SITAMARHI.

Page | 1

WHAT’S INSIDE?

1. MY FEELINGS. 2

2. INTRODUCTION. 3

3. LOCATION. 4

4. TOPOGRAPHY. 4

5. LAND USE PATTERN. 5

6. AGRICULTURE. 5

7. DEMOGRAPHY. 6

8. MARKET. 7

9. SOCIAL STRUCTURE. 7

10. EDUCATION AND LITERACY. 8

11. SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRUCTURE. 9-11

12. NATURAL DISASTER. 11-13

13. ELUCIDATION. 14

14. CRIME, FACTS AND FIGURES 14-15

15. TOURIST PLACES. 16-18

16. TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 19-20

17. OBJECTIVES. 21

18. HOW TO DEVELOP TOURISM IN SITAMARHI? 22

19. WHERE DO SITAMARHI LACK? 23

20. CHARTS. 24-25

21. REFERENCES. 26

22. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. 27

SITAMARHI.

Page | 2

MY FEELINGS.

It has been a long time, when I started to think about my hometown Sitamarhi. I had

inferior feeling for my district, whenever I heard about Ayodhya. Birth place of lord

Ram is so popular worldwide, but the birth place of Maa Sita is hardly known to the

people of Bihar. This was the first time, I got an eternal voice for the development of

Sitamarhi. In a male dominated society, survival of even female deity is not an easy

affair. I think so.

Sitamarhi has sufficient tourism resource, but the political

instability and natural calamities had made the path difficult

to explore it. Whether we talk about the disastrous

earthquake of 1934, which left nothing inside the city except

ruins or the annual flood from Lakshmana and Baghmati

River, which ruins the agro based economy of the district.

Sitamarhi was politically unstable; tension prevailed on

various issues of casteism, communalism, nepotism etc. But

now the situation has changed, people are living in harmony

with each other. Mass participation of people in religious

festivals from all the religions and the peace and love in the

city is worth watching.

Political stability, prevention from natural calamities and communal harmony has

changed the prevailing face of the city and nearby. I will be selfish in developing

Sitamarhi and completely harnessing the tourism resource. I have some ideas. I will be

sharing through this report.

When the district was crafted

out , it was considered that the

tourism resource can run the

economy of the district. The

perception later changed and

the district became a cataract

in the eyes of politicians , they

exploited the local people but

none of them opted for the

exploitation of tourism

resource.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 3

INTRODUCTION

Sitamarhi, a word manipulated from “Sitamahi”, Mahi means a hermit, Sitamarhi

means a hermit of Sita, and Sita word is derived from “sit”, the lowest part of a plough

madeup of iron, which striked the earthen pot and Sita came out of it. The

mythological history of this

place dates back to treta

yug, 7,00,000 years back.

This place is not only the

birth place of Maa Sita, but

it is also the spiritual centre

for many sages and saints.

Pundrik rishi had his hermit

in pundrik aranya, punaura

of nowadays. Maharshi

bodhayan, Bhringi rishi and

many other names are

associated to the district.

This is the birth place of

Maa Sita, but it was famous for its annual flood situation.it was declared as most

undeveloped district in country by the India Today in the year 2003.earlier during

floods, this district had made its identity as

an island of north Bihar, completely drowned

in water and disconnected from all sides. The

situation is now under control by the present

government of Bihar, by the construction of

various roads, bridges and embankments.

Now, this district is easily accessible by rail

and road, without any obstruction.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 4

LOCATION

Sitamarhi district, a part of north Bihar, is

situated on the Indo-Nepal Border at

85.500latitude and 26.330 longitudes. It is

surrounded by Madhubani and Darbhanga

districts of Bihar and part of Nepal in the

east, Muzaffarpur in the south, East

Champaran in the west and Nepal in the

north. The district had a mythological

past; days back to the period of Raja

Janak, from where Sita emerged. Earlier it

was a sub-division of Muzaffarpur district

and got the status of a separate district on

11th

December, 1972 with 3 sub-divisions,

viz., Sitamarhi Sadar, Pupri and Sheohar.

On 6th October, 1994, the Sheohar sub-

division was also declared as a new

district. The present Sitamarhi district has 3 sub-divisions again and 17 blocks. There

are 1037 villages (including 53 uninhabited villages) in the district. The total number

of Panchayats is 298.

