E-Paper
To preserve alpine meadows in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh, no more overnight stays, bonfires
Apart from the highly-visited Khalia, Chiplakedar and Namik meadows, the district has over 10 meadows that need preservation.
In a bid to preserve high Himalayan alpine meadows, the Pithoragarh forest division has restricted night stays by tourists, tenting and campfires in these grasslands with immediate effect.
Navin Pant, sub-divisional forest officer of the Pithoragarh forest division said, “To preserve alpine meadows above the height of 3500 metres in Munsiyari forest range, we have taken this step. We have developed enough structures to implement the restriction and the conservation process will start from Khalia Bugyal.”
He added that apart from the highly-visited Khalia, Chiplakedar and Namik meadows, the district has over 10 meadows that need preservation.
According to the forest officer, camping and bonfires on the meadows lead to soil erosion and pollution on the otherwise clean land.
“The soil erosion and damage to the top layer of the soil also restricts the blossoming of flowers in summer months and depletion of local vegetation,” Pant said.
As part of soil erosion in the meadows, usually, initially, sheet erosion happens, which turns into rill erosion due to heavy rainfall leading to gully erosion, a widespread form of soil depletion caused by surface water flow. This leads to the formation of channels in the meadows.
The forest department officials have also restricted the number of daily visitors to the meadows. The official said that not more than 200 tourists will be allowed for a day visit to these meadows and the violators will be dealt with provisions under the Indian Forest Act. The officials have also decided to remove exotic vegetation from the meadows which will be rooted out and promote the growth of local vegetation cover in the area.
