hill and Border Areas.Delhi,Govt. of India Pub 1 ication, 1 965. India. F'lannin.^ Corfirfiissior!.. Repor t on High Level Team For Land- Use Plan of Sikkim,New Delhi,1981. 26 3 Bibliografrny India. S i kk i m : Looks Ahed . The Publication C* i v i s 1 on , M i n i s t r y of Information and Broadcasting,Delhi. 19 56. Janaki.NA. Functional Classification of Urban Settlements in Ker a I a . Jourriai. of th Jones,E. and Eyles,J. Introduction to Social Geographv.London, Oxford University Press,1977. Joseph,VV. Urbanization and Settlement P a 11 e r n . K./'iad i Cra^-njod'sjo^ 1972 April, p ^10-14. Joshi,SC.,ed. Rural Development in the Himalayas: Problems and Prospects. N a i n i t a 1 . G y a n o d a >' a P r a k a s Y: an. 1 9 8 4 . J OS h i , SC . , J osh i , C»R. and C>3 n i , DD . ,'i-cts . .Kumuan Himalaya : A Geo graphical P r es pec t i V e on Res ou r s e Deve i o pme n t. N a i n i t a 1 , G y a. n o d a y a P r a k a, s h a n a , 19 S •:••. K a r . W R. Urban Hierarchy a. n d C e ti t r a 1 F u n c t i o n s A r o u tT d C a I c u 11 a in Lower West B e n g a 1 , 1 n d i a and T ri e i r S i a n i f i c - ance.Lana Studies in Geogra.ph'y , Sr . B. nv.;ria:x Ce-o- gr-o-phy. V.24, 1960. p 254-74. Kar.NR. and Mukher } ee,3F. Urban Landuse, Functional Activities and Social Morphology of Darjeeling. ] n. (Proc eedings of Symposium on Urban Landuse. 21 s t international Geographical Congress. 1 n i j i a, 1968 C a I c u 11 a.N a t i o n a 1 Committee for Geography 1972 p 37-46.J Karan,PP. and Jenkins,WM. The Himalayan Kingdom: Bhutan,Sikkim and Nepal. Princeton,D Van Mostrand, 1963. Karan,PP. Geographic Regions of Himalaya.. S'u I 11-£ i ri of Tib^to- tology. V. 3(2),196 6. p 5-27. Karan.PP. A Cultural Geography of the Himalayas. In fEidt, RC. and £' i n g h . K N . , &cis . M a n , C u 1 t u r e and Settlement. 264 Bibliography New Delhi, Kalyani Publishers, 1977. p 24-30.) • Karma,S. Indian Towns in Transition:A Study in Social Ecology. New Delhi,Cosmo Pub 1ications,1982. Kayastha.SL. Kangra sHimalayan Town.National G^ogTaphtcal Jou rnal of India, v. 4(2),1958. p 89-94. Kayastha.SL. Occupational Structure in Himalayan Beas Basin. National GefOgraphical Journal of India. v.6(l) 1960 March, p 14-18. Khurana,IR.Development of Small Towns in Hill and Border Areas Khadi Gram£>d)^og. v. 17, 1971 July, p 644-51. Korn,A. History Builds the Town. London,Lund Humphries,1953, Krishan.G.and Chandra,MM. The System of Service Centres in the Outer Himalaya: A Case Study of District Sirm- aur, Himachal Pradesh, India, In (Eidt,RC. and Singh,KN.,eds. Man,Culture and Settlement. New Delhi,Kalyani Publishers,1977. p 277-86. Krox,P. Urban Social Geography : An Introduction. London,Long man, 1982. Lai 1,A.Some Aspects of Functional Classification of Cities and a proposed Scheme of Classifying Indian Cities National Geographical Journal of India.v.5{1), 19&9 May. p 12- Lall,JS. Sikkim. In (Lall.JS. ,ed. The Himalayas : Aspects of Change.Delhi,Oxford University Press.p 217-35) Lamb,A. Britain and Chinese in Centra) lndia:The Road to Lhasa 1867--1905. London, Routledge and Kegan Paut, 1960. Law, BC. ,«(3!. Mountains and Rivers of India. Calcutta, National Committee for Geography,1968. Leighton,FB. Landslides and Hillside Development, In (Coates, DR.,«» 265 Bibliography p 206-223, > Losch,A.The Economics of Location.tr. Wolglom.WH. and Stopler, UF. New Haven, Yale University