TOPOGRAPHY

Topographically, the district forms a part of the Bihar plains and it is almost

completely leveled and at no point does its elevation exceed 80 meters above the sea

level. The only diversities seen on the surface are those caused by the fluvial action of

rivers. The important rivers of the district are Baghmati, Lakhandei and Adhwara

group of rivers. It has therefore all the advantages and disadvantages of being

surrounded by rivers which are flooded during rains and mostly dry during summers.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 5

LAND USE PATTERN

The total reporting area of the district is 258127.29 hectares out of which negligible

area is under forest and 39258.25 hectares area is not available for cultivation. The

land use pattern in the district in four categories is given below.

Agriculture

The agricultural land of Sitamarhi is

one of the most fertile lands in world.

But except wheat and maize, everything

is either destroyed in flood or gets

affected by the drought. Due to these

natural disasters; poor farmers are

forced to ply to the cities for their

livelihood. Most of them prefer to go to

Patna, Delhi and Punjab. It is amazing

0%

28%

1%8%63%

0%

LAND USE PATTERN

Area under forest Area not available for cultivation

Cultivable area Culturable waste

Irrigated area Unirrigated area

SITAMARHI.

Page | 6

that most of them prefer the job of rickshaw puller.

DEMOGRAPHY.

According to the census 1991, the total population of the district was 23.91 lakh

constituted by 4,13,463 families. This gives an average family size of 5.8. Of the total

population, 53.1 percent (12.70 lakh) were males and 46.8 percent (11.20 lakh)

females. In other words, the sex ratio was very adverse with 882 females for every

1000 male population. It was very low as compared to 912 for Bihar and 929 for the

country as a whole. The sex

ratio has been decreasing. It

was 934 in 1981 and

drastically reduced to 882 in

1991. While there were few

Schedules Tribes (STs) in the

district, Scheduled Castes

(SCs) constituted 12.12

percent of the total population.

The density of population in

the district was 910 per sq.

k.m. as compared to the

average density of 497 persons

per sq. k.m. for Bihar as a

whole. It implied that the

General67%

S.C.12%

S.T.0%

Minority21%

Population Distribution

General

S.C.

S.T.

Minority

SITAMARHI.

Page | 7

pressure of population of children per school was very high and the schools should

have more space.

Market

The city has a sufficient market to

cater the daily needs of the people.

All the products available in

market comes from Muzaffarpur

and Patna.markets near to Nepal

border has abundance of Chinese

products. All kind of digital

products can be found here. Many

youths in the border area are

involved in smuggling items from

Nepal. The illegal import is too

difficult to check, as the

international border is not fenced. Locals grow vegetables in abundance and there is

“gudri” market, which provides them a good place to get good price.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

In this district, both nuclear and joint family system prevails. But, joint family system

is common in rural areas and nuclear family system in urban areas. All the families are

paternal, where father looks after the livelihood and external affairs and mother cares

children and looks inside all family matters. Untouchability prevails in society, mostly

in the rural area. In the city, it has been abolished completely. Division on the basis of

caste and religion is on its peak high. The occupants of “mohallas” have common

understanding and they don’t want the intrusion of people from other caste in their

mohalla. None of the mohalla have both Hindus and Muslims and none of the

“mohalla” can have both “bhumihars” and “yadavs” .the national minority of Muslim

is in majority in the district, they constitute a total of around 20% of total population,

then comes bhumihars and yadavs, having an approximate share of 20% and 18%

respectively. According to the data given in DPEP plan for Sitamarhi, there are

SITAMARHI.

Page | 8

256445 families living below poverty line. These constitute 63.5 percent of the total

number of 403648 families in the district.

EDUCATION AND LITERACY.

The overall literacy rate of

the district is 38.50% which

is too less as compared to

the national literacy rate of

70%. Education is

unfamiliar to the scheduled

castes and scheduled tribes

residing in the district,

22.20% of them are literate;

females in SC have a

literacy rate of 8.50%.

the district has got some

good educational institutions

like Jawahar Navodaya

Vidyalaya and DAV public

school , but the lack of basic

infrastructure in the

government schools is a

matter of concern for this

district. However, the

construction of new

buildings in past few years

have shown a new face of

the development oriented

government of Bihar and

local politicians.

Overall male female

Literacy rate 38.50% 49.40% 26.10%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%Literacy rate

Overall male female

Literacy rate(SC) 22.20% 24.60% 8.50%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%Literacy rate(SC)

SITAMARHI.

Page | 9

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRUCTURE

It must be obvious from the above analysis that Sitamarhi presents a spectre of

backwardness characterised by stagnant economy, lack of infrastructure, lack of

enterpreneurship and little investment in development and economic growth. If we try

to go into its causes, the most important cause would be the socio-economic structure

of the district. As a matter of fact, this is the cause as well as the effect of under

development.

