Ladakh’s Endangered Lake

As a person concerned with the conservation of the India’s biodiversity and wilderness heritage, I am pained to note undesirable visitor activities of a protracted nature being brought to bear on the pristine waters of Tso Morari Lake, located in the Rupshu area of Ladakh.

As background I would like to state that the inland water bodies found in north and northeastern parts of Ladakh are understood to be remnants of the Tethyan age of the Mesozoic era, dating back to approximately 40 million years ago. It is estimated that the geologic and biotic history of these land-locked lakes in their present form and extent could possibly be tracked back to the third Himalayan Glacial Age when this area is said to have experienced extensive flooding. At that time the waters of these lakes were quite expansive and, perhaps, extremely rich and varied in animal life.

In their present form these lakes constitute a living museum of prehistoric marine and aquatic life of which we currently know very little. Besides, the shores of these lakes provide critical nesting grounds for numerous species of migratory birds, among them the now rare Black-necked Crane. The “salt flats” and plains that fringe these lakes are the southernmost extremity of known natural habitats for rare and endangered species of Tibetan fauna - wild ass, gazelle and antelope. Further north and west, in the Chang-Chenmo valley, the southernmost pocket of herds of wild yak are still said to be found.

It is for these very important though oft-overlooked reasons that a March 1988 report for the Ministry of Environment and Forests, “Planning Wildlife Protected Area Network for India” (Rodgers & Panwar, Wildlife Institute of India), recommended the setting up of a 2000 sq. km. Rupshu Cold Desert National Park and smaller parks in the Chang-Chenmo and Daulet beg Oldi-Desphang areas.

Since, for various reasons, these areas could not be brought under conservation protection, rampant destruction of the natural habitat has continued unchecked. The alignment of the Manali-Leh high road, the method/technology used in its construction and maintenance - especially the heavily impacting ecology of contract labour gangs employed here - has laid vast areas bare of surface vegetation; vegetation which may have taken thousands of years to adapt and establish in an area where the season of growth in frightfully short.

Now we have a new problem added to the above-the latest leisure training and adventure tourism activities of poorly informed and misadvised elements of the Indian Army on Tso Morari Lake; to list a few:

1. A heavy-duty fixed camp has been set up on/close to the shore-line with light and heavy vehicles plying over histrocially known nesting sites of migratory birds.

2. Service helicopters come and go at will, churning up the lake water in the draft of their rotors, thereby destroying numerous nests and disturbing nesting sites of migratory birds.

3. Wind-surfing, sailing and water skiing is said to be underway with powered boats being used on the lake surface, thereby polluting the pristine environment with noise and general clamour and impacting the waters of the lake with petrochemcial contaminants in an irreversible manner.

4. In the absence of CRZ regulation for such locations the physical siting of heavy-duty camps on/close to the lake shoreline poses immeasurable threats to the surface and sub-soil hydrology of the impacted area in this ecologically fragile zone.

For further details contact : Mr. Alok Chandola, A-1 Chirag Enclave, New Delhi - 110 048

DEVELOPING
PERSPECTIVES ON
VIDEO FILMS OF
ENVIRONMENT
AND DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES

V
O
L
U
M
E

1

Excerpts:
Suspended Dreams
though the lives of four Lebanes from very different backgrounds, Mai Masri and Jean Chamouns’s documentary tells the story of a Beirut community’s struggle to reconstruct their lives after the war. The film assesses the appalling impact of modern warfare on the environment, and looks ahead to a new conflict in the making - this time over the Middle East’s most precious commodity, water.

And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon
Culturally, the Caribbean is a meeting point for all the world’s civilisations: European, Indian, Chinese, African and Amerindian. A wry, irreverent look at the whole question of cultural imperialism in the region, Christopher Laird’s film weaves interviews, indigenous poetry, music with clips from imported French and US TV programmes...