Press,1954. Louis,JAH. The Gates of Tibet. Delhi, Vivek Publishing, 1983. Mac«iulay,C. Report of a Mission to Sikkim and the Tibetan Fro ntier 1884.Kathmandu,Ratna Pustak Bhandar,1977 i i Macdonald,D. Touring in Sikkim and Tibet.Kalimpong,Mani Press, 1930. Malthani,BP. Central Place System in a Himalayan Region : Some Observations. In (Joshi,SO.,ed. Rural Develop ment in the Himalaya : Problems and Prospeets. ^^^ N^tnital, Gyanodaya* 198A. p 267-274.) Maithani.BP, Interaction Patterns and Spatial Organization In the Hills:Some Observations, In (Singh, OP, ,e Markham, CR.,6d. Narratives of the Mission of Gorge Bogle to Tibet and of the Journey of Thamas Maijning to Lhasa. New Delhi,Manjusri,1971. Mayer,HM.and Kohn.GF. ,ec£s. Readings in Urban Geography. Chicago University of Chicago Press,1967. Mayfield,RC. The liange of Central Goods in the Indian Punjub. Annals of Association of American Geographers. V. 53(1),1963. p 39-49. Meadows, P. and Mizruchi.EM. , ©ds. Urbanism, Urbanization and ChangetComparative Perspectives.London.Addison -Wesley,1969. Monkhouse,FJ. and Ui1kinson,HR. Maps and Diagrams. London,Met- huen,1963. Morrili,RL, Mirgation and the Spread and Growth of Urban Sett lement. Lund,C. W.K.Gleerup Publishers,1965. Morris,J. Living with Lepchas. London, Uillam Heineman, 1938. 266 M u k h e r j e e,R. Urbanization and Social Transformation in India. /;•"!. ( A n d e r s o n , N . , .'?d. U r b a n i s m and Urbanization. Leiden,E.J.Bri!1.1964. p 78-110.) M u k h e r j e e, S P. Commercial Activity and Market Hierarchy in a part of Eastern H i ma, 1 a.ya , C>ar j ee 1 i ng . National G&a 1.^:1-a.pi\ica.l Jo'ij.i-rta.1 af Irid-ia.- v. 14(2-3), 1974 June-Sept, p 186-99. Mukhopa.dhyay.se. The Tista Basin : Study of Fluvial Geomorpho- logy. Calcutta, K.P.Bagchi, 1982. MulVihi1 I,DF. and Mu1v 1 hiI 1 ,RC. Geography, Marketing and Urban Growth. New York, Von Nostrand Reinhoid, 1970. Mumford.L. The City in History.London,Sceder and Uarburv, 1961. M u n s i , S K . Geography of T r a n s p o r t a t i o ri in East 1 n d i a U n d e r Bri tish Ra.i. Cal cutta, K. P. Bagchi . 1980. Muns i,SK. An Enquiry into the Nature of Frontier Settlements: Case Study of Hill Da. r j ee 1 i ng . Cen t r e for Stud ies in Social S c i e n c e s . 0 c c a s i c n a ! P a p e r . C a. 1 c u ~ t ta, 1960. Mu11a 1 ib,MA. and Alikhan.MA. The Theory of Local Government.New Del hi, Sterling, 1962. Namgya!,T and Do 1 ma , J . , (-.o;';ap. History of S i kk i m . v . 1 . 1908 .( Manu script ) . National Council for Applied Economic Research. Market Towns and Spatial Development in India. New Delhi. National Council for Applied Ecenomic Research 1965. Nelson,HJ. A Service Classification of American Cities. Econo- nttc G'so^.ra.phy. v. 7?<8. p 37-44. Parkhurst.CA. Sikkirn. London, MacmiI 1 an, 1946 . Payne,GK. Urban Housing in the Third World.London,Leonard Hill 1977. Peissel.M. Mustang :A Lost Tibetan Kingdom. London,Co 1 i ins and Harv i1 1 Press. 1968. 26 7 , BvbUogrophy Pofferderger,M.Patterns of Change in the Nepal Hima 1 aV3S,De1hi Macmi1 Ian, 1960. Pownall,LL, Functions of Newzealand Towns. Arvixals of Assacta.- ttori of AnuSTtcan Geo>5raph.ers. v . 43 . 