The social structure of Sitamarhi is characterised by clear cut divisions on caste lines.

The position in caste hierarchy is the determining factor for social relationships,

behavioural patterns and cultural norms. Here, the composition of society has all the

castes and sub-castes. There are Brahmins, Rajputs, Bhumihars, Yadavas, Kurmis and

the castes now include OBCs and the scheduled castes divided into sub-castes like

Paswan, Chamars and the

lowest in the rung -Mushars.

In Sitamarhi, the

reminiscents of a feudal

society now well saddled in

the form of semi-feudalism

are so pronounced that one

could feel its impact as soon

as he enters the rural scene.

The inequalities in the

erstwhile Zamindars and

their subordinates pervade

through each and every

realm of life.

The socio-economic structure in Sitamarhi revolves basically round the land

ownership or ownership of productive assets and the assetless people. As in Bihar as a

whole, the caste and class are so intermingled that it is difficult to make any

distinction while judging the status of a person.

It is a well known fact that the land reforms in Bihar has no impact and there is a very

skewed distribution of land. Either there are owners of very small holdings or very

Dr

inkingwater

seco

ndaryed

medical

primary

edu

cation

higheredu

cation

Per Capita Expenditure 10.83 164.66 40.37 0.34 43.02

020406080

100120140160180

Rs.

Per Capita Expenditure

SITAMARHI.

Page | 10

large holdings. The owners of large holdings mostly belong to the upper or middle

castes. For examples Rajputs, Bhumihars, Yadavas and Kurmis are among the main

land owners having sizable holdings. Although the lower castes and small land owners

might form the numerical majority in any multi caste village, the lower castes could

not become dominant castes. The dominance emerged out of the control over land and

other resources available in the village along with the legitimization of such

ownership by caste ideology. It is now well recognized that inequalities in economy

and social inequalities are mutually reinforcing. The following generalizations made

by some studies on Bihar are equally applicable to Sitamarhi also:

i) Persistence of caste as an important feature of rural structure.

ii) Rural power structure being concentrated in the hands of dominant castes.

iii) Ownership of productive assets could enable a caste in improving its inter-se

position in social structure.

iv) Dominant castes mediating and controlling the flow of resources and

technology coming from outside into the rural society and usurping of benefits

meant for the weaker sections.

v) Phenomenon of dominant caste was a feature of contiguous region and cuts

across villages in a given region. The lower castes are still facing lots of

discrimination in

their day to day life.

The women folk of

these sections are

worst victims of this.

Their status is

abysmally low.

Without any asset

base and social

disability, the

disadvantaged

sections are not able

to sustain any economic activity and they have to depend on others for livelihood.

Patna Sitamarhi

GDDP(Gross DistrictDomestic Product)

29482 4392

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

SITAMARHI.

Page | 11

Consequently, they are subjugated and exploited. Due to their living being on

subsistence level and having no savings, they have to borrow money for meeting

social obligations and emergency needs like illness. The incidence of rural

indebtedness is very high. In such a situation, every member of the family whether old

or young has to be occupied in whatever work is available. This precludes their

participation in education.

As a matter of fact, non-participation of the disadvantaged groups in education and

other development activities should be seen in a historical perspective. It should be

realised that there is more to the poor than only rural poverty; that in their case, the

nature of social organisation of which they are an integral part, they have been at the

receiving end. The values they have inculcated and how they have oriented their

responses to the opportunities should also be seen in this background. Given these

disadvantages stretching back to centuries, it is meaningless to attribute to them a

capability for self help.

The socio-economic structure coupled with poverty and unemployment have further

lowered down the status of women, discrimination against girl child and low

educational status of the weaker sections and poorer among the Muslims.

NATURAL DISATSER

(i)FLOOD

The district was prone to

flood till 2007, lacs of

people were affected by

this and every year it led

to the death of people,

destruction of building

and hampering the

livestock of the people.

2002 2004 2007 2008

Houses damaged inflood

30812 118903 10318 0

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

Houses damaged in flood

SITAMARHI.

