Vol1-Chapter3

3.1.1 Volume I: Part I: Section 3: Chapter: 1

Comprehensive CAT Plan of Satluj River Basin

Section 3

Collection of Other Secondary data

Chapter 1:

Physical Factors (Land Forms)

1.1 Introduction

This chapter deals with types and

sources of secondary data collected.

Physical features affect the catchment

positively as well as negatively.

Inventorying these features has

provided the base to arrive at the

treatment measures for improvement of

catchment in terms of soil and water

conservation. While an overview of

Satluj basin is provided in this chapter,

the full details for each MWS in each

Sub-catchment is provided in Volumes

IV to XV

Sr.

No. Data Sources

1. Rivers,

Rivulets, and

Tributaries;

Boundaries of

Watershed,

Sub-

Watershed

and Micro-

Watershed;

Survey of India;

All India Landuse

and Soil Survey

2. Village, Taluka

and District

boundaries;

urban and

village

settlement

areas; roads

and highways

Survey of India,

Directorate of

Economics and

Statistics (HP

Govt.), Revenue

Dept (HP),

HPPWD,

3. Soil type data National Bureau

of Soil Survey

and Land use

Planning

4. All geological

features

(faults,

fissures, etc.)

and location of

Geological

Survey of India

major

landslides

5. Forest areas

including

forest divisions

and forest

beats

Forest Survey of

India, Forest

Department

6. Grazing areas;

cultivated

areas and

orchards or

areas under

plantation

State

Agricultural

Universities,

Solan And

Palampur,

Horticulture,

Agricultural And

Forest

Department,

State Revenue

Dept.

7. Siltation data Bhakra Beas

Management

Board, Satluj Jal

Vidyut Nigam,

Jaypee Hydro-

electric, CWC,

other Hydro-

electric projects

like NJPC,

Sorang, Ganvi

etc

Areas under erosion were taken as per

the identification available from the

National Bureau of Soil Survey and

Land Use Planning and a delineation of

the areas was done with respect to the

erosion intensity.

Following thematic maps were used for

delineating areas prone to soil erosion.

• Land use/ Land cover map (Data

generated from Indian Remote

Sensing (IRS), LISS III sensor



• Slope map (generated through

standard triangulation techniques

using digitized counters at 40 m

interval derived from Survey of

India 1:50,000 scale topographic

sheets.)

• Soil map ( digitized and produced

using soil maps available from

National Bureau of Soil Survey and

Land use Planning)

• Prioritization of each sub-watershed

was done which would make the

basis for selection of area for

treatment of the catchment.

The information concerning FCA cases

for diversion of forest lands for non

forest use in the Satluj basin since 1991

was also studied. This included

following:

1. Area of forest diverted,

2. All amounts levied on the different project implementing agencies on

account of

i. Compensatory Afforestation,

ii. Lease Value of Forest Land,

iii. Net present value of forests, and

iv. Any other amount levied in

connection with diversion of

forest land was gathered from

the Forest Department.

• Statistics of biodiversity, plantation

and forest conservation program

was gathered from previous

ecological assessment reports.

• All this data was collected

separately for each forest division.

NERIL also collected data on how

much of the amounts levied on the

project implementing agencies has

been recovered by the forest

department, and thereafter how

these amounts were allocated to

each DFOs within the forest

department.

• Progress reports for CAT Plan

implementation were collected. The

expenditure of the amounts

collected from the project

implementing agencies was

assessed. The expenditure data

were collected at the level of

individual micro-watershed and then

incorporated in the GIS portal.

• The requirement of ToR is that the

data in respect of all other

plantation, afforestation and forest

conservation programs, including

state and national government

funded forestry projects or schemes,

all externally financed projects, all

watershed projects etc. be gathered.

However, it is stated that, this was

not available at village, block and

tehsil level. NERIL attempted to

obtain this data from all these levels

plus from the planning commission

at Shimla. It is stated that in the

absence of such secondary data

NERIL has relied upon the primary

data obtained during its 100% site

survey.

