The Indian Air Force put on an aerial display at Sendh Lake in Raipur to mark the 26th foundation day of Chhattisgarh. Helicopters and skydivers took part before a crowd that included Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai. Skydivers of the Akash Ganga team jumped from about 8,000 feet. The Sarang team flew five indigenous Dhruv helicopters in close formation. Garud Commandos rappelled from Mi-17 helicopters in a simulated rescue and reinforcement exercise. Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh and observes its foundation day on 1 November. The State organised a three day festival for the occasion.
Foundation day marked:26thDhruv helicopters flown:five
Why it matters for exams: The Sarang and Akash Ganga teams of the Indian Air Force and the 1 November foundation day of Chhattisgarh are both frequent questions.
Shri Amit Shah, Union Home and Cooperation Minister, addressed the closing ceremony of the Chhattisgarh Rajyotsav at Raipur. Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Deo Sai and Deputy Chief Minister Shri Vijay Sharma were present. Shah said 5 lakh peepal trees will be planted in Naya Raipur, which will be branded a Peepal City. He said the 33rd installment under the Mahtari Vandan Yojana was transferred, and that artificial limbs are being given to people who lost limbs in violence over the past 30 years. He said literacy in the state has risen from 65 per cent to 79 per cent, that ITIs have doubled and engineering colleges have tripled. He named Bastar Dussehra, the Maa Danteshwari Temple and the Maa Bamleshwari Temple, along with Kanger Valley National Park, Tirathgarh Falls and Chitrakote Falls, and said the state would come among the top three tourism states. He added that Bastar Pandum and Bastar Olympics were held during the year.
Peepal trees to be planted in Naya Raipur:5 lakhInstallment of Mahtari Vandan Yojana transferred:33rd
Why it matters for exams: The name of the Chhattisgarh state festival, the women-centred Mahtari Vandan Yojana and the offices of the state are standard general studies questions.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority lists the tiger reserves of Chhattisgarh as Achanakmar, Indravati, Udanti Sitanadi and the newest one, named after Guru Ghasidas. Indravati was taken up as a protected area in 1982-83 and was notified as a tiger reserve in 2009. Its core is 1,258.37 sq km and its buffer 1,540.70 sq km, so the reserve covers 2,799.07 sq km in all. Achanakmar and Udanti Sitanadi were notified in the same year as Indravati, and Guru Ghasidas - Tamor Pingla in 2024. In the authority's grouping Indravati falls in the Central Zone, along with the reserves of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha. A State has to prepare a Tiger Conservation Plan for each such reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The authority's list of reserves now runs to 58, covering 84487.83 sq km.
Notified as a tiger reserve:2009Tiger reserves in the State:4Zone in the NTCA grouping:Central Zone
Why it matters for exams: Indravati's notification year, its core and buffer areas, and the four tiger reserves the NTCA lists in Chhattisgarh are standing protected-area facts an examiner can ask any year.
Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla in Chhattisgarh was notified as the 56th tiger reserve of the country. The Chhattisgarh government notified it on the advice of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. It brings together the Guru Ghasidas National Park and the Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary. The reserve is spread over 2,829 sq km. Its critical tiger habitat covers 2049.2 sq. km, with a buffer of another 780.15 sq.kms. By area it ranks third among the tiger reserves of the country. Larger than it are only Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh and Manas in Assam.
Rank among India's tiger reserves:56thNational park merged in:Guru Ghasidas National ParkSanctuary merged in:Tamor Pingla Wildlife SanctuarySize rank in the country:third largest
Why it matters for exams: The State that holds the country's 56th tiger reserve, the national park and sanctuary merged into it, and its rank as the third largest reserve are facts that recur in general-studies papers.
Kanger Valley National Park lies in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and was declared a National Park in 1982. It is a 200 square kilometre protected area and takes its name from the Kanger River that runs through it. It holds more than 300 plant species, 150 kinds of birds and 35 mammals. The Bastar Hill Myna is listed among its rare and endangered species, and its animals include tigers, leopards, bison and chausingha. Below ground it has limestone caves - Kutumsar Caves, Kailash Gupha and Dandak Caves - where rivers run beneath the floors. Tirathgarh waterfalls and Kanger Dhara are inside the park. Bamboo rafting and kayaking are run on the Kanger River, and the nearest town is Jagdalpur.
Declared a National Park:1982Area:200 square kilometreBird species:150Named after:Kanger River
Why it matters for exams: The year Kanger Valley became a National Park, the river it is named after, the Bastar Hill Myna and the Kutumsar caves inside it are the park facts exams ask for.
Chitrakote Waterfalls on the Indravati River is called the 'Niagara Falls of India' for its horseshoe shape. It lies 38 kilometres from Jagdalpur, in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. It is described as the state's largest and India's widest waterfall. In the monsoon the fall stretches nearly 300 metres across, and the water takes a 30-metre plunge. The name is traced to 'chitar', the word for deer in Halbi, because herds of deer once lived around it. In the rainy season the water turns a reddish hue, while in summer moonlight it looks white. The water comes down in at least three and up to seven streams on its rocky ledges at different times of the year. In the dry season boat rides run below the falls, and small Shiva Lingas and iron trishuls stand on the banks of the pond beneath.
River:Indravati RiverDistance from Jagdalpur:38 kilometresWidth in the monsoon:nearly 300 metresBy-name:Niagara Falls of India
Why it matters for exams: The river Chitrakote falls on, the district it is in and its standing as India's widest waterfall are standard physical-geography questions.
