Strategies for development of sustainable tourism in Mizoram

1. Sustainable Rural Tourism:
Development of tourist circuits-Mizoram.
Ar. Salhotra Dhiraj N.

2. North East India
 Introduction to North east India.
 Features of Mizoram.
 Scope for rural tourism in Mizoram.
 Current five year plan and its objectives for
rural tourism.
 Strategy of tourist circuit development.
 Tourist circuits.

3. North East India
 It touches its border with
China, Bhutan, Myanmar
and Bangladesh and is
connected to the rest of
India by a 20 km wide
‘chicken neck’ corridor of
land.
 This beautiful area of
rolling forested hills and
lush green lowlands has
its head amongst the
snow capped peaks of
eastern Himalayas, with
its feet touching the
waters of the Bay of
Bengal.

4. North East India: Eight States
 Assam occupies the lush lowlands of
the Brahmaputra Valley
 Arunachal Pradesh occupies the
densely forested and sparsely populated
foothills of the Himalayas,
 Meghalaya, with its pine clad hills and
lakes, is famous as the wettest region of
the world.
 Nagaland has a rich war history that
attracts tourists.
 Manipur, known as the ‘land of jewels’,
 Sikkim and Tripura make up a
fascinating area consisting of green
valleys, lush hills with variety of flora and
fauna.
 Mizoram is beautiful area
of rolling forested hills and
lush green lowlands has its
head amongst the snow
capped peaks of eastern
Himalayas, with its feet
touching the waters of the
Bay of Bengal.

5. Mystique: North East India
"..This land is not like our land; its sky is not like our sky. It
sends rain down without the originating cause of clouds;
On its ground the green grass sprouts up without any aid
from the soil. It stands outside the circle of the Earth and
the bowels of the enveloping Sphere The seasons all begin
here at the time of their conclusion elsewhere. Here there
is heat in our winter and chill in our summer its roads are
frightful as path leading to the Nook of Death; Fatal to life
is its expense like the un-peopled City of Destruction. Its
forests are full of violence like the heart of the ignorant. Its
rivers are beyond limit and estimate like the minds of the
wise…"
Wrote Mullah Darvish of Herat in his accounts of his
expeditions to the land bordering Northeast India.

6. Mizoram:
"Land of the Highlanders".
 The Mizo Hills, dominate
the state's topography, rise
to more than 6560 ft near
the Myanmar border.
 About three-fourths of the
population earns their
livelihood from agriculture.
 Small-scale irrigation
projects are being
developed to increase the
crop yield.

7. Mizoram:
"Land of the Highlanders".
 Physical Features:
The state is covered by high
mountains that 2000 meters
high.
Blue Mountain that 2165 meters.
 Climate:
is temperate but pleasant.
 Flora and Fauna:
is a storehouse of exotic flora
and fauna.

8. Mizoram: “People".
 People:
Sociable, hospitable and fun loving with
very strong community bonds-the Mizos
are often referred to as the ‘Songbird of
the North east’.
 Ethnicity :
They are of Mongolian origin, believed to
have migrated from northwestern China.
With the passage of time, a number of
people with their own culture and tradition
and belonging to diverse ethnicity have
made the state their home .
 Arts and Crafts :
The choice of bright color in everything is a
unique facet of Mizo art and crafts.

9. Mizoram:
“Culture and Music".
 Music and Dance :
Cheraw Khuaflam, Chheih Iam,
 Musical instruments
 Shield drums
 "tingtang" (Guitar), a string instrument.
 "Phenglawng" (a flute)

10. Mizoram:
“Culture and Festivals".
 Chapchar-Kut:
A spring festival
 Mim-Kut & Pawl-Kut:
to celebrate the completion of the harvesting season
 Thalfavang-Kut
is celebrated after the completion of weeding of the land in preparation
for the forthcoming harvesting season
 Christmas
Christmas is one of the most important events of the Mizos

11. Mizoram:
“Culture and Myth".
 Rihdil
The end of every souls journey
‘…the soul before leaving the
material world climbs up the
Thasiama seno neihna step
before diving in to the Rihdil
lake for the final purification of
the soul after which it eats the
flower of its garden and bids
forever…’
Mythical belief
Thasiama seno neihna step
Rihdil lake in Myanmar

