Ecology and Environment in the Himalayas

Today environment and ecology are the buzzwords. The pace of development and modernisation has endangered the ecological balance of Himalaya. When the British brought railways in India in the late eighteenth century, the Himalayan jungles were denuded of vast forests cover due to the demand for sleepers. When in early nineteenth century, the Britishers attempted to curb wanton tree-felling, there arose resentment among the people of Garhwal and Kumaon in Uttarakhand. But in later times, those very women folk took to Chipko movement to curb tree-felling. The book gives a multitude of ill-effects of tree-felling ranging from soil-erosion to causing floods in the plains, and depositing silt. The shrinking of various Himalayan glaciers has also created alarm among the global ecologists and environmentalists. Denudation of forests also has been causing landslides and endangering the wildlife. Now the efforts are being made to avert the man-made disaster. This book comes to grips with the magnitude of problem in the entire Himalayan region.