History and Geography
After prolonged skirmishes between the Portuguese and the Marathas, on 17 December,
1779, the Maratha Government assigned the aggregated revenue of Rs 12,000 in a few
villages of this territory to the Protuguese as compensation to ensure their friendship.
The Portuguese ruled this territory until its liberation by the people on 2 August,
1954. From 1954 till 1961, the territory functioned almost independently by what
was known as "Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli Administration". However, the
territory was merged with the Indian Union on 11 August, 1961, and since then, is
being administered by the Government of India as a Union Territory.
After liberation of the territory from Portuguese rule, a Varishtha Panchayat
was working as an advisory body of the Administration. This was dissolved in August
1989, and a Pradesh Council for Dadra and Nagar Haveli District Panchayat and 11
Village Panchayats were constituted as per constitutional amendments at All India
level. The UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli
has an area of 491 sq km, and it is surrounded by Gujarat and Maharashtra. It consists
of two pockets namely, Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The nearest railway station is at
Vapi, which is 18 km from Silvassa.
Agriculture
Dadra and Nagar Haveli is a predominantly rural area with about 79 per cent tribal
population. It has about 21,115 hectares under cultivation. Major crop is paddy
(Kharif) while Nagli and other hill millets are crops of the area. Among fruits
Mango, Chiku and Banana, etc., are also produced. Forests cover 40 per cent of the
total geographical area.
Sugarcane cultivation has also been taken up in a big way since the last few years.
And efforts are afoot to adopt a multiple cropping system in assured irrigated areas.
During 2006-07, 87 MT of H.Y.V. seeds were distributed to 2211 farmers along with
1407 M.T. of chemical fertilizers to 6449 farmers. The organic farming scheme will
shortly be implemented in Dudhani and Mandoni patelads. To this end, 60 Kisan Credit
Cards have been issued.
The Wadi Development programme in the tribal area of both Dadra and Nagar Haveli
is implemented by the N.G.O.,
B.A.I.F. with the
financial allocation from
NABARD, a total of 800 tribal and scheduled caste families will benefit.
Festivals
 Normally,
all festivals of Hindus, Muslims and Christians are celebrated in the territory,
while tribals celebrate their own festivals. Diwaso is celebrated by Dhodia and
Varli tribes, and Raksha Bandhan is celebrated by Dhodia tribe. Other festivals
include Bhawada amongst Varlist, Koli tribes and Khali Puja by all tribes after
harvesting of crops and Gram Devi before harvesting of crops.
Tarpa Dance
Tourism
Tourism sector has been assigned high priority, keeping in view the dense forest
area and favourable climate. The prominent places of tourist interest are Tadekeshwar
Shiva Mandir, Bindrabin, Deer Park at Khanvel, Vanganga Lake and Island Garden,
Dadra, Vanvihar Udhyan Mini Zoo, Bal Udhyan, Tribal Museum, and Hirvavan Garden
at Silvassa. To encourage tourism activities, some traditional and modern cultural
activities like celebration of Tarpa Festival, Kite festival, World Tourism day,
etc., are organised every year.
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