Bison-Horn Maria is the name of a tribal community of the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, counted as part of the Gond. Their name comes from a headdress of bamboo stalks, peacock feathers and cowry shells, worn at ceremonies and handed down through generations. The community numbers about 150,000 people. Their music uses instruments such as the mandar and the bamboo flute called gedi, and dance is central to their ceremonies. They farm by shifting cultivation, also called slash-and-burn. Their best known institution is the Muria Ghotul, where young men and women live communally and learn the community's customs before marriage. Their crafts include wooden carvings, metal works, beadwork, baskets, mats and other woven products, which sell in India and abroad. Jagdalpur is the nearest town.
Region:BastarLarger tribe:GondHeaddress made of:bamboo stalks, peacock feathers and cowry shellsInstitution of the young:Muria Ghotul
Why it matters for exams: The Gond group behind the bison-horn headdress, the ghotul institution of the Bastar region and shifting cultivation are the durable facts here.
Bastar lies in the south of Chhattisgarh, and Jagdalpur is the headquarters of both the district and the Bastar division. The district covers 6596.90 square kilometers and is bounded by Kondagaon, Dantewada, Sukma and Bijapur. Its population was 14,13,199 in 2011, when the present Kondagaon district was still part of it. About 70 percent of the people belong to tribal communities: Gond, Maria, Muriya, Bhatra, Halba, Dhruva. That is 26.76 percent of all the tribal people of Chhattisgarh. The district is divided into seven blocks or tehsils, among them Jagdalpur, Bastar, Bakavand, Lohandiguda. In older accounts the region appears in the Ramayana as Dandakanya, and the Mahabharata places it in the Kosala empire. A Kakatiya ruler, Maharaja Ananam Dev, set up the Bastar state in 1324, and Maharaja Praveer Chandra Bhanj Dev was its last ruler.
Division headquarters:JagdalpurTribal share of the population:70 percentBastar state founded in:1324Blocks or tehsils:seven
Why it matters for exams: Jagdalpur as the headquarters of the Bastar division, the Kakatiya founding of the Bastar state and the tribal share of the district's population are the lasting facts here.
Korba became a full revenue district on 25 May, 1998, and its headquarters is Korba city. The city stands at the confluence of the Hasdeo and Ahiran rivers, and the district is called the power capital of Chhattisgarh. Korba comes under the Bilaspur division and lies about 200 KM from the capital, Raipur. Of its total area of 7,14,544 hectare, 2,83,497 hectares is forest land. Its main river, the Hasdeo, runs 233 kms, and its tributaries are Gagechorai, Tan and Ahiran. Tribal communities make up 51.67% of the population, and the main scheduled tribes include Pahadi Korwa, Gond, Raj Gond, Kawar. Among them the Pahadi Korwa are described as a protected tribe of the district. The district has two forest divisions, Korba and Katghora.
By-name:power capital of ChhattisgarhDivision:Bilaspur divisionRivers at the headquarters:Hasdeo and AhiranLength of the Hasdeo:233 kms
Why it matters for exams: Korba as the power capital of Chhattisgarh, the Hasdeo-Ahiran confluence at its headquarters and the Pahadi Korwa as a protected tribe are the durable facts an examiner can use.
The Hasdeo Arand forest in northern Chhattisgarh is often called the lungs of central India. The Hasdeo Arand coalfield spreads over 1,879.6 square kilometres and is estimated to hold 5.179 billion tonnes of coal. The forest supports 640 floral species, 128 medicinal plants and 92 bird species, along with elephants, sloth bears and leopards. The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education points to its water role: the Hasdeo River and the Hasdeo Bango Dam irrigate 300,000 hectares of farmland. Hasdeo lies in a Fifth Schedule area, where the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 applies. Under Section 4 (e) of PESA, Gram Sabhas can clear or refuse a development project and manage community resources such as forests. A further law, the Forest Rights Act of 2006, adds Community Forest Resource rights for the same communities. Gond, Oraon and other communities live in and around the forest.
Law for panchayats in Fifth Schedule areas:PESABy-name of the forest:lungs of central IndiaProvision on clearing projects:Section 4 (e)Act behind Community Forest Resource rights:Forest Rights Act
Why it matters for exams: What PESA stands for, the Section that gives a Gram Sabha power over projects in a Fifth Schedule area, the Forest Rights Act's Community Forest Resource rights and the size of the Hasdeo Arand coalfield are all examinable.
Chhattisgarh's forest cover is 55,811.75 square kilometers, as the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 gives it. That is an increase of 94.75 square kilometer over ISFR 2021, a rise of 0.07%. Taking forest and tree cover together, the State recorded the largest increase in the country, 683.62 square kilometers, and the topmost position on that count. Its tree cover alone rose by 702.75 square kilometers, the highest positive change in the country. Very Dense Forest went up from 7,068 square kilometers to 7,416.57 square kilometers, a gain of 348.57. Open Forest rose from 16,370 square kilometers to 16,411.38 square kilometers. That combined figure is ahead of other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan. The forest department credits plantation drives and the work of Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs).
Report:ISFR 2023Compared with:ISFR 2021Rank in the gain of forest and tree cover:topmost position
Why it matters for exams: Which State gained the most forest and tree cover in the 2023 forest report, and the body that publishes that report, are the facts that get asked.