Saving the earth
a stretch of barren hilly land is called changar in Himachal Pradesh. Since it lacks irrigation, agriculture on changar is difficult. About 427 sq km land in the basin of the river Beas in Kangra district is changar . It is spread over 99 pancha yats and 570 villages where, on an average, 20 ha land is wasteland. These wastelands have been created by soil erosion, steep slopes, rocky soil infestation by weeds and proliferation of bushes. Human factors like overgrazing, deforestation and slate mining are also partly responsible for creation of changar .
This area falls in the sub-tropical climatic zone, with dry summers and winters, and heavy rainfall in the monsoon season. While the average annual rainfall is 1,200 mm, the precipitation shows sharp fluctuations. In summer, there is a great difference between the minimum and maximum temperatures. These extremes in climate often enhance the rate of erosion in this region. Since the soil is generally shallow, erosion exposes the hard bedrock, referred to as sappar .
Geologically, the region comes under the ‘Siwalik group’, and the rocks usually found are sandstone, pebbly sandstone with minor clays, mudstone and siltstone. Gairmumkin land
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