The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC;) on January 31, 2024, issued a notification regarding the declaration of the Union Territory of Ladakh as an Air Pollution Control Area. The following has been stated: In exercise of the powers conferred by section 6 and Sub-section (1) of section …
The document on Project Snow Leopard launched by MoEF recently. It stresses on the landscape approach to wildlife conservation in the Himalayan high altitudes and is based on principles of robust science and community involvement in conservation. On 20 January 2009, the Government of India announced a new and ambitious …
Annual extreme rainfall series of 1-3 day durations at stations located inside the Indus basin in India were subjected to statistical analysis in order to estimate point Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) and maximum rainfall of different return periods for the durations of 1-3 days. Daily rainfall data of 210 stations …
Climate Change Impacts on Freshwater Ecosystems in the Himalayas (CCIFEH) Programme is a joint initiative of WWF-India and WWF Nepal, funded by WWF-The Netherlands. The Programme entails a panorama of actions working towards understanding future climate change impacts on Himalayan river ecosystems and vulnerable communities for the development of adaptation …
The decision by Jammu and Kashmir's Leh district to declare the Changthang region a highaltitude wildlife sanctuary has put Ladakh's Changpa nomads in a fix. The nomads have, for long, been using the land for grazing their livestock including their famous pashm goats. They say the decision will hem them …
The mismanagement of water is one of the most pressing development problems of the day. This research argues that, in some circumstances, an often-neglected form of water management, communal property management, can offer a viable solution to this problem. India has a rich history of traditional water management. Within India, …
Rain is a stranger in the cold desert spread across Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir. Adjoining the Tibetan plateau, the high-altitude region falls in a rain shadow beyond the Himalaya range
The people of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, are grappling with the menace of locusts, the migratory grasshoppers. Experts suspect that the pests, Locusta migratoria, have migrated from neighbouring China along the banks of the river Indus due to climatic changes. Ladakh's Changpa nomads say they first noticed the locusts crossing …
Livestock production is the primary source of livelihood and income in most of the high steppe and alpine regions of the Indian Trans-Himalaya. In some areas, especially those established or proposed for biodiversity conservation, recent increases in populations of domestic livestock, primarily sheep and goats, have raised concern about domestic …
This report on Black-necked Crane is the result of intensive studies and surveys in the harsh and unique environment of Ladakh. There are several findings which will be of great interest to ornithologists and particularly people working on cranes. The report takes into account the interest of the general reader …
In August 2004, two officials of Ladakh Foods Limited (lfl), a Leh-based company processing seabuckthorn (Leh berry) were charged with embezzling Rs 3 crores (see
the natives of Ladakh recently earned a huge profit through direct auctioning of the processed pulp of seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides var turkestanica) berries. The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (lahdc), through cooperatives formed among local communities, sold nearly 86,000 kilogrammes (kg) of the pulp to Arctic Bio-Pro Limited, a Delhi-based …
a major scam has been exposed in a venture aimed at accelerating the economic growth of farmers of the Ladakh region. The case involves two former top officials of the Ladakh Food Limited (lfl), which manufactures the popular Leh Berry brand of seabuckthorn nectar. The father-son duo of D K …
Livestock depredation by the endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is an increasingly contentious issue in Himalayan villages, especially in or near protected areas. Mass attacks in which as many as 100 sheep and goats are killed in a single incident inevitably result in retaliation by local villagers. This article describes …
In Ladakh, the rest of India is referred to as down . Because, at no point in Leh district would you be less than about three kilometres above the mean sea level. This vast barren district is more than 45,000 square kilometre (sq km); it is perhaps India's largest and …
In Ladakhi, lango khel means conquering the highest point of a pass in the mountains. In Ladakhi schools, it means the matriculation (class X) examination. From 1947 to 1998, matriculation results in Leh district hovered between 0-5 per cent. The reasons are not difficult to fathom. Children grew up speaking …
Life in a cold desert is harsh and exacting. You need enormous amounts of energy for everything, but there are very few sources. Getting electricity to light up houses in Leh is no easy task. About two-thirds of the power supply in the summer comes from diesel generator sets (DG) …
It is widely accepted that panchayati raj is shaping up much better in Leh as compared to other districts of J&K.; The first real panchayat elections in the state were held only in May 2001. Even then, modalities of decentralisation of power to elected village representatives were not issued. After …
The most remarkable aspect of the developmental challenges in Leh district is the small margin for error. Resources are highly limited. Ladakh's ecology is fragile. Unbridled tourism will imperil the pastures of Changthang that support the pashmina goats and the Changpa nomads. The good news from Leh is that the …
What has been the impact of the Public Distribution System (PDS) on Ladakhi agriculture? The subsidy culture has definitely killed local agriculture in Ladakh. What international trade distortions are doing to Indian agriculturethe subsidy system is doing to Ladakhi agriculture. It is exactly the same as industrialised countries dumping their …
