Geography

Pauri Garhwal, a district of Uttarakhand state encompasses an area of 5230 sq. km and situated between 29° 45’ to 30°15’ Latitude and 78° 24’ to 79° 23’ E Longitude. This district is ringed by the districts of Chamoli, Rudraprayag & Tehri Garhwal in North, Bijnor & Udhamsingh Nagar in South, Almora & Nainital in East, Dehradun & Haridwar in West. The District is administratively divided into nine tehsils, viz., Pauri, Lansdown, Kotdwar, Thalisain, Chobattakhal, Srinagar, Satpuli, Dhumakot & Yamkeshwar and fifteen developmental blocks, viz., Kot, Kaljikhal, Pauri, Pabo, Thalisain, Bironkhal, Dwarikhal, Dugadda , Jaihrikhal, Ekeshwer, Rikhnikhal, Yamkeswar, Nainidanda, Pokhra & Khirsu.

Pauri is the headquarter of Pauri Garhwal district and is located at the height of 1650 m. and has a population of 24,743. This is fairly located on high altitude amongst the Deodar forest and on the northern slopes of the ridge, which provide one of the ice-clad mountain chains.

Besides Alaknanda, Nayyar River is the major river of the district and is one of the major tributies of Alaknanda which is called Nayyar after the confluence of eastern and Western Nayyar at Satpuli. Both the Nayyars originate from the Dudatoli range and drain their water to the south. The high ranges in the Nayyar catchments areThailisain (Dudatoli – Chakisain ridge), Baijro (Pokhra – Demdeval ridge), Khirsu-Mandakhal (Pauri – Adwani – Kanskhet ridge), Bironkhal (Lansdowne – Gumkhal – Dwarikhal ridge) & Rathwadhab (Dugadda – Kandi ridge).

Climate..

The region has a sub-temperate to temperate climate, which remains pleasant throughout the year. The maximum temperature recorded in the month of june is 45°C at Kotdwar while in the higher reaches at Dudhatoli it only rises to 25°C. Temperature descends to a minimum of 1.3°C in January, and means monthly temperature for the region ranges from 25°C to 30°C. The hilly terrain with its densely forested slopes receives adequate rainfall generally commencing from mid-June and extending till mid-September. Occasional rainfall is also recorded in winter. Average annual rainfall in the district is 218 cm., about 90 percent of which is generally concentrated over the monsoon. Relative humidity varies between 54 and 63 percent. The higher reaches receive some snow in winter when temperature falls to freezing point.

Soils..

Soils of the region have been formed either through pedogenetic processes or are transported soils. The pedogenetic soils are the one which have been formed by long duration of exposure to atmospheric agencies, physical and chemical weathering and rock slides. Such types of soils are derived from granite Gneissic, schistose and phyllite rocks. These soils obtained high percentage of silica from their parent body, while the soils formed from the limestone are rich in calcium carbonate. The transported soils are carried and deposited by the streams. Their parent body and source rocks lie at far away places. Some of these soils have mixed origin pf glacial and fluvio-glacial origin. These soils of takus, fans and terraces are silt to clayey loam and are very fertile. The brown forest soils contain very high percentage of organic matter. The katil soils are stony, immature and extremely poor. Soils of Upraon are gravelly and sandy Loams, they are brown of Talaon. The Talaon soils are brown in colour with clayey texture. The stony texture provides higher rate of erosion.

Topograophy..

The topography of pauri Garhwal is by and large rugged and except for the narrow strip of Bhabar, the entire region is mountainous. The highest point of the area is 3116 mtrs at Dudatoli and the lowest point of the area is 295 mtrs near chilla. The village located at the hightest level is Dobri, which is 2480 mtrs high. The cross profiles of the fluvial valleys show convex form with steep valley sides, interlocking spurs descending towards the main channel, hanging valleys, water falls and rapids and terraced agricultural fields on the gentle slopes on the valley sides. The clustering of villages is confined mainly on the gentle slopes of the ridges on the fluvial terraces. The forest cover is the maximum in Thailisain block and the minimun in the Pauri block. Most of the part of the area is approachable by road from its district headquarter. Most of these roads are not yet metalled and are prone to land slips, slides, dusty, except few main roads. The district of Pauri Garhwal as part of the Western Himalaya presents a unique set of ecological characteristics over a complex variety of systems that incorporate forests, meadows, savannah grasslands, marshes and rivers, as well as wildlife, geology and several other phyto-geographically distinctive peculiarities. The occurrence of diverse topographical and climatic factors has resulted in the remarkable biodiversity of the district as a result of which flora also correspondingly differs over its different parts. Forests dominate in the phyto-geography and also constitute the most valuable natural resource of the district.