1953 . p 332- 50. Quinn,JA. Urban Sociology. New E)e 1 h i , Eur as i a Publishing House, 1967. Ram Rahul, The Himalaya as a Frontier. New Delhi, Vikas Publi shing House,1978. Rao,BP. and Singh,RL. Visakhapatnam : A Study in Geography of Port Town.Varanasi,Nationa1 Geographical Soci ety of India,1971. Rao,MSA. Urbanization and Social Change.New Delhi,Orient Long man, 1970. Ratcliff.RU. Urban Land Economic .New York, McGraw Hill, 1949. Rawat,PS. Pattern of Rural--Urban Migration : A Case Study of Rural Society in Garhwai Himalayas. Jaar-rial of H i ma I Reed.RR. The Colonial Genesis of Hill Stations : The Genting Except ion. The- G^agrctpKical fte'oi^w. v . 6 9(4), 1979 Oct. p 463-68. Report of the External Trade of Bengal with Nepa1,Tibet.Sikkim and Bhutan.Ca1cutta,Govt.of India Publication. V. ( 1880-1922 ) . Risley.HH. The Gazetter of Sikkim. Ca1 cutta,Benga1 Secretariat Press.1894. Roberts.B. Cities of Peasants. London, Edward Arnold, 1981. Robson.BT. Urban Social Areas. London,Oxford University Press, 1975. Ronaldshay,E. The Land of Thunderbolt :Sikkim,Chumbi and Bhutan London,Cons tab 1e, 1928. Ronaldshay,E. Himalayan Bhutan,Sikkim and Tibet. E'elhi.Ess Ess 268 Bl-bLt-OMl Of Publ icat ions, -1977 . Ro3e,LE. Modernizing a Traditional Administrative System :Sik- kim 1890~-1973. In (Fishers,JE., ed. Himalayan Anthropology : The Indo-Tibetan interface. The Haque Moutan Pub ! ishers, 1978. p 205-226.1 Roy,SC. States of Our U n i on:S i kk i m.N ew De1h i.Pub i i ca t i on D i v1- si on,Minis try of Information and Broadcasting, Govt, of ! nd ia. 1980. Roy Bur man, BK. Pnpu 1 a t ion and Society in the H i ma 1 ayas . /r-J La 1 ! , JS.,ed. The Himalaya -.Aspects of Changes . De 1 h i Oxford University Press,1981. p 401-433.) Roychcwdhary,SS. "Sikkim : A Geographical Study,Vihrant . v.5iZ) , 1974 Nov. p 21-25. Roy Turner,,eci. India's Urban Future. Ca 1 i f or n i a . U n i ver s i t y of California Press,1962. Rustomii.NK. Enchanted Frontiers : Sikkim, Bhutan and India's N or th--Eas t er n Borderlands. New E^elhi. Oxford University Press,1971. Sa1 isbury,CY. Mountaintop Kingdom : Sikkim,New York,Horton. 1888. ; a n d b e r g , G . In Itinerary of the Route from Sikkim to Lasha, together with a plan of the Capital of Tibet. and a new map of the Route from Yamdok to Las- hia .Calcutta,Bapist Mission Press, 1901. Saxena,HM. Geography of Transport and Market Centres : A Case Study of Hadaoli Plateau. New Delhi, S.Chand, 1975 . Sen,J. Sikkim and Himalayan Trsde,Buil&tin of Ttb&tology. \i o.3, 1981. p 12- Sengupta,N, Politics and Government of S ikk im. Ph. D. Th'S^sis . Uni- versity of North Bengal, 1980. Sexton,JD. and Woods,CM. Development and Modernization Among Highland Maya : A Comperative Analysis of Ten G \ja 11? ra a 1 a n Towns. Hu.-vvan Organi za. 11 on. v . 38 ' 2 ) . 269 B I- b 11. o 9 I- •:± p i'i y 1977 Summer, p 156-72. SherwiiljWS. Notes upon tours in the Sikkim Himalaya moun ta i [!•.-. undertaken for the pur JDos e of ascertaining the Geological formation of Kanchinjunga and the perpetually snow covered perks in its vicinity Journa.1 of th& As i tic Soci&f^ of E^t^ngaL . v . 22 ( 1-7 ) . 1853. p - Sherw iI 1,J L. Journal of a trip undertaken to explore the Gla ciers of the Ka.nchenj 1 ngah group in the Sikkim Himalayas in Nov. 1861. Journa.I of the- Asittc Soct&fs) of iSt-v-i.^al . V . 31 ( 1-5 ) , 1862. p 457- Shrestha.CB. Changing Pattern of Spheres of Influence of Bhak- tapur. The- Hir/taila.yan Rt-'ULeo.'. Spec ia 1 Issue, v. 1, 1968. p 42-51. Shrestha.CB. and Malla.UM. Urban Centre of the Kathmandu Vall- e y . The- H t nua I ay an Re-v i&w. v . 