12. TOURISM POTENTIALS
 Aizawl, is a religious and cultural centre of
Mizoram.
 Champhai is a resort on the Myanmar
border.
 Tamdil a natural lake with virgin forest is 60
km from Aizawl and 10 km from tourist resort
of Saitual.
 Vantawng falls (137 km), five km from hill
station Thezawl, are the highest and most
beautiful waterfalls in Mizoram.
 The Museum and Mini Zoological Garden
at Aizawl, Bung (picnic spot), and Paikhai.)
and Champai (204 km) are some other picnic
sites of the state.

13. Setbacks
 Northeast India today, lags behind in many
areas of development, particularly in the
area of revenue generation.
 The majority of the population of this region
depends on agriculture and the forests for
their livelihood, which is only of subsistence
level with no knowledge or means for long-
term benefits.
 The rich biodiversity of the region is also
being drastically reduced due to the "Jhum
Cultivation" (slash and burn cultivation) in
the hilly areas.
 Most of the older generations possessing
traditional knowledge have not been able to
transfer it to the younger generation.

14. ECOTOURISM: A Solution
 Ecotourism appears to be a viable option for
sustainable development and conservation of rich
culture and environment of this region.
 Development of ecotourism in this fragile biotic and
cultural situation will therefore be challenging.
 It would require innovative inputs.
Its unfathomable beauty, cultural diversity and
geographical location offer great potentials for
and sustainable development for the entire
region.

15. Need of the hour
 A comprehensive tourism action plan and marketing,
which presents the Northeast as one destination, with
tightly knit cooperation between all the northeast
states.
 Planning the economic use of natural resources with
the right inputs, tourism infrastructure project
development and community participation to generate
employment for local population.
 The various components of eco-tourism, such as the
use of local materials and designs, use of eco-friendly
techniques, proper waste management systems,
recycling of garbage etc, should be made use of in
schemes and projects.

16. The objectives for rural tourism
in India, under the 10th
Five year
plan.
 To enhance the employment potential within the
tourism sector as well as to foster economic
development through developing linkages with other
sectors.
 The focus under this scheme is on the improvement of
existing product and developing new tourism products
to world standard along with integrated infrastructure
development of the tourist sites.
 Thrust is to promote village tourism as the primary
tourism product to spread tourism and its socio-
economic benefits to rural and its new geographic
regions.

17. Southern and Eastern tourist
circuit development
 To increase tourist traffic both national and
international, also with interstate tourist can be
promoted once the infrastructure and planned facilities
are made available at various proposed locations.
 The sites for proposed developments as shown by
Directorate of Tourism, Mizoram at various locations
covered in this report have been inspected along with
the official of State Tourism Department.
 The site and the requirements have been analyzed
and complete conceptual scheme proposed
accordingly.

18. Southern and Eastern tourist
circuit development
 Southern Tourist Circuit
Hrangchalkwan – Tawipui
– Lawngtlai – Tuipang –
Saiha – Vawmbuk –
Sangau - S.Vanlaiphai
 Eastern Tourist Circuit
Keitum- N.Vanlaiphai-
E.Lungdar- Khawbung-
Farkawn- Zokhawtar-
Hnahlan- Saitual- Tamdil

19. Eastern tourist circuit
Keitum- N.Vanlaiphai- E.Lungdar- Khawbung- Farkawn-
Zokhawtar- Hnahlan- Saitual- Tamdil
 N.Vanlaiphai -
It is located around 60 Kms away from Keitum, which itself is
located around120 Kms to the south of Aizwal.
 E.Lungdar -
It is located around 30 Kms away from N.Vanlaiphai,
towards its North.

20. Eastern tourist circuit
Keitum- N.Vanlaiphai- E.Lungdar- Khawbung- Farkawn-
Zokhawtar- Hnahlan- Saitual- Tamdil
 Khawbung -
It is located around 55Kms away from E.Lungdar, towards its
South East side.
 Farkawn -
It is located around 80 Kms away from N.Vanlaiphai,
towards its North East. .