1.2 Landforms

Earth is a collaboration of the various

physical features found on its surface.

Landforms are the geographical

features of earth that manipulate and

control the ecosystem, climate, weather

and above all they affect the life on the

earth.

Forces of nature like wind, water, ice

and the movement of the tectonic

plates of the earth, have all contributed

in the formation of these landforms.

Some of these landforms are created

within few hours while others take

years to form and appear. It is essential

for these landforms to move and grow

in a systematic order under full control

and supervision of the natural forces.

Any deviation in the normal movement

or existence of these landforms can

cause immense destruction to life and

property.



In other words, according to earth

sciences and geology sub-fields, a

landform or a physical feature

comprises of a geomorphological unit,

and is largely defined by its surface

form and location in the landscape, as

part of the terrain, and as such, is

typically an element of topography.

Landforms are categorized by

characteristic physical attributes such

as elevation, slope, orientation,

stratification, rock exposure, and soil

type.1 The entire catchment area of

Satluj River has 5 different types of

landforms.2 They are listed in this table.

The Lesser (Lower)

Himalayan Range lies to

the north of the Sub-

Himalayan or Sivalik

Range and south of the

Greater Himalayas. The

height of these

mountains varies from

1800 to 4600 meters.

Millions of years of

folding, faulting and over

thrusting have resulted

into the formation of

these mountains.3

The Greater Himalayas are the only

areas in the world other than the Polar

Regions to be covered with glaciers and

permafrost. The Satluj basin comprises

of the high hills of the Greater

Himalayas as well as the Lesser

Himalayas that have intense slope.

1 List of landforms-Wikipedia 2 State Land Use Board, Himachal Pradesh Govt. 3 type of landforms- http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/types-of-landforms-11269.html

Glaciers are large persistent bodies of

ice that originate on land and slowly

flow due to the stresses induced by

their weight. Glaciers form where the

accumulation of snow and ice exceeds

ablation (removal of

material from the

surface of an object by

vaporization, chipping,

or other erosive

processes). There is a

debate on whether

glaciers are more

erosive than streams,

where some workers like

Clague, 1986; Braun,

1989; claim that glaciers

are more erosive than

streams while some workers like

Sugden, 1976, 1978; Lindstro¨m,

1988; have found evidences that there

is no or little difference in their erosive

powers.4

A valley is a landform, which can range

from a few square kilometres to

hundreds of square kilometres in area.

It is typically a low-lying area of land,

surrounded by higher areas such as

mountains or hills. Glacial valleys tend

to have a peculiar U-shape that

contrasts sharply with the V-shape

created by stream erosion.5 The glacial

valleys were formed several thousand

years ago (mostly during the last Ice

Age) because of the erosive power of

4 David R Montgomery ,Valley formation by Fluvial and glacial erosion ,Department of Earth and Space sciences, University of Washington,Seattle,Washington-98195,USA 5 Fundamental e-book-Landforms of glaciations- Physicalgeography.net

Unit Description

1 Glaciers

2 Steep to very steep high

hills of Greater Himalayas

3 Steep to very steep high

hills of Lesser Himalayas

6 Glacio-fluvial valley

7 Fluvial valley (River)



glaciers. Glacio-fluvial valleys are

formed when the material moved by

glaciers is later sorted and redeposited

by flowing streams and rivers formed as

a result of the melting ice.

Fluvial processes comprise the motion

of sediment and erosion or deposition

(geology) on the river bed.6 Fluvial

valleys are V shaped valleys and are

created as a result of stream erosion.

