Nature, Adventure and People in Himalayas - Some musings
Dr. B.K. Chakrapani, N. Srinivasan and O.C. Naveein
This article though meant to be general for the Himalayan regions visited by adventurers and tourists, is restricted to experiences as part of the Foundation for Nature Exploration and Environmental Conservation (NEC)'s ecological and mountaineering expedition to Mt. Menthosa during 1994. Vegetation, faunal and other ecological observations may therefore vary for other Himalayan regions.
Almost year long preparations were made for this NEC's maiden Himalayan adventure; but the final action extended between 10 July and 10 August 1994. The expedition had two major objectives - to scale the mountain and to survey en route the impact of mountaineering expeditions over the years. A very general idea about the ecology and environment of the region 'within our limits' was also an additional objective. The venture was highly successful and an over all idea of the action part of the 'summitting success' adventure is reported separately. This article may therefore may please be read before this write-up.
Seven people left Bangalore to involve in this experience. We were joined by Vijay and Mothi, the two high altitude porters (HAPs) and Ram Singh, a local porter; a tremendous person and asset. He joined us at Karpat to help with our porterage but ended up as an additional HAP and a marvelous supply and communication link between Base Camp (BC) and Camp I (C I). He began as some one who is unique - a happy, caring, very jovial, mentally and physically strong person with a devil may care frame of mind. He was a great find, friend and ended up as a special person in our memories.
Amongst ourselves, all were nature lovers with a very positive attitude towards recognizing nature as supreme with strong beliefs about conservation and a 'no littering in the nature' policy. However, not much can be confidently said about wastage of resources itself as viewing resources can have strong individual traits accompanied by strong arguments and counter arguments. Most of this gang of 7 were bird watchers. It was very satisfying that our three HAP friends joined the fray keenly, as the expedition activities progressed. They played a significant role including in the final disposal as part of our 'no littering' policy. They also helped us spot some very unique vegetation and fauna. The latter in terms of birds, larger animals and even reptiles becoming quite sparse as one moved closer to the BC and especially from and above the snow-line.
Our nature related activities started right from passing some part of our day-time journey by rail or road, watching birds on the way, especially during the halts at some beautiful spots. The last large town before we moved towards our mountain goal, was Manali. Here, we had to spend almost three days after landing on 13th afternoon as landslides had blocked the way ahead of us near Rohtang Pass. During this time we distributed work amongst ourselves for watching birds, flora and fauna; making observations on different kinds of people living or visiting this town; local/tourist life-styles; studying waste generation and disposal. We saw a variety of birds around Manali. Vegetation around was predominantly of coniferous type along with ground level herbs, grasses and small flowering plants. It was pleasant and beautiful to see some large tracts of vegetation, forest-cum-park along the river Beas. However, fairly long stretches of the shore were seen to be strewn with plastics and other non-biodegradable wastes. The boulder laden shores of the river also showed up plastic and other non or slowly biodegradable wastes stuck among rocks/ tree stumps and branches etc. This indicated that quite a lot of plastic and other wastes were disposed in an unplanned and haphazard manner by people in Manali and other inhabited areas, situated close by. This also gave an indication of the highest flow levels reached by the river in season.
In the Manali town itself, wastes are collected at the disposal points where some segregation takes place and plastic and other recyclable items are separated. Rest of the wastes probably find their way to some points where they get dumped or disposed. At the direct user level outside residences/ buildings; for ex., people moving around the town including tourists, the wastes are littered in a typical 'throw after use' manner. The fate of non-recyclable wastes, points of their dumping and their extent, could not be made out. However the dangers of these wastes being dumped in valleys with seasonally active streams and more so near perennial rivers and streams would make pollution from solid wastes in the region, a very serious problem.
After leaving Manali the previous evening, we reached our next town en route i.e., Udaipur town (2600m)on the 17th around 10 a.m. The road we traveled through had just been cleared of landslides and our driver, either routinely or for our safety, stopped the journey for a night halt around 11 - 12.00 hrs. Before this, all of us except one had dinner at a wayside eating place on an exciting highpoint, very close to Rohtang pass. One of the members not being well, experimented on a restricted diet of Mosambi followed a little later by milk. The journey started off again on the bumpy road and this sick member after a while, messed up some other members quite badly! Somebody had learnt yet another lesson! At the same time the exhilaration of the fact that we were gaining height was also there for some. However it was dark and nothing was visible as it was also raining outside and the tarpaulin was down completely covering us and our voluminous luggage. Thus it was quite a relief when we halted for resting in the dead of the night. Rains had also stopped.
On 17th as the day broke, we started off early in the morning with some tea. The sight was grand and breath-taking. We were lost amidst the huge mountains around us. I felt very small and just looked around me guessing and gauging against nature. After we covered some distance, we halted for tea and munches. There was a huddled clump of two to three wayside tea shops. But the gathered vehicles and the travelers they carried along were quite a number. One of them was a bus load. Among these passengers was a young recently married couple. The locals were talking amongst themselves in general and about the road behind them and that lay ahead of them. Drivers and their helpers took the lead. I sat sipping tea, enjoying all of this and our own banter. Occasionally through some passes along the journey, we could sight some tips of snow-laden peaks. The weather was clear with blue sky and the cold was enjoyable. We kept passing small nullahs, small glaciers and waterfalls.