Page | 12

Present government, after joining power in 2006 has concentrated on the construction

of embankments and started

checking the course of rivers. The

development is visible, through these

charts and graphs.30812 houses were

damaged in flood in the year of 2002,

in 2004 a record number of 118903

houses were destroyed , hich further

decreased in 2007 to a rare minimum

of 10318 and finally in the year of

2008, none of the resident of the

district was affected. Sitamarhi

people must feel proud of it. People who got affected by floods numbered 22.47 lacs

in 2002 , which decreased to 0 in 2008. The district was earlier known as island of

north Bihar, but with the passage of time , flood has been controlled. Human death in

flood recorded a decrease from 47 in 2002 to 0 in 2008. Flood which had became a

synonym for Sitamarhi now seems to be a part of history.

2002 2004 2007 2008

People affected byflood(in lac)

22.47 28.59 28.39 0

05

101520253035

People affected by flood(in lac)

20

20

20

20

Human death inflood

47 102 59 0

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Human death in flood

2002 2004 2007 2008

Cattles death inflood

15 718 201 4

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Cattles death in flood

SITAMARHI.

Page | 13

(ii) EARTHQUAKE

The district has suffered a severe earthquake in the year of 1934, which completely

destroyed the city, leaving nothing except the ruins. Dumra,the administrative

headquarter of the district was the epicenter. The district lies in the earthquake zone of

Zone V. It is prone to earthquake, after 1934 a heavy earthquake occurred in 1987.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 14

ELUCIDATION

VICIOUS CIRCLE OF ILLITERACY, POVERTY AND INEQUITIES

It may be concluded here that Sitamarhi is a poor and economically backward district

having the problems of flood affecting agriculture badly with large scale

unemployment and under employment. It also has gross inequalities in distribution of

productive assets leading to all kinds of disparities reinforced by outmoded socio-

economic structure. Super imposed over it is mass illiteracy. Therefore, the most

pressing need is that concerted and strong measures be taken to pull it out of the above

vicious circle. Empowerment of the weaker sections through education and improving

the quality of human resource amongst the disadvantaged must be the starting point.

For this, a big boost is required in bringing their children in the schooling system. This

provides sufficient justification for supplementing the efforts for educational

development through some special programme.

CRIME, FACTS AND FIGURES.

Crime has been a major downfall in past 4

years; earlier the people were fed up of

crime, the change in government showed a

positive response. Crime is almost under

control. A society with unemployment and

under-employment population, crime is a

normal activity.

It is a good sign for the district’s

development. Murder, which numbered

121 in 2005, has come to a rare

minimum of 8 in 2008.

2005 2006 2007 2008

Murder in thedistrict

121 102 74 8

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Murder in the district

2005 2006 2007 2008

Dacoities inthe district

19 12 13 8

02468

101214161820

Dacoities in the district

SITAMARHI.

Page | 15

Robbery and kidnapping, which was

a famous booming industry in Bihar

as well as in Sitamarhi, faced a

major drawback after the new

government came to power.

Robbery, which numbered 61 in

2005, decreased to 28 in the year of

2008.

Kidnapping, which were 4 in

number was completely eradicated

by the police, kidnappers readily

used the international border as a

big tool. Kidnappers used to ply to

Nepal, which was out of the Indian jurisdiction. Later, the district police with the help

of Nepal government, the kidnappings have been controlled.

The gradient of the graph shows a

positive sign for the tourism

development of the district. It is

decreasing with a great slope. The

communal harmony, which was

disturbed by some of the Anti-

nationals has been re-established.

It is heart touching to see the new

form of harmony in the district.

2005 2006 2007 2008

Robbery in thedistrict

61 50 42 28

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Robbery in the district

2005 2006 2007 2008

Kidnapping inthe district

4 2 2 0

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Kidnapping in the district

SITAMARHI.

Page | 16

TOURIST PLACES IN SITAMARHI.

(i) PUNAURA DHAM

Punaura Dham is the birth place of

Maa Sita, as per the Hindu

mythology , Sita came out of a

vessel when Raja Janak was

ploughing field. Mithila state was

facing the situation of drought, to

overcome the drought, Raja Janak

started ploughing field, when the

plouging reached Punaura ,the

plough striked a vessel, due the

strike of the lower portionof the

plough, the vessel broke and Sita

came out of it. The place was the karmabhoomi for maharishi pundarik. Raja Janak

offered him the new baby , but he denied the offer. As he was a saint , he had no

consistency in living. Raja Janak brought the baby child to his palace in Janakpur. The

baby was named Sita, as the lower

portion of the plough “SIT” had

striked the vessel and she was born.

Punaura Dham has nothing of

archaeological interest presently, but

as per the locals they saw some

buildings buried inside the ground,

during 1934 earthquake.

, KUND, BIRTH PLACE OF SITA

JANKI TEMPLE, PUNAURA

SITAMARHI.