Physically based models have proposed

that the development of U-shaped

glacial valleys takes place from initially

V-shaped fluvial valleys (Harbor et al.,

1988; Hirano and Aniya, 1988; Harbor,

1992).7 The distribution of these

landforms in our project area can be

seen in the map given here after:

6 Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia 7 David R Montgomery, Valley formation by Fluvial and glacial erosion, Department of Earth and Space sciences, University of Washington,Seattle,Washington-98195,USA



Unit Description

1 Glaciers

2 Steep to very steep high hills of Greater

Himalayas

3 Steep to very steep high hills of Lesser

Himalayas

6 Glacio-fluvial valley

7 Fluvial valley (River)

Note: Units are assigned to facilitate short and simple representation of the landform titles which are

descriptive in nature. These units will be used as names of the landforms.

It can be seen from the map above that

Glacio-fluvial type is seen in very small

region in pink colour with unit no. 6.

The major area is covered by type

Steep to very steep high hills of Greater

Himalayas followed by Steep to very

steep high hills of Lesser Himalayas.

Glaciers are also seen in some region.

Thus our study area has a variety of

landforms that range from glaciers to

steep hills of the Himalayas.

7

3.2.1 Volume I: Part I: Section 3: Chapter 2


Section 3: Chapter 2:

Physical Factors (Forest types)

According to the India State Forest

Report, 2009 of FSI, the actual forest

area occupied in HP is 14668 km² that

accounts to about 26.35% of its area.

The forest cover of Himachal Pradesh

constitutes to nearly 0.44% of the total

forest cover of India.1

When forests are classified into

different types, the key factors taken

into consideration are climate, soil

type, topography, and elevation. As a

result, the forest types vary from

region to region. Thus out of the

various types of forests that are

present in India, our study area has

the following forest types:

Sr

No Forest types Units

1 Dry alpine forests 1

2 Moist alpine forests 2

3 Sub-alpine forests 3

4

Himalayan moist temperate

forests 4

5 Sub-tropical pine forests 6

6

Sub-tropical broad leaved

hill forests 7

Note: Units are assigned to the forest types so as

to facilitate short and simple representation of

the forest types which are descriptive in nature.

These units will be used as names of the forest

types

1 Forest Survey of India report,2009-Himachal Pradesh

The trees commonly found in the Dry

alpine forests are Juniperus, Caragana,

Dry alpine forests - Juniperus

Eurctia,Salix and Myricaria. These trees

and shrubs have needle shaped leaves

which reduce transpiration in the

extreme cold climate.

Chief characteristic feature of the moist

alpine forest is dominance of dwarf,

evergreen shrubby conifers and broad-

leaved trees along with prominent

shrub layer under them. The dominant

trees in these forests are Juniperus and

Rhododendron while prominent shrubs

are Thalictrum, Lonicera, Saxifraga,

Arenaria, Bergia, Sedum and Primula.

These shrubs have beautifully colored

flowers and fruits.



Moist alpine forests- Arenaria

The characteristic feature of the sub-

alpine forests is presence of some

evergreen conifers and broad-leaved

trees along with prominent shrub layer.

These Sub-alpine trees have triangular

shape so as to prevent excess

accumulation of snow on their

surfaces2.

Sub-alpine forests - Betulla utilis

The Himalayan Moist temperate types

of forests are also present in the

catchment area of Satluj which is

under our study. These forests are

found at 1700-3500 m altitude in

eastern and western Himalayas. They

occur in areas having annual rainfall

2 Environment of Earth-Physiographical regions of India

above 100 cm. These forests have a

combination of evergreen and

deciduous trees. The evergreen trees

have leaves throughout the year

whereas the deciduous types shed

leaves at maturity. The trees that are

commonly observed are pines or

spruces like Pinus wallichiana, Picea

smithiana, Abies pindrew etc.3

Himalayan Moist temperate– Cedrus

deodara

Sub-tropical pine forests occur in the

middle altitudes i.e. between 1500-

2000m of the Himalayas. Chief

characteristics of the forests are pine

trees like Pinus roxburghii and Pinus

khasiana.

