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Cold
Desert & Dry Temperate
Areas
Forests:
The forest area is meagre and well below the norm of 50 percent
laid down in the National Forest Policy. Despite the moratorium
on tree felling, a great deal of thinning of forests is continuing
to meet the need for timber, firewood, packaging material for
horticultural produce, etc. The regular allocation of forest
trees to the rights holders are generally more than their actual
need and exceed the annual yields of forests.
The thin forests of juniper
and birch in the cold desert have vanished with the growing
demand for fuel-wood and timber. There is acute shortage of
both these items. Recently, the Forest Department and the Desert
Development Project authorities have raised some plantations
along the perennial water sources. The local inhabitants remove
all types of shrubs and thorny bushes along with roots for meeting
their fuel-wood needs. It strips the region even of its sparse
vegetative cover.
Cultivated
Land:
Because of steep and rugged terrain, agricultural land available
in the region is meagre, around 1-2 percent in dry temperate
region and less than 1 percent in cold desert areas. The traditional
cropping practices have led to diminished land productivity.
Most of it is under low-yielding millet and barley. Of late,
the area under millet is decreasing with proportionate increase
under fruits.
Soil erosion is a major affliction
in the entire region. The factors for responsible for it are
steep topographic gradient, neo-glacial events, poor soil structure,
clay rich ricks, widespread deposits of limestone and lacustrine
mud that flow when saturated. Deforestation, large-scale grazing
by nomadic shepherds, road construction mining and other development
projects are the other anthropogenic factors. The combined effect
of both has led to widespread surface erosion and soil mass
movement. In Himachal Pradesh, about 25 million tons of soil
annually find its way into rivers and streams. Sediment load
of rivers is almost 20 times the desired level in summer months.
It adversely affects the operational efficiency of hydro-electric
projects and reduces the lifecycle of water reservoirs downstream.
The problems are alarming and the cost of rehabilitation very
high. But the geomorphic and hydrologic characteristics of the
region can be ignored only at the grave risk to downstream ecology.
The following steps are recommended for improving the situation:
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Alpine
pasture lands should be precisely surveyed, their fertiliser
requirement determined and promising grass species identified.
Based on this in-depth survey and with the involvement of
the local people, a plan of action should be chalked out
and implemented |
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The
system of grazing should be reviewed and redesigned to suit
the ecological requirements |
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Intensive
and effective afforestation should be done in non-demarcated
forests and community lands; demarcated forest areas should
be protected from further tree-cover loss |
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The
rights of the people to forest trees should be reviewed
and rationalised in keeping with their actual needs; |
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Hydro-electric
power potential should be harnessed through ecologically
sound methods and supplied to local population to reduce
their dependence on fuel-wood for cooking and heating |
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Poplars
and willows have good potential in cold desert and their
plantations should be encouraged; juniper propagation techniques
should also be perfected |
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In
cultivated areas, horticulture should be encouraged and
farmers given incentives to grow remunerative crops like
potato, peas, cabbage, saffron and black cumin. Pea cultivation
in cold desert areas has economic potential as the crop
can be sold during off-season in the plains; |
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Soil
and water conservation methods should be adapted to local
conditions and adopted on a larger scale. |
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Dr P D SHARMA
Associate
Professor
Department of Social Sciences
Himachal Pradesh Krishi Viswavidyalaya
Palampur
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