21. Eastern tourist circuit
Keitum- N.Vanlaiphai- E.Lungdar- Khawbung- Farkawn-
Zokhawtar- Hnahlan- Saitual- Tamdil
 Zokhawtar -
Zokhawtar village is located near Champhai town at the
border of Mizoram and Myanmar. Zokhawtar is also being
developed as a Border trade center due to its strategic
importance.
The village is one of the most attractive place for tourist in
the eastern part of Mizoram as the surrounding area has
scenic views and the famous ‘Rih Dil’ lake near by across

22. Eastern tourist circuit
Keitum- N.Vanlaiphai- E.Lungdar- Khawbung- Farkawn-
Zokhawtar- Hnahlan- Saitual- Tamdil
 Hnahlan- -
It is located around 60 Kms away from Champhai, towards
its North East.
 Saitual- -
It is located around 80 Kms away from Champhai, on route
to Aizawl. .

23. Eastern tourist circuit
Keitum- N.Vanlaiphai- E.Lungdar- Khawbung- Farkawn-
Zokhawtar- Hnahlan- Saitual- Tamdil
 Tamdil -
It is located around 40 kms away from Aizwal town on route
between Champhai an aizwal.

24. Southern tourist circuit
Hrangchalkwan – Tawipui – Lawngtlai – Tuipang – Saiha –
Vawmbuk – Sangau - S.Vanlaiphai
 Hrangchalkwan -
It is strategically located on the National Highway-54 to the
south of Aizawl on route to Lunglei and the dividing junction
for Lawngtlai and Lunglei.
 Tawipui -
It is located between Lunglei and Lwangtalai, in the Lunglei
district, almost 60 kms away from Hrangchalkwan.

25. Southern tourist circuit
Hrangchalkwan – Tawipui – Lawngtlai – Tuipang – Saiha –
Vawmbuk – Sangau - S.Vanlaiphai
 Lawngtlai -
Is the head quarter of Lawngtalai district.
 – Tuipang -
Tuipang is located in the Palak district, which is the southern
tip of Mizoram,close to the bordering peaks of Myanmar.It is
around 420 Kilometers to the south of Aizawl.

26. Southern tourist circuit
Hrangchalkwan – Tawipui – Lawngtlai – Tuipang – Saiha –
Vawmbuk – Sangau - S.Vanlaiphai

Saiha -
It is termed as the anglers paradise as Saiha is located on the
Chhimtuipui River, Mizoram's biggest river.
It is 378 Kms. Away from Aizawl, to the South.
Phawngpui is only 30 Kms. Away from Saiha. Phawngpui is a National
park melded to the Blue Mountain .

27. Southern tourist circuit
Hrangchalkwan – Tawipui – Lawngtlai – Tuipang – Saiha –
Vawmbuk – Sangau - S.Vanlaiphai
 Vawmbuk -
It is the farthest point in the southern tourist
circuit.
It is from here the trekking route as a gateway to
the Blue Mountain.
It witnesses the peaks of Myanmar, from a
strategic location, which overlooks the deep
valleys and the peaks alike.

28. Southern tourist circuit
Hrangchalkwan – Tawipui – Lawngtlai – Tuipang – Saiha –
Vawmbuk – Sangau - S.Vanlaiphai
 Sangau -
It is located on the route, which connects
Tuipang to Lunglei via Zobawk.
The site is a small town at a strategic location as
a mid point to Saiha and Zobawk.
It offers a base line to the journey towards the
Mt.Phawngpui.

29. Southern tourist circuit
Hrangchalkwan – Tawipui – Lawngtlai – Tuipang – Saiha –
Vawmbuk – Sangau - S.Vanlaiphai
 S.Vanlaiphai -
It is in proximity to the north of the
Mt.Phwanpui, which makes it a strategic
location.
It is an alternative route to the Mt.Phwangpui
to Vawmbuk in the south.

30. Achievements
of tourist circuit development
1. To foster economic prosperity and
conservation of the environment.
2. Improve as many lives as possible.
3. Ideally, it includes cooperation between
Government, Non Governmental
Organizations and the affected
communities.