As we move on again, we kept gauging the vegetation around and also trying to associate why landslides are so frequent. The Himalayas are nascent and probably the youngest mountain ranges continuing to grow in height and highly unsettled. That is why, they are a more challenging mountainous range compared to other ranges in the world! There is loose soil even on steep mountain sides heavily mixed with huge boulders indicating different transformation stages from igneous rocks to metamorphic and then to sedimentary nature. One can imagine this process going on over a long period of geological history. Thus on the mountain slopes, the vegetation is sparse. The terrain and ground situation, climate and seasonal changes also appear to be responsible for lack of naturally thick vegetation. However, we can till wonder how stream and river courses in general have remained much the same in spite of such tremendous geological activity going on continuously.
We also witnessed smaller and larger landslides caused by the sliding large sheets of ice from the small valleys. Some road sections pass across such places. One can imagine when such road sections slide down. The entire section disappears without any trace of it. Its consequences are left for one to be imagined. In such cases a new road is carved deeper into the mountains. Life goes on! It is quite difficult to imagine that at such vulnerable points new roads are frequently made only to be washed away again. The monsoons and summer seasons are possibly the periods when maximum landslides are witnessed.
After reaching Udaipur we halted on the 17th night. This is a small town with about 500 houses. The bus with the young couple we had seen earlier also arrived a little later. The couple agreed after some requests for a photograph to add to our memories. There is a fairly big temple here with an adjoining dharmshala where we had halted overnight. One of the worst environmental aspects regarding such towns receiving a number of devotees, visitors, tourists and adventurers, on their way to various other destinations came to light here too. The ability of such towns to sustain human activities of the scale they are exposed to became rather clear when we went around early the nest morning to attend to our calls. The situation seemed to be very serious. In addition was seen the problem caused by other non biodegradable and other littered wastes. Even here, the use of plastics has become common which is sad. Gauging these aspects and after a visit to the temple by some of us, we left by 8.30 a.m. in a mini-truck after a alu-roti breakfast towards the last roadbed i.e., about 2 kms behind Karpat village. Before this destination, we came across the small hamlets of Shirolli, Goatee (Miyar nala bus-point) and the Chimrat hamlet; in that order.
Weather being fine, the journey through the Miyar river valley was very enjoyable. On the way, we saw the Miyar glacier also. The vegetation was either highly spread out of barren over large patches. In between, the road winded under overhanging cliffs and at some points due to severe erosion, we had to carryout minor maneuvers for our vehicle to move on. We reached the last roadbed by about 11.30 a.m. The vegetation to our surprise at this point, was much better. There were large pine and other trees and some forest on one side of us. On the other side the Miyar river flowed quite deep down. The shores also had some trees and vegetation. After some tea and biscuits, some of us picked up dry wood for cooking our lunch. Meanwhile others were engaged in repackaging our luggage or going around the beautiful place. Karpat village could be seen at a height over a small hill across the river. Negotiations of porters were also going on by now. After lunch, some rest and preparation of loads for the mules and porters, we started our onward trek further ahead, avoiding the bridge leading to karpat village but keeping to the left bank of the Miyar river. It was a very pleasant walk through the evening sunshine. On the way as we were close to habitation, we walked through beautiful irrigated agricultural lands.
En route, we got a point Changut with just a few structures first and after about 1.5 hrs of the trek, reached Churpat, a small village. A few of us got local hospitality of tea and rest at a house. It was for the first time, I was seeing a house in these areas. It was a unique and homely experience. We took small breaks for rest in between and kept moving. We finally crossed Thingrat village with about 25 houses around 6.00 p.m. and all of us stopped in a School a little ahead of this village. These villages were seen to have quite large areas of flat lands along with a lot of water flowing through small canals crisscrossing these lands. Apart from the green of these lands with crops, we found these villages also associated with a large number of larger trees and wooded areas also. These could have been natural as well as grown by the local people. It thus appears that trees can be sustained in the region with some care and local people's supportive efforts especially in the valleys and even in small flat areas. It thus appears that there is quite a lot of local pressure on the region's natural vegetation resources. Grazing pressure on mountain slopes could be one of the serious reasons for the generally poor vegetation. The Churpat village especially, also had some houses with their front/back yards planted with a variety of plants, herbs as well as grasses all, flowering with a number of colors. This stretch of the trek seemed to be very different as, we could see a mixture of green irrigated fields as well as tree vegetation and flowering plants. This mixture was not seen much during other parts of our trek towards the Menthosa.