3 Environment of Earth-Natural vegetation of India



Sub-tropical pine–Pinus roxburghii

Another type of forest observed in our

study area is Sub-tropical broad leaved

hill forest. As the name suggests, the

forests comprise of broad leaved trees

like Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia catachu,

Cedrela toona, Anthocephalus

cadamba, Lagerstroemia parviflora.

The soil is rich in alluvium deposited by

rivers that drain through the

Himalayas.4

4 Environment of Earth-Natural vegetation of India

Sub-tropical broad leaved - Acacia

catechu

The details account of the trees

mentioned above can be found in the

Biodiversity section of the report.

The distribution of these Forest types

in our project area has been

represented in the map given at the

end of this chapter:

As described previously, elevation

plays an important role in deciding the

forest type of a region. Similarly in the

project area, the tropical zone extends

from 1000-1200 m while the sub-

tropical zone is present upto 2200m.

The sub-tropical zone is an

intermediate between the Tropical and

Alpine zone. The alpine zone exists

between the Tree line and the

Snowline. The tree line is the edge of

habitat beyond which trees are unable

to grow because of the harsh

environmental conditions whereas the

Snow line is point above which snow

and ice cover the ground throughout

the year. The Alpine type of forest is

further divided into 3 subtypes viz Dry

Alpine, Moist Alpine and Sub-alpine.

The Dry alpine forest extends from

2,200 to 2,700 m while the Moist

Alpine forest are present between

2,700 to 3,600 m. The Sub-alpine



forests are present just below the

snowline upto an elevation of 5000m.

This map shows that there are 6

different types of forest in the Project

area. The details of the types of forest

are described in the following section:

Map showing the various forest types of the Satluj Catchment

Dry alpine forests

Moist alpine forests

Sub-alpine forests

Himalayan moist temperate forests

Sub-tropical pine forests

Sub-tropical broad leaved hill forests

Satluj river

Spiti river

3.3.1 Volume: I: Part I: Section: 3 Chapter: 3



Physical Factors (Agro-Ecological zones)

India is gifted with heterogeneous

landforms. It has a variety of climatic

conditions like the lofty mountains,

raverine deltas, high altitude forests

and peninsular plateaus. Besides it is

also endowed with temperatures

varying from arctic cold to equatorial

hot, and rainfall from extreme aridity

with only a few cms (<10 cm) to

perhumid with world’s maximum

rainfall (1120 cm) of several hundred

cms. These factors have led to

formation of varied landforms like

high plateau, open valleys, rolling

upland, plains, swampy low lands

and barren deserts. Such varying

environmental situations in the

country have resulted in a greater

variety of soils. Therefore, the

systematic appraisal of agro-

ecological regions has tremendous

scope in grouping relatively

homogenous regions in terms of soil,

climate and physiography and

conducive moisture availability

periods (length of growing season).1

The nomenclature used in describing

AEZ may be denoted as CBcPL

Where:

C= Climate

Bc = Bioclimate

P= Physiography

LGP= Length of growing period

(days)

1 K.S Gajbhiye and C.Mandal, Agro-Ecological Zones, their Soil Resource and Cropping Systems ,National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur

Climate of the study region is cold or

warm. The climate is dependent on

the elevation of the region. Our

project area has a variety of

bioclimatic conditions that range

from Arid, Semi-arid, Semi-dry, Dry,

Sub-Humid, Per humid to Moist. The

physiography or location of our

project is the Lesser or Greater

Himalayas. The length of growing

period refers to the time taken in

days by the crops grown in the

particular region. Here the LGP

ranges from less than 60 days to 330

days. It can be observed here that

time required for the growth of crops

increases as we go from higher

elevation to lower elevation.



