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The Himalaya
The word Himalaya is a compound
of Sanskrit words, hima for snow and alaya
for abode, referring to the lofty range between the
Indo-Gangetic plain and the Tibetan plateau. It extends
nearly 2,400 km in a vast southerly arc between the
bend of the Indus marked by Nanga Parbat (8,125m) on
the west to the Brahmaputra bend around Namcha Barwa
(7,755m) in the east. The Himalayan Range is the loftiest
mountain complex on earth with 31 peaks exceeding 7,600m
in height. The extreme elevation and rugged relief are
the result of rapid mountain-building forces and vigorous
erosion processes. Therefore, the Himalayan chains are
not massive elevations but narrow ridges. In places,
they are traversed by extremely deep river gorges resulting
in great vertical contrasts over very short horizontal
distances.
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© Author |
| 3. Gurung Village, Nepal. Naiche
(1,402m) is a compact village of 54 houses perched
on a ridge to save level ground for fields. The
economy is based on maize and paddy cultivation
along with sheep herding. Most households have a
member serving in a foreign army. |
The Himalayan Range is a singular entity
of immense physical dimension. Therefore, the use of
its plural form, Himalayas, in geological and geographic
context. The former pertains to the north-south transverse
section of structural formation while the latter refers
to the east-west longitudinal sections of regional units.The
well-recognised geological units rising in echelon from
the south to north are the Siwalik, the Lesser Himalaya,
and the Great Himalaya. The Siwalik Range, also called
the sub-Himalaya, is the youngest of all, and abuts
the plains as foothills dipping to the north. It extends
from the Indus almost to the Brahmaputra with one gap
of over 300 km from the Sapta Kosi to the Manas River
where the fierce monsoon erosion has almost worn it
away completely. The second, the Lesser Himalaya, is
older and higher than the Siwalik Range, but with the
same strike alignment. The structure is more complex,
being contorted by uplift into recumbent folds with
older sedimentaries overthrusting younger ones. The
Great Himalaya, the axis and crystalline core of the
whole range, is composed mainly of intruded granites
and gneisses with some sedimentary remnants on the summits.
Apart from at river gorges and some passes, the crest
of the Great Himalaya rarely falls below 5,500m.Between
the Indus and the Brahmaputra, the main range has been
breached by four rivers only: the Sutlej, the Karnali,
the Kali Gandaki, and the Arun.
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The above three-fold geological division
of the Himalaya has a general consensus. In contrast,
the division of the Himalaya into east-west sections
is much at variance, according to authority and approach.
Although most delimitations are based on major rivers
and political units, the number of sections range from
Burrard's four to Bose's nine (Table 2). A standard
survey on Himalayan exploration recognised five sections
(Mason 1955). These were (1) the Punjab Himalaya between
the Indus and Sutlej rivers, (2) the Kumaon Himalaya
between the Sutlej and Mahakali-Sarda rivers, (3) the
Nepal Himalaya with three sub-sections between the Mahakali-Sarda
River and Singalila ridge, (4) the Sikkim Himalaya corresponding
to the Tista basin, and (5) the Assam Himalaya, east
of Sikkim to the Brahmaputra-Dihang. Another authoritative
regional study on the Indian sub-continent proposed
eight sections (Spate 1957). It further designated Kashmir
and the Karakoram as western; Himachal Pradesh, Kumaon,
and most of Nepal as central; and east Nepal, Sikkim,
Bhutan, and the NEFA as the eastern Himalaya. A more
logical division seems to be that of Bose (1972) which
has nine sections (Table 2) grouped into three primary
divisions, each with three secondary sections. Thus,
(a)the Western Himalaya includes Jammu & Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand; (b) the Central Himalaya
includes the Ghagra (Karnali), Gandak, and Kosi basins
of Nepal; and (c) the Eastern Himalaya, the sections
of Sikkim, Bhutan, and Assam. The whole area hosts a
variety of settlement patterns and peoples (Plates 3
and 4).