Going over our experiences and observations till now, we also chatted over various issues with the locals and porters while we had our dinner or rested that night. Overall we felt that the highly undulating terrain and ground situation as described earlier as well as the seasonal climatic conditions of the Lahul Spiti region are the possible causative for the rather scattered and lack of naturally thick forest, large tree and other vegetation cover. As we noticed later, the vegetation got thinner as one moved unto higher altitudes. Some valleys however which were accompanies at least by small stretches of flat land, were seen to possess a richer vegetation cover. Coniferous trees and shrubs were most dominant. All along such areas where the soil moisture was higher, small flowering plants with their colorful and attractive flowers, were abundant. An interesting aspect of this region as talked about more by the elderly locals was that some of them had specialized in collecting, refining and formulating local medicines which were quite effective at least for emergencies. The raw material sources were drawn from local plants, herbs as well as exudations generated among the rocks. We did not have the time to gather more details. At Thingrat there was a lady health worker who looked after to some extent, the medicinal needs of some of the villages close to Thingrat. Local traditional medicine is also being practiced in addition.
Dr. Pani in the recovering phase of his sickness stayed back till the 22nd morning availing the local hospitality of a house in Thingrat. During this time he made some observations on various aspects.
Taking fairly long walks meandering through the fields and vegetated pockets and the water ways around this village, I came across some very interesting aspects. I chanced to meet a lone old man going around in the fields and the water ways. He was the local 'water man'. He used to man the release of water and manage its sharing among the agricultural users. The maneuvering, channeling and distribution of the water resource was done upstream. The irrigation system itself amazed me. It was simple but very effective and involved the collective participation, decision making as well as the real action, by all the concerned people. A chain of villages concerned with the distribution of a major channel were involved. During inadequate (seasonally varying) supplies, the distribution of water was by rotation. Till now however, water falling short of supply, had been rare. At present, the population in these villages appear to sustainable. Even food resources wise, this was true. Wood especially for timber needs was generally inadequate. The water management in the flat agricultural lands and the fast flowing canals was so good that erosion problems seemed to be low. In the rapid Miyar river itself, this could not be true. One wide and larger canal about 4-5 feet deep and 3-4 feet wide, flowing on one side of this village, also had a fascinating facility - a stone mill, to grind grains into flour. It operated just from using energy from the flowing water's kinetic energy like a turbine to operate.
The crops grown here were hops (flowers used for making a beverage), potatoes, peas, radish, salgam, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and a lot of greens. They are grown during April-May and August-September. Rains start by September. There is a school for the education of children; it is closed during July and August. Vegetables and greens are dried and stored during April-August every year for consumption in the winter.
The family with whom Pani stayed was extremely kind. He talked about their culture and life styles in the region, their occupations, health services available for them, etc. Most of them are Buddhists. Their religious places are called Gomphas located generally nearer larger villages. Smaller villages have smaller such common prayer facilities. Each house also has a place for prayers.
Most of the houses have a main central hall with a fire place at the center. The fireplace itself is a marvelous piece of metallic structure. It has a round chamber with several side openings with doors and top openings with lids. For cooking and heating, a variety of fuels like wood, coal and dried dung cakes could be used. A central chimney carries the smoke upwards, if any. Fireplace in some houses has a chamber which all the time contains hot water. This was a smokeless multiple chula marve. The chula also served as a central room heater to ward off the cold.
On 22nd by about 3.30 p.m. Pani reached BC with Dilip Singh, a local porter to join others at the BC. During our stay at the BC and movements between C I and BC, we kept our eyes open to note the different life forms. We came across the Gujars, who reared large herds of sheep and goats. They make living by selling milk and wool products. We tasted the milk and curds, which was a specialty by itself. The other aspect about this community is their close affinity to the ecology. Gujars are always on the move. The sheep and goats are voracious feeders, they eat and stamp the lush green grass and small herbs to ground level. During this activity, they do give something back to the nature! It is their excreta, which acts as a fertilizer for the next crop of grass and herbs. They move on to another green/vegetated patch. This activity keep repeating. At one patch, gujjars (usually 2 or 3) and their herds usually stay for 3-4 days. We noticed many such patches, which either have sheep/goat droppings or highly disturbed vegetation (grass and herbs).
There were also many areas densely vegetated with many types of plants. The variety of flowers and their colors were amazing. We preserved these plants for their identification later at Bangalore. On the ground in these areas, we found a thick layer of sheep/goat droppings in various stages of degradation. Dense vegetation and flowering plants and the presence of droppings seemed to be strongly associated. Therefore we can see that the two processes are interdependent. But whether they are balanced or going to remain balanced becomes an important ecological question.
We noticed vegetation from BC further up to the rocky and boulder strewn area ending with the snow line (about 15,500 feet). We were lucky to spot some wildlife, birds and hare. We spotted and photographed a bird nest and Himalayan chacor. A variety of the birds were spotted and listed.
Glaciers, crevasses, glacial lakes, campsites, snowfields and our own exciting moments are a part of mountaineering that have enriched our lives and induced a kind of bliss that one has to experience by himself to be believed and possessed.
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