The agro-ecological zones (AEZ) which are present in our project area are:

Sr

No Agro-ecological zone Unit

1 Cold, Arid, Greater Himalayas with <60 days LGP 1

2

Cold to Warm Semi-arid, Semi-dry, Greater Himalayas with 60-120

days LGP 2

3 Warm, Dry, Sub-Humid, Greater Himalayas with 120-180 days LGP 3

4 Warm, Sub-humid, Moist, Lesser Himalayas with 180-270 days LGP 5

5 Warm, Per humid, Lesser Himalayas with 270-300 days LGP 6

6 Humid/Per humid, Lesser Himalayas with 300-330 days LGP 7

Note: Units are assigned to the agro-ecological zones so as to facilitate short and simple representation of

the agro-ecological zones which are descriptive in nature. Henceforth these units will be used as names of

the agro-ecological zones.

Farms on the banks of Spiti – A view from the Key Monastery



The LGP refers to Length of growing period in days for a certain crop. The distribution

of the agro-ecological zones in our project area can be seen in the map given below:

Legend:

Map showing the distribution of various agro-ecological zones in the Satluj catchment

Cold, Arid, Greater Himalayas with <60 days LGP

Cold to Warm Semi-arid, Semi-dry, Greater Himalayas with 60-120 days LGP

Warm, Dry, Sub-Humid, Greater Himalayas with 120-180 days LGP

Warm, Sub-humid, Moist, Lesser Himalayas with 180-270 days LGP

Warm, Per humid, Lesser Himalayas with 270-300 days LGP

Humid/Per humid, Lesser Himalayas with 300-330 days LGP

Satluj river

Sub catchment boundary




Physical Factors (Soil types)

Soil is one of the most important

natural resource. It is indispensable for

the existence of plants and animals. Most soil forming material is derived

from the disintegration of rocks by a

process known as weathering. This

process involves a combination of

mechanical agents such as expansion

and contraction, and chemical

reactions such as solution. Besides

various biological processes which are

driven by microbes and plants play an

important role in soil formation.

Soils of India are classified based on

their colour, structure and place where

they are found. Himachal Pradesh is

present in the mountainous region and

it is well drained by a wide range of

seasonal and perennial rivers. These

rivers carry a lot of silt and deposit the

alluvium on the banks. As a result, the

soil types vary in Himachal Pradesh.

The soil types which are present in our project area are:

