UTTARAKHAND AT A GLANCE

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Uttarakhand  was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000 becoming the 27th state of the Republic of India.

Uttarakhand borders Tibet Uttarakhand borders Tibet to the north, Nepal to the east, and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in the west and south respectively. The region is traditionally referred to as Uttarakhand in Hindu scriptures and old literature, a term which derives from the Sanskrit for Northern Country or Section.. Uttarakhand by virtue of its geographical setting is vulnerable to minor ecological changes.Hence any activity disapproved by mountain ecosystem triggers a disaster. We cannot stop disaster to happen but can certainly take some steps to reduce its effects. Disasters are synonymou0s to damage of property, life and psyche of the people.If disasters cannot be averted, then reduction of losses of any type, caused by disaster becomes a focal point of the policy for disaster management. So far, in the recent years (1990 onwards)Uttarakhand has experienced two major earthquakes (magnitude >6) in Uttarkashi(1991) and Chamoli (1999) and a series of landslides/cloud burst such as Malpa(1998),Okhimath (1998), Fata (2001), Gona (2001), Khet Gaon (2002) ,Budhakedar(2002), Bhatwari(2002), Uttarkashi (2003), Amparav(2004), Lambagar(2004), Govindghat(2005), Agastyamuni(2005)  Ramolsari(2005) and many more.

Uttarakhand is a disaster prone state. Landslides, forest fires, cloudbursts and flash-floods are seasonal in nature and these strike at a certain period of the year with high frequency. Earthquake is the most devastating disaster in the mountains and are unpredictable.