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© Madhukar
Rana |
4. Traditional Bhutanese
Dance
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The Western Himalaya, extending 870
km from the Indus to the Mahakali-Sarda rivers lies
in political India. West of the Ravi, the width of the
mountain proper is close to 483 km with parallel ranges
of the Siwalik, Pir Panjal, Main Himalaya, Zanskar,
and Ladakh. The climate is influenced by the westerly
cyclones and is markedly dry. The economy is partly
agriculture with irrigation and partly nomadic. East
of the Ravi, the range systems of the Siwaliks, Dhaula
Dhar, and Main Himalaya are much more compressed than
the 483km of the mountain proper. Crop cultivation is
general, although the nomadic Gaddi, a group similar
to the Bakarwal of Kashmir (Casimir and Rao 1986), practice
seasonal transhumance (Box 1). Forest resources also
become important. Culturally, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand
are decidedly Hindu in contrast to the predominance
of Islam in Kashmir and Buddhism in Ladakh.
The Central Himalaya, extending 800
km from the Mahakali-Sarda to the Mechi rivers, corresponds
to the longitudinal extension of Nepal encompassing
the Karnali, Gandaki, and Kosi basins. The main ranges
include the Chure (Siwalik), Mahabharat Lekh, Lesser
Himalaya, and Main Himalaya. West of 80° longitude,
a tributary range diverges north-west from the Himalayan
axis to mark the watershed between the Ganges and the
Tsangpo. Of the world's 14 peaks exceeding 8,000 metres,
eight are in the Central or Nepal Himalaya. The climate
is very much influenced by the rhythm of the monsoons.
Subsistence crop farming is predominant and the humid
east has a higher population density than the west.
The ethnic interface is apparent with a predominance
of caste Caucasoids in the western and lower zones and
of tribal Mongoloids in the eastern higher zones.
The Eastern Himalaya, extending another
800 km east of Nepal, is mostly in political India,
a gap being formed by Bhutan. The main axis is emphatic
despite being comparatively low where some of the lowest
passes in the Himalaya occur. In this section, the Lesser
Himalaya appear quite prominent in Sikkim and Bhutan.
Further east, the range is more compact, scoured by
only a few rivers. The climate is decidedly humid with
rich vegetation, and shifting cultivation is common.
Sikkim, enconsed between Nepal and Bhutan, has three
distinct population groups. The autochthonous Lepcha
practice slash-and-burn agriculture following a seven-year
rotation cycle (Bhasin et al. 1984). The Bhotia of the
north engage in transhumance with herds of yaks and
sheep. The southern area has been overwhelmed by migrants
from east Nepal who practice sedentary cultivation of
rice and maize. Cardamom, as a cash crop, was introduced
at the beginning of this century. Bhutan is the least
populated state in South Asia with much of its forests
still in a pristine state. The population is predominantly
Bhotia with some Monpa tribals in the south-east. The
people of the East Himalaya are Mongoloid, practising
Lamaist Buddhism in Sikkim and Bhutan while others are
mostly animists. The tribal groups east of Bhutan are
the Aka, Monpa, Nishi, Miri, and Abor (Rustomji 1971).
Box 1
Land Use Diversity in the Himalaya
The Himalayan Range extends over nine
degrees of latitude and 22 degrees of longitude. Thus,
there is significant variation in ecological environment.
The first variation is latitudinal in that the upper
timber-line rises from 3,400 - 3,800m in the southern
ranges to 4,400-4,600m in Tibet 1.
The second variation is zonal and related to altitude,
from the tropical valley bottom to the alpine snow heights.
The third variation is due to the climatic asymmetry
from the humid south-east to the arid north-west. Land
use is influenced by the biogeographical regime expressed
in the type of flora and fauna. Transhumance, sedentary
agriculture, and shifting cultivation are three types
of divergent responses to highland use. They not only
represent varied stages of land occupancy but can also
co-exist as complementary economies.
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© Author |
| 5. Forests and Meadow, Kashmir.