Sr

No Soil types Unit

1 Rock outcrops covered with glaciers: associated with: Shallow, excessively

drained, sandy skeletal soils with sandy surface, severe erosion and

strong stoniness. 1

2 Shallow, excessively drained, sandy skeletal soils on very steep slopes

with sandy surface, severe erosion and moderate stoniness, associated

with: Rock outcrops. 2

3 Mountain & valley glaciers & rock outcrops; associated with; medium

deep, excessively drained, sandy-skeletal soil on very steep slopes with

sandy surface, severe erosion & moderate stoniness. 5

4 Rock outcrops associated with medium deep excessively drained, loamy-

skeletal soils on very steep slopes with loamy surface, severe erosion and

moderate stoniness. 8

5 Rock outcrops associated with deep, excessively drained, sandy-skeletal

soils with loamy surface, very severe erosion and moderate stoniness. 16

6 Shallow, somewhat excessively drained, mesic, coarse-loamy soils on

moderate slopes with loamy surface and severe drained, fine-loamy soils

with loamy surface and severe erosion. 27

7 Rock outcrops associated with, Medium deep, excessively drained, mesic

loamy-skeletal soils on very steep slopes with loamy surface, severe

erosion and moderate stoniness. 29

8 Deep. Excessively drained, mesic. Loamy. Skeletal soils on very steep

slopes with loamy surface. severe erosion and moderate stoniness

associated with Rock outcrops 31

9 Rock outcrops, associated with Medium deep, somewhat excessively

drained, mesic, sandy soils on steep slopes with sandy surface and severe

erosion. 32



Sr

No Soil types Unit

10 Medium deep, somewhat excessively drained, mesic, coarse-loamy soils

on moderate slopes with loamy surface, severe erosion and slight

stoniness associated with Shallow, somewhat excessively drained, coarse-

loamy soils with loamy surface, severe erosion and slight stoniness. 34

11 Shallow, excessively drained. Thermic, sandy-skeletal soils on steep

slopes with loamy surface, very severe erosion and strong stoniness,

associated with, Rock outcrops. 36

12 Shallow, somewhat excessively drained, thermic, loamy-skeletal soils on

moderately steep slopes with loamy surface. Severe erosion and strong

stoniness, associated erosion and strong stoniness, associated with Rock

outcrops. 37

13 Shallow, well drained, thermic. loamy, skeletal soils on moderate slopes

with loamy surface, moderate erosion and moderate stoniness,

associated with Shallow, somewhat excessively drained, coarse-loamy

soils with loamy surface, severe erosion and severe erosion and slight

stoniness. 43

14 Medium deep well drained, thermic. Fine loamy calcareous soils on

moderately steep slop16es with loamy surface and severe erosion,

associated with, Medium deep, well drained, fine-loamy soils with loamy

surface and moderate erosion. 48

15 Medium deep, well drained, thermic, fine loamy soils on moderately steep

slopes with loamy surface, severe erosion and slight stoniness, associated

with Shallow, well drained, fine-loamy soils with loamy surface and

moderate erosion. 49

16 Medium deep to deep, well drained, thermic. Fine-loamy soils on steep

slopes with loamy surface and moderate erosion, associated with medium

deep, well drained, coarse-loamy soils with loamy surface and severe

erosion. 54

17 Deep, well drained, thermic, fine-loamy soils on moderate slopes with

loamy surface and moderate erosion, associated with Medium deep, well

drained. Loamy-skeletal soils with loamy surface and severe erosion. 55

18 Medium deep, well drained, thermic, fine loamy soils on moderate slopes

with loamy surface, severe erosion and slight stoniness, associated with

Medium deep. Somewhat excessively drained, coarse-loamy soils with

loamy surface and severe erosion. 57

19 Medium deep, well drained, thermic, fine- loamy soils on moderate slopes

with loamy surface and severe erosion, associated Shallow, well drained,

coarse-loamy soils with loamy surface, severe erosion and slight

stoniness. 60

20 Medium deep well drained thermic, coarse-Ioamv soils on moderate slopes

with loamy surface and moderate erosion associated with Shallow.

Excessively drained. Coarse-loamy. Calcareous soils with loamy surface

and moderate erosion. 64



Sr

No Soil types Unit

21 Medium deep to deep, well drained, thermic, loamy-skeletal soils on steep

slopes with loamy surface and severe erosion associated with Medium

deep well drained, calcareous, fine-loamy soils with loamy surface and

moderate erosion. 72

22 Medium deep. Well drained. Thermic. Loamy. Skeletal soils on very gentle

slopes with loamy surface. Moderate erosion and moderate stoniness,

associated with Deep. Well drained fine-loamy soils with loamy surface

and slight erosion. 75

23 Medium deep, well drained, thermic, fine-loamy soils on moderate slopes

with loamy surface and moderate erosion associated with Medium deep

well drained coarse-loamy soils with loamy surface and moderate erosion. 83

24 Deep, moderately well drained, hyperthermic, fine-loamy soils on

moderate slopes with loamy surface and moderate erosion, associated

with Medium deep, somewhat excessively drained, sandy soils with loamy

surface, severe erosion and moderate stoniness. 86

Note: Units are assigned to the soil types so as to facilitate short and simple representation of the soil

types which are descriptive in nature. Henceforth these units will be used as names of the Soil types for

convenience sake.

Our project area has about 24 different types of soils. The map given below is for

representational purpose and has Sub catchment boundary evident along with the soil

layers:

Map showing the distribution of soil types of the Satluj catchment



From the map it is evident that the

distribution of soil types in the Project

area varies greatly. Hence it is

convenient to refer the SCIS for better

understanding of the soil types in each

sub-catchment of micro-watershed.

