SAILAM VILLAGE

Sailam village is in the central part of Mizoram at a coordinate of latitude 23.3508° N, 92.7985° E longitude. The population of the village is around 750 persons belonging to a little over 130 households.

Status and management of natural resources

The village have one reserved forest ‘Zotheihuan’ under the control of the village council which is a body of elected representatives equivalent to the gram panchayat. The reserve forest has a catchment area of roughly 20 acres, and it houses a couple of streams which the major sources of water for the village. There are patta areas of private owners within the reserve, those pattas are not cancelled but felling and land preparation for agriculture are prohibited.

Water is harvested from these reserves for domestic consumption by means of solar water pump. Water supplies are distributed to every house from community reservoirs by pipeline connection through NABARD finance and Jal Shakti Mission.

Other water sources are Lengleh river (perennial), 5 springs of which 2 are perennial and 3 of them dried up during dry season, 1 number of hand pumped borewell. Rainwater harvesting setup are more or less available at each and every house.

Water sources for wet rice cultivation areas are accessed from small streams following gravitational flow.

Climate change perception: No significant impact of climate change is being perceived by the respondent.

Land Use Land Cover: LULC remains more or less stable during the past 10 years.