Page | 17

(ii) HALESHWAR STHAN

Haleshwar sthan is the place from

where Raja Janak started ploughing

the field. This palce is having a Shiv

temple, which is believed to be the

first shiva-linga established in the

state of Mithila. This place can be

good for the archaeological survey,

the old mandir parishar was having

stone shikhara, which dates back to

treat yug. Presently, no archeological

survey has been made, but the

manuscripts on the stones found are

probably 7,00,000 years old. The

Savan mela of this place is famous in northern Bihar and Nepal.

The temple was in ruins till 2000, but

the then District Magistrate Mr. Arun

Bhushan Prasad took initiative for the

renovation. He himself start coming to

this place and started to clean the

nearby areas, it ignited enthusiasm to

the locals. People started giving their

service without any incentive. The

temple got renovated. Stones were

found in the course, these stones are

kept in the mandir parishar.

ENTRANCE OF HALESHWAR STHAN

TEMPLE AT HAELSHWAR STHAN

SITAMARHI.

Page | 18

(iii) PANTH PAAKAR

This is the place, which is believed to be the staying place of Maa Sita, when she was

going from Sitamarhi to Janakpur. The place is having a big “PAAKAR” tree, it’s the

belief of locals that the tree dates back to treta yug. Raja Janak sat here while in way.

(iv) DEKULI DHAM

This place is the birth place of Draupadi. This place has many things for

archaeological development, in 1934 earthquakes; people saw buildings 20 feet

deep inside their land. No one has gone for the archaeological survey. This was the

place where all the Pandavas came before going for Vanvash.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 19

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Key facts Indian tourism.

Gross domestic product

the contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product is expected to rise

from 8.6 %(INR 5,532,5 billion ) in 2010 to 9.0% (INR 18543.8 billion) by 2020.

Employment

The contribution of the travel and tourism economy to employment is expected to rise

from 49086000 jobs in 2010, 10.0% of total employment or 1 in every 10 jobs to

58144000 jobs ,10.4% of total employment or 1 in every 9.6 jobs by 2020.

Growth

Real GDP growth for travel and tourism economy is expected to be 6.7% in 2010 and

to average 8.5% per annum over the coming 10 years.

Visitor exports

Export earnings from international visitor and tourism goods are expected to generate

3.8% of total exports (INR 519.7 billion) in 2010 growing to INR 1886.2 billion in

2020.

Investments

Travel and tourism investment is estimated at INR 1628.1 billion or 7.2 % of total

investment in 2010. By 2020, this should reach INR 6137.2 billion or 7.7% of total

investment.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 20

Travel and tourism is able to contribute to development which is economically,

ecologically and socially sustainable, because it:

Has less impact on natural resources and the environment that most other

industries.

Is based on enjoyment and appreciation of local culture , built heritage, amd

natural environment as such that the industry has a direct and powerful

motivation to protect these assets,

Can play a positive part in increasing consumer commitment to sustainable

development principle through its unparalleled consumer distribution channels.

Provides an economic incentive to conserve natural environments and habitats

which might otherwise be allocated to more environmentally damaging land

uses, threby, is helping to maintain bio-diversity.

The development is possible on the religious tourism and nothing else.

Tourism circle needs to be created.

Religious tourism can be incorporated with the ecotourism.

Four- fold development in the religious and ecotourism of state.

Creating job and wealth with tourism

Contribution to the sustainable development.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 21

OBJECTIVES.

To expand the tourism industry and tourist activities, which are

currently concentrated in only a few areas, by building physical

infrastructure and promoting tourism to create additional

opportunities for employment. This, in turn, will help ease

poverty and raise the standard of living of the population;

To increase the number of tourist arrivals;

To promote the environmental, historical and cultural heritage

and raise the quality of services and facilities related to tourism;

To take measures for overseeing the stable development of the

Tourism industry and link it to other economic sectors in a

Coordinated manner;

To develop the necessary infrastructure for the operation of

Efficient, safe, comfortable and quality air services for the proper

Advancement of the tourism industry.

Jan

Feb

March

April

MayJ

uneJuly

Au

gust

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Tourist inflow 5560 5529 4316 3707 3503 2734 2715 2788 3466 3503 4113 3846

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000Tourist inflow

TOURIST INFLOW IN SITAMARHI

SITAMARHI.

Page | 22

HOW TO DEVELOP TOURISM IN SITAMARHI?

Most of the tourists on religious tour want to visit most of the tourist

places in a single go. So, creation of a tourist circle including Janakpur

Dham of Nepal can make a difference.

