ENVIS Centre: Uttar Pradesh
Status of Environment and Related Issues

 A. Demography 

Uttar Pradesh is India`s fourth largest and the most populated state in India. It has a population of about 199,581,477 as per the 2011 census.

With an area of 93,933 sq mi (243,290 km2), Uttar Pradesh covers a large part of the highly fertile and densely populated upper Gangetic plain. There is an average population density of 828 persons per km² i.e. 2,146 per sq meters.  Uttar Pradesh shares an international border with Nepal to the north. Other states along Uttar Pradesh's border include Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi to the north and northwest; Rajasthan on the west; Madhya Pradesh on the south; Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand on the south east; and Bihar on the east.  As this state shares an international boundary it assumes strategic importance as far as its defense is concerned.

The administrative and legislative capital of Uttar Pradesh is Lucknow.  Some of the major commercial cities of the state include Kanpur, Meerut, Bareilly, Noida, Ghaziabad and Agra.

Map Source: www.mapsofindia.com

B.  Administrative divisions and districts

The state of Uttar Pradesh consists of 75 districts, which are grouped into eighteen divisions:

C.   Transportation

The state has a large, multimodal transportation system:

•    Air:

The state has four major airports and 23 airstrips. Cities are nationally well connected. Amausi International in lucknow is the State’s main Airport. Other domestic airports are Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Agra, Allahabad and Varanasi.

•    Railways:

Almost all major (as well as smaller) cities of the state are linked by rail. The state has largest  railway network in the country and the sixth-largest  railway density.  The major railway stations are Lucknow NR, Kanpur Central, Varanasi JN, Agra Cant and Mathura JN.

•    Roads:

The state has the largest road network in the country after Maharashtra.

Kanpur,Lucknow, Bareilly, Allahabad, Varanasi, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Agra and Ghazipur are connected to National Highways. The National Golden Quadrilateral of India is passes through Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi. The state government’s road- transport company Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) serves nationalised routes in the state for intrastate and interstate transport.

•   Waterways:

A stretch of the Ganges – from Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) to Haldia (West Bengal) – has been declared as National Waterway(NW)-I; 600 km of NW-I flows through Uttar Pradesh.

D. Geography

Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two distinct hypsographical (altitude) regions. The larger Gangetic Plain region is in the north; it includes the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, the Ghaghra plains, the Ganges plains and the Terai. It has fertile alluvial soil and a flat topography (with a slope of 2 m/km) broken by numerous ponds, lakes and rivers. The smaller Vindhya Hills and plateau region is in the south. It is characterized by hard rock strata and a varied topography of hills, plains, valleys and plateaus; limited availability of water makes the region relatively arid.

Uttar Pradesh is between latitude 24°-31°N and longitude 77°-84°E. Area wise, it is the fourth largest state of India. The Gangetic Plain occupies three quarters of the state. The two sacred rivers that flow through Uttar Pradesh are the Ganga River and Yamuna River.

Uttar Pradesh is rich with natural resources. The major minerals found in Uttar Pradesh include limestone, dolomite, glass-sand, marble, bauxite, non-plastic fireclay, and Uranium. Sand-stone, pebbles, salt punter, sand and other minor minerals are also found in the state.

E.   Rivers and lakes

Uttar Pradesh has more than 31 large and small rivers, major ones being the Ganges, Yamuna, Sarayu and Ghaghara.

F.   Flora and fauna

Uttar Pradesh is rich in diversity of flora and fauna due to its vast area, big and small rivers, varieties of climatic conditions, and different kinds of soils.

The plains of Uttar Pradesh have been very rich in natural vegetation which has, however, diminished due to wide-ranging needs of the people. About 12.8 percent of the geographical areas of Uttar Pradesh are under forests.

Several species of trees, large and small mammals, reptiles and insects are found in the belt of temperate upper mountainous forests; medicinal plants are also found wild, or are grown on plantations.

The Terai-Duar  savanna  and grasslands support cattle. Moist deciduous trees  grow in the upper Gangetic plain, including along its riverbanks. This plain supports a wide variety of plants  and animals.  The Ganges and its  tributaries  are the habitat of large and small reptiles, amphibians,  fresh-water  fish  and crabs. Scrubland trees  such  as the babool and animals such as the chinkara are found in the arid Vindhyas.

G.  Climate

The climate of Uttar Pradesh is predominantly subtropical; however, weather conditions change significantly with location and season:

•   Temperature:

Depending on the elevation, the average temperatures vary from between 12.5–
17.5 °C (55–64  °F)  in January  to 27.5–32.5   °C (82–91 °F) in May and June.  The highest temperature recorded in the state was 49.9  °C (121.8  °F) at Gonda on 8 May
1958.

•   Rainfall:

Rainfall in the state ranges from between 1,000–2,000 mm (39–79 in) in the east to
600–1,000 mm (24–39 in) in the west. About 90 percent of the rainfall occurs during the southwest monsoon, lasting from approximately June to September.