2 - 3, 196 9-70. p 34- Shrestha,CB, Processes and Problems of Urban Development in Nepal. VoiC'£- of History, v,3, 1976. p 31-38. Siddall. Uhoiesa1e--Retai1 Trade Ratios as indices of Urban Central ity. EcorT.oni.ic G<£'0^ra.phy. v . 37 , 1961. p- 124-32. Sikkim. Ai^ricul tur& D&par Lrfi&nt. A^ricuL tural C&risxis iJ-ai i . State Report : Agricultural Census 1976-77. Sikkim. A^iicai t'ar-& D&pa.r-tmis^'nt. Agrical t'ax-al Ct-nsus U'nlt. State Report ; Agriculturl Census 1980-81. Sikkim Bazar Committee Act 1969. Sikkim Darbar Extraordanary Gazetter,No.8,1969 Feb.10. Sikkim, Depar t/aent o/ La.r\.d. K&ue-rvae^. Report of the Committee on Land Reforms,1975. Gangtok. Sikkim. Dire-c t02-a.t& of I ndus tries. District Industrial Centre: Action Plan, 1983-84 to 1967 - 88.Gangtok, 1963. i70 BLbUography Sikkim, Legislative Departfnent. The Gang t ok Municipal Corpora tion Act, 1975.Sikkim Govrnment Gazette (Extra- ordanaryi, No.45,1975 Oct.20. S i kk i m. Locai S&l f Govt, and Mousing De par invent .^ or k Study Repo rt on the Procedure for allotment of Site in the Local Self Government and Housing Depart ment, 1983. S i kk im. PLo;n,ri.i?-t^' and Development Depar-tment. Bureaij. of Economics and Statistics. Budgetary Statistics of the Govt.of Sikkim 1975/76-1982/83. S i kk i m. Planr-tin^ and Deuelopment Depai-1ment. Bureau of Economics and Stattsttcs.Sikkim at a Glance, 1983. Sikkim. PIanning and DeveIopment Department. First Seven Year Plan 1954-61,Draft Proposal from Govt, of Sik kim. Sikkim. Plan7\ing and Developme-nt Department. Second Five Year Plan 1961-66,Draft Proposal from Govt, of Sik kim. Sikkim. Planning and Development Department. Third Five Year Plan 1966-71.Draft Proposal from Govt, of Sik kim. Sikkim. Planning and Development Department. Fourth Five Year Plan 1971-76.Draft Proposal from Govt, of Sik kim. Sikkim. Planning and Developmjent Department. Fifth Five Year Plan 1976-80.Draft proposal from Govt, of Sik- Sikkim, Planning and Development Department. Sixth Five Year Plan 1980-85. Draft Porposal from Govt.of Sik kim. S i kk im, Plc^nnin.^ and Development Department. Seventh Five Year Plan 1985-90. Draft Proposal from Govt.of Sik kim. Sikkim, Publicity Depar tm.ent. Land and its Peop 1 e , Gang tok , 1964 . 27 1 Sikkim. Sikkim Na.tiQrxaliSBd Transport. Silver Jublee Suvenior ( 1944-6 9),Gangtok, 196 9. Singh,JP. Gaddis Towns of North India : A Study in Population growth and Occupational structure. Nat iorictl Ge'OfSra.phicaL Jourrictl of Inciia.. v.l5(3S<4),, 1969 Sept-Dec. p 235-41. Singh,JP. Urban Land use Planning in Hill Areas. Delhi, Inter- India Publications,1980. Singh,KN. Changes in the Functional Sturctur of Some Small Towns in Eastern Uttar P radesh. 7 ndtari. 6&c>£ra.p~ hei-s. V. 6(1), 1961. p 21-40. Singh,OP.,ed. The Himalaya : Nature,Man and Culture.New Delhi, Rajesh Pub 1 ication, 1983. Singh,RL. Urban Hierarchy in the Umland of Ba na, r as. Th«? Journal of Sciisnttfx.r- R&S'&ar-ch, Banaras Hindu Univer sity. V. 6(2). 