The tourist influx of nearby district of Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, &

Madhubani is more than Sitamarhi, the traffic diversion of the tourist

can help in the development of tourism.

Advertisement on a bigger scale, if any personalities will visit this place,

it will be automatically advertised.

Master planning of the city in relation to the tourist places.

Creation of a tourism circle, including Dekuli Dham in Sheohar district

and Janakpur Dham in Nepal.

NGOs in the district should create awareness amongst the locals about

the tourism.

Education policy should be revised, proper education and awareness for

tourism should be included.

Government should work for the renovation, conservation and publicity

of the temples and places.

“Ramayana” by Ramanand sagar , publicidized Ayodhya.

Local investors can go for making television series, related to this place

and birth of Maa Sita.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 23

Religious tourist places having nothing of archaeological interest, but providing an

economical support to a bigger society.

1. Shri mata vaishno devi shrine

2. Siddhi vinayak temple.

3. Tirupati balajee.

When we see the case of other religions except Hinduism, we can see that most

of the places are not having anything of archaeological interest, but have a

good amount of tourist inflow.

In Islam we can see different shrines of peer baba, and some of the shrines like

Ajmer Sharif attracts tourist from all the religions.

WHERE DO SITAMARHI LACK?

Where do Sitamarhi lack?

1.) Politically unstable,

2.) Flood prone

3.) Religious differences.

4.) Improper road, rail and air connectivity.

5.) Improper communication

6.) Lack of management in temples.

7.) Inefficient role of tourism on economy.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 24

CHARTS

CHC referral hospital sub-divisional hospital

rural 0 1 13

urban 0 0 1

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Health services

regular doctors contractual doctors

Sanctioned 121 52

working 84 35

vacant 37 17

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Doctors in the district

SITAMARHI.

Page | 25

Cow Buffalo Pigs Lamb Goat Poultry

Livestock 216900 169500 12600 1300 307300 316800 0

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

po

pu

lati

on

Livestock

NH SH MDR

Road network 102 50.42 199.2

0

50

100

150

200

250

Km

.

Road network

SITAMARHI.

Page | 26

REFERENCES

1. www.wttc.org/India/

2. www.wikipedia.org/Sitamarhi

3. www.Sitamarhi.bih.nic.in

4. www.Sitamarhi.in

5. www.Indiatoday.com

6. “SITAMARHI EDUCATION PROJECT”, by the district education

department.

7. “BIHAR TOURISM ANNUAL STATISTICS REPORT”, BY

www.marketpulseIndia.com

8. “DISTRICT HEALTH ACTION PLAN”, BY National Rural Health Mission.

9. “INDIAN TOURISM STATISTICS”, BY Ministry of tourism , government of

India.

10. “CASE STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF TOURISM ON CULTURE AND

THE ENVIRONMENT” by Ram Niwas Pandey, Pitambar Chettri, Ramesh

Raj Kunwar and Govinda Ghimire.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 27

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the time interval of two months, June 2010 to August 2010, it was interesting to

carry out surveys and interviews for the tourism report of Sitamarhi. Sitamarhi, being

my motherland, I have always tried for the tourism development of this place. Earlier

due to some infractions in the locality and governance, it was difficult to develop.

Now the situation has changed. People in the district are getting more awareness

through NGOs and government about the sustainable tourism.

I got help from all the sections of the society and the enthusiasm in locals was

worth watching. They were happy to know about the development plans for the

district. Even they had many development plans which can be incorporated in the

master plan.

Overall, the efforts by the government are not satisfactory, link roads are in

such a bad situation, just after three months of construction that it may call an enquiry.

Local people are unaware of their rights; they have adapted themselves in the same

environment. They have boiling heart but sticky tounge, they don’t dare to ask for

their rights.

Government will have to take the responsibility and proper share of the locals

involved in the development process. I was widely helped by Mr. Shyam Sundar

Sinha, Ex- ADM, who gave me lingual support and various contacts. Mr. Rakesh, an

economist and teacher, helped me to reach all the remote areas and made many

interactions with the locals. I am specially thankful to my cousins, Abhijeet, Neelabh

and Sailabh who invested their valuable time in the data collection, which helped me

in making this report.

Bhardwaj Madhav

Shri Mata Vaishno devi University

Jammu and Kashmir.

SITAMARHI.

Page | 28

© Bhardwaj Madhav, 2010

Webpage:- www.madhav.tk

email- madhav@madhav.tk, pm.madhav@gmail.com

contact:- +919858276468