Meanwhile we can understand the soil

type from following graph

From the given graph below, we can

analyze that soil type no. 55 covers

maximum project area of 72,609 Ha.

followed by soil 49.

Rainfall:

Himachal Pradesh is a hilly and

mountainous state situated between

30°22’ and 33°12’ N latitude and

75°47’ and 79°4’ E longitude. Its

neighbors are Jammu and Kashmir in

the north, Punjab in the west and

south west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

in the South and Tibet in the east.

It is surrounded by mountainous

regions except for Haryana and Uttar

Pradesh which have sub-mountainous

terrain. The altitudes in various areas

range from 350-7000 m above MSL1.

This affects the amount of rainfall in

the region. The Monsoon season in HP

1 Himachal Pradesh Profile, Development report-Planning commission of India

is from July to September. Our project

area has the rainfall which is divided

into the following ranges:

Rainfall determines the cropping

season of a region. In areas like

Himachal Pradesh which have

underdeveloped irrigation facilities,

almost all of the agricultural activities

depend on the rainfall.2 Maximum

rainfall getting region is smallest and

that is Sub-catchment Si. Whereas

major area gets rainfall below 700mm

and those are Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti.

2GENERAL REVIEW Economic Situation at National Level http://himachal.nic.in/finance/ES/eseng08.pdf

Sr No Rainfall range in mm

1 <700

2 750-1000

3 1000-1500

4 1500-2000

5 >2000



The distribution of rainfall in our study area is represented in the map given below:

Conclusion:

Major portion of the project is covered

by Steep to very steep high hills of

Greater Himalayas which is most of the

time in a year covered with snow. The

population here is very less. The forest

type is of dry alpine and moist alpine

with rainfall less than 700mm which is

lowest in entire Satluj basin. It is in

this region that the crops take lesser

time to cultivate with agro-ecological

zones Cold, Arid, Greater Himalayas

with <60 days LGP and Cold to Warm

Semi-arid, Semi-dry, Greater

Himalayas with 60-120 days LGP. It is

strange that when majority of the time

this region is cover with snow and

strong cold winds, the vegetation here

can grow with less that 60 or less than

120 days.

While the lower elevation area has

Steep to very steep high hills of Lesser

Himalayas with very less snow covered

days. The population here is high

comparatively. The forest type is Sub-

alpine, Himalayan moist temperate,

Sub-tropical pine, Sub-tropical broad

leaved hill type. The time taken by

crops to grow is maximum with agro-

ecological zones like ‘Warm, Sub-

humid, Moist, Lesser Himalayas with

180-270 days LGP’; ‘Warm, Per humid,

Lesser Himalayas with 270-300 days

LGP’; ‘Humid/Per humid, Lesser

Himalayas with 300-330 days LGP’.

The rainfall zone varies from 750-

1000mm to more than 2000mm.

4.1 Other references:

1. ICIMOD, The Changing Himalayas: Impact of Climate Change on



Water Resources and Livelihoods

in the Greater Himalayas

2. Manmohan Nath Kaul, The glacial and fluvial geomorphology of

western Himalayas.

3. Forest cover assessment in

western Himalayas, Himachal

Pradesh using IRS 1C/1D WiFS

data

4. P. K. Joshi*, Sarnam Singh,

Shefali Agarwal and P. S. Roy

Indian Institute of Remote Sensing

(National Remote Sensing

Agency), 4 Kalidas Road, P. B. No.

135, Dehra Dun 248 001, India

5. Yash Veer Bhatnagar, Relocation from Wildlife Reserves in the

Greater and Trans-Himalayas: Is it

Necessary? Nature Conservation

Foundation and Snow Leopard

Trust-India

6. G. W. A. Sparrow, Soils and Landforms, Proceedings of The

South African Sugar Technologists'

Association-March 1965

Documents

Vol1-Chapter3