Horses of Bakarwal herders grazing on the north
slope of Pir Panjab. The main herd consists of sheep
and goats that traverse seasonally between Dras
in Summer and Jammu in Winter. |
1. Transhumance: The example
of transhumance is from the Western Himalaya. The basic
characteristic of the highland is vertical zonation
of resources, and people have to be mobile in order
to use them. This is best represented by the seasonal
movement of people with their animals. This pattern
of land use is particularly pronounced in the arid Western
Himalaya. The Bakarwal, a nomadic group, practise sheep
and goat husbandry, exploiting the various biotopes
of different altitudes 2.
This extends over 250 km from Kathuwa in Jammu to Dras
in northern Kashmir. They winter in the foothills in
Jammu (500-1,000m) where their herds feed on Acacia-Carissa
woodlands. The upward migration commences in mid-April
and passes through sub-montane, montane, and altomontane
vegetation zones in succession. The summer pastures
until the end of August are between 3,000-4,000m in
elevation. En route, they have to contend with both
settled agriculturalists and forest administration.
Such an extended system of land use is a strategy to
maximise a subsistence livelihood (Plate 5).
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© Author |
| 6. Terraced Fields on Mountain Slopes |
2. Sedentary Agriculture: The
example of sedentary agriculture is from the Central
Himalaya. Kakani area, north-west of Kathmandu, is at
1,250-1,650m and includes agricultural land of two types
3. Lower irrigated
fields have terraces with horizontal surfaces and bunds
to retain water for paddy. The upper fields have outward
sloping terraces and grow crops such as maize and millet
(Plate 6). Still higher up are common shrublands for
animal grazing. The most pervasive environmental risks
are landslides on upper slopes and floods in the valley
bottom. What farmers know about landslides is closely
connected to their assessment of land for agricultural
use. There are two divergent responses. One is de-intensification
whereby irrigated land is used for dry crops with lower
labour input and lower yield per unit of land. Decisions
to intensify imply in creased hardship to the household
and are made only in the face of lack of resources for
restoration. On the other hand, pressing household needs
induce the tendency to upgrade all land to its most
intensive use. The more valuable the land and every
practicable effort is expended to protect it. Encroachment
on marginal land on higher and steeper slopes is one
of the causes of erosion in the highlands of Nepal.
Overall, the higher the productivity of the land, the
greater the effort for maintenance to minimise environmental
risks.
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© Author |
| 7. Burning Fields for Shifting Cultivation
(Jhuming) |
3. Shifting Cultivation: The
example of shifting cultivation is from the Eastern
Himalaya where the humid climate supports luxuriant
vegeta tion. Shifting cultivation or jhum (collective
in Assamese) is the easiest, cheapest, and most profitable
technique of land use available to tribal communities
in north-east India 4.
A suitable patch of hill slope is selected for clearance
based on type and growth of vegetation, depth and texture
of soil, and exposure to sunshine. The vegetation is
cut and left to dry before it is set on fire (Plate
7). Big trees are not felled. The alkali content of
the ash neutralises the acidic content of the humid
soil. No animal power is used and seeds are either dibbled
with a stick or broadcast with little disturbance to
the land surface. The method basically involves cultivating
sloping ground without terracing and other permanent
investments. What is exploited is the natural fertility
of the land. When the soil loses its fertility, the
patch is abandoned and another area is cleared for cultivation.
Long rested jhum land is usually fertile and can be
used for two to three years. A number of patches of
land are thus locked under a jhum cycle. Environmental
problems under shifting cultivation has generally to
do with the length of the rest period: the shorter the
cycle of jhum with population pressure, the greater
the soil erosion.
Source: Harka
Gurung. `Mitigation of Environmental Risks in the Highlands'.
Paper presented at IFAD Project Implementation Workshop
for the Asia and Pacific Region, Chengdu, China, 22
Oct-2 Nov 1990.
1. Troll 1967 [back]
2. Casimir and Rao 1986 [back]
3. Johnson et al. 1982 [back]
4. Barthakur 1981 [back]
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