1955-56. p 190- S i ngh, RL. , ed. Urban Geography in Developing Countries. ^/ara- nasi, The National Geographical Society of India, 1973. Singh,RL. Process of Urbanization and Urban Development in Monsoon Asia : Some aspects of theory and application. Varanasi, The National Geographi cal Society of India, 1977. S i ngh, RL. and Singh,RBP. , &d.s. Place of Sma.ll Towns in India. Varanasi, National Geographical Society of India, 1979. Singh,TV. and Kaur,J.,eds. Studies in Eco-Deve1opment :Himala yas Mountain and Man.Lucknow,Print House,India 1983. Sinha.AC. Politics in Sikkim : A Sociological Study.Faridabad, Thomson Press,1975. Sinha.AC. Studies in the Himalayan Communities : Text and Con text. New Delhi,Books Today,1979. Sinha.AC. Resource Distribution and Multiple Ethnic Identity 272 in Sikkim. /v-t (Ftirer-Heimendorf.CV. Asian High land Societies in Anthropological Prespective. New Delhi,Ster1 ing, 1981. p 183-202.) I Sinha,MMP. and Sinha,S. Sikkim : The Himalayan State of India. Goo^-rapHtcal Bull'S^tirt of /ndia. No. 5, 1 979. p 2^- 30. Sinha.VNP. Chota Nagpur Plateau : A Study in Settlement Geog raphy. New De1hi,K.B.Pub 1 ications, 1975. SmaileSjAE. The Urban Hierarchy in England and Wa, 1 es. 6eofrraphv V. 29,1944. p 41-51. Sm3iles,AE. The Geography of Towns. London, Hutchison Univer sity Library,1953, Stafford,HA. The Functional Bases of Smai 1 Towns. Econoft-ii^: Oeo~ ^rraphy. v.39, 1963. p 165-75. S u b b a , J B . Agriculture in the Hills of Sikkim. G a n g t o 1:, Sikkim Science Society.1984. S u n d r a m , K V . and C h a n d e r- a s e k h a r , C S . Urban Morphology and Inter nal Structure of Indian Towns - Some case stu dies. Ncitioria.1 G'^Oig'i-a.pf'itca.l J o ••AX Tin. I of Iridia. V.14, 1968 March, p 61-64. Suri.KB. and Che 1 iappan,P. India's' Tiny Towns: Economic Struc ture, Location and G r ow th . .4r-t.'-ici Vtjricirici. v. 15( 1) 197 3 March, p 91-100. Tayior.G. Urban Geography : A Study of Site, Evo1ution,Pattern and Classification in Villages, Towns and Ci ties. London,Methuen,1964. Temple,R. Journal Kept in Hydrabad, Cashmir, Sikkim and Nepal. London,W.H.Alien,1887, 2v. Theodorson,GA,,ed. Studies in Human Ecology. New york, Harper and Row,1961. Tirtha.R. and Lai,A. Service Centres in the Western Himalayas. Journal of Tropical Geography. v.25, 1961,p 58- 60. 273 1 • J y 11 e , \ (J c k o , P J . T r-!i V h t^ i;i, ^^ . -n nci '(' i m b i e b / , 'j W . . 'r--rr . ^•'. '• •'. . ,;• • 11 r b a n ; i ni. bo n d o ri . ^ j e i :H i -i [' o 'j !• - * .. , ' ' 'v' a n c 1 e e f . E Trade Centres and Trade Routes. New i' i; M p p I t o n C e n t u r y , 1 9 3 7 . W 3dde ! ; , i.A b;,-9ce arid Kiver names in [larieei ir,-.: S i k k i ni. Jcy-irri-xl of Tri^ Asi tic ^--..L:. .y: 3 d i:i e i 1 , L A , L a m a i s m i d S i \: k i m . New b e ! Yi i , f1 a n j u s r i W 3 d d e 1 ! . L A . A m 'j n g T ti e ri i m a i a y . New L'el hi , Mi t ^ a ; 1 9 ~ 3 . w a g n e r Kl r, 1 y.es M!.: K f= a ri 1 n s s 1 n t -J r a ;' r a cirr '. r, c^ t • Ti 1 •: L^ni t !-! Ren. • e i 'I'd n f e r e n Frae^-i PUD m and B ti .j t a,n T w e n t y Tears cm t '-: - - E a P r c r-1 i e r , i ^ • n ci a ri . E n w ^ r ••> 'i . ' • P a , K'- a n ci H a. !• £*, i n 0 u t M 1 2 r r-^ f f r, Ti • - . M ••. RoiiK R«ahul. Th« Mimolaya a* a rronti*r. M«nir Belln. <3han4. ft0?81. p SO 57 India. C«n«ua iPOl. Sikkim. Part 13 A & B: District Csnsua Handbook, Singh,OP. Strategic Sikkim. D«lhi,R. B. Publicaiing. Ipes. p Btf-ae . Major J. L. Sh«rviU (ia<$t> and many othor travelled along this rout*. S9 the end of the second plan period (1961-66) a number of district 11 owed by Jorethang--Nayaba2ar, Singthara, Rangpo and ao on. The higher concentration of wholesale shops in Gangtok is not due to its regional dominance of wholesaling activity but a good number of wholesale shops have come into existence for meeting the needs 33-3'4 . KaLirnc-M--j .Mar,i PiH^ss , 1&34.