- Uttarakhand was formed by the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 with the bifurcation of erstwhile Uttar Pradesh on 09 November 2000, Uttarakhand became the 27th State of the Republic of India.
- Sh. Nityanand Swami was the first Chief Minister of the Indian state of Uttarakhand, named Uttaranchal during his administration serving from 09 Nov 2000 to 29 Oct 2001.
GEOGRAPHY
- Uttarakhand has a total area of 53,483 km sq. of which 86% is mountainous and 65% is covered by forest.
- Two of the most important rivers in Hinduism originate in the glaciers of Uttarakhand, the Ganges at Gangotri and the Yamuna at Yamunotri.
MAJOR DAM AND RESERVOIRS
- TEHRI DAM : Tehri Dam is the highest dam in India and one of the highest in the world. It is multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi river near Tehri in Uttarakhand, India.
- ICHARI DAM : The Ichari Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Tons river 13km North of Dakpathar in Uttarakhand, India.
- DHAULIGANGA DAM : The Dholiganga Dam is a concrete face rock and earth-fill embarkment dam on the Dhauliganga river near Dharchula Uttarakhand.
- RAMGANGA DAM : The Ramganga Dam is also known as the Kalagarh Dam, is an embarkment dam on the Ramganga river upstream of Kalagarh in Pauri Garhwal district Uttarakhand, India. It is located within the Jim Corbett National Park.
The following Indian Forest Act of 1878 put Indian Forestry on a solid scientific basis. A direct consequence was the founding of the ‘Imperial Forest School’ at Dehradun by Dietrich Brandis in 1878. Renamed the ‘Imperial Forest Research Institute’ in 1906, it is also known as the ‘Forest Research Institute’.
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES
Nanda devi and Valley of Flower National Park : 1939 and 1982.
GI TAGS OF UTTARAKHAND
CHIPKO MOVEMENT
- The Chipko Movement was a forest conservation movement in India.
- It begans in Uttarakhand, then a part of Uttar Pradesh and went on to become a rallying point for many future environmental movements all over the world.
- Gauri Devi was the main activist who started this movement other participants were Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Sundarlal Bahuguna and Ghanshyam Raturi, the popular chipko poet.
CHOTA CHAR DHAM
- The Chota Char Dham is an important Hindu pilgrimage circuit.
- Located in Garhwal region of the state of Uttarakhand, the circuit consists of four sites: Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.