In the modern era of globalisation demand of natural resources is very high for the well-being of human; high demand results in the degradation of natural resources, uneven pattern of development and changes in naturally available resources. Changes in land use land cover (LULC) is a dynamic process, which varies with time and space. It is the main component in the planning and management of natural resources, and analysing the changes in the environment. There are many remote sensing and GIS-based model used by the researcher in the world to identify the land use pattern. Here, Digital change detection model is used to determine the changes in Land use and Land cover with geo-referenced multi-temporal remote sensing data. This present study is an attempt to identify the spatial-temporal variation of LULC in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, based on the secondary data. Landsat imageries are collected from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for a different period like Landsat TM, Landsat ETM +, and Landsat OLI. Kinnaur district has witnessed many hydro-electric power projects, dam, tunnel and road construction, which has changed the pattern of land use in a few decades. It is indispensable to have a sustainable development mechanism for the fragile ecosystem. It includes the initiative of local government and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), government agencies and global partners to improve the degraded land condition.Keywords: Natural Resources, Land Use/ Land Cover, Kinnaur, Hydro-electric Power Projects.

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Introduction: The countries all over the world are experiencing COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to a change in the operational guidelines in all trauma centres. Lockdown, limiting vehicle traffic, has affected trauma patterns everywhere. Aim: To study the effect of lockdown on orthopaedic trauma in hilly areas of Northern India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional retrospectively study collected the data of patients admitted in the emergency trauma ward like age, gender, mechanism of injury, fracture type, number of emergency admissions, and number of surgeries pertaining to the complete lockdown period (25th March to 3rd May 2020 i.e., 40 days) at our hospital situated in the hilly areas of North India. This was compared with the trauma cases dealt during the same time period last year (2019). Results: More than 50% decrease in the outpatient load did not parallel to decrease in admissions in emergency department (164 in 2019 vs 169 in 2020). However, operated trauma cases did decline from 62 in 2019 to 51 in 2020. Some injuries like fracture proximal tibia, cut injuries of hand with sharp object increased while incidence of fragility fractures has remained the same. Conclusion: The trauma pattern in and around the hilly places in our area of Northern India portrays a unique picture where one does not see a foreseeable decline in trauma despite the lockdown. With the lockdown in effect, some patterns have emerged which may prove to be useful adjuncts in our efforts to improve public health and the trauma burden.

<p>Himalaya presents a great range of lifestyle and livelihood base to its native communities. The extreme climatic condition imposes a restriction on the living conditions, local ownership, alternative sources of income, women's empowerment, and long-term sustainable livelihoods are main elements of community work. But improvements in communication and transportation system have improved the lifestyle of the people living in those regions. The breadth of natural biodiversity in the Himalayas is complemented by a rich mosaic of cultures, traditions and people. But the ethnic groups living in remote valleys of the Himalayan region have generally conserved their traditional cultural identities. Ancient traditions and livelihoods of many communities remain woven into the balanced use of natural resources. They depend on these resources for their livelihoods, and value ecosystem services such as freshwater, erosion control, and agricultural and subsistence harvests.</p><p>Forests are strained as demand continues to grow for timber and food crops.<em> </em><em>Himalaya’s communities have suffered a disastrous slump in production due to erratic weather in recent years, but the government is helping out with various insurance and relief scheme.</em> For such remotely located communities of this part of Himalaya agriculture, nomadic herding, hunting and gathering are the main activities of the people who are unable to fulfil their basic requirements. The present paper investigates factors that have brought about physical and socio-economic changes in various parts of Indian region of Himalayas, interlinked with the fragile Himalayan environment by mapping, monitoring and change analysis with the help of remote sensing and GIS techniques.</p>

<p>Half tunnels occurring as ‘overhangs’ within steep slopes of massive and hard rock mass have advantages over full tunnels or open excavations as they are economical and take short time in construction. Because of their sporadic occurrence along NH-05 the stability analysis of half tunnels in these areas is undone and some are still unexplored. These half tunnels are excavated through a highly jointed/fractured rock slopes which may be the threat to people’s lives and can disrupt the transportation in any time if any reinforcement is not given. The detached rock blocks from these half tunnels and surrounding rocky slopes took many local peoples and tourists lives in the past. These half tunnels in the Himalayan regions have existed since many years despite any reinforcement given to them. The stability analysis of these fractured and jointed rock mass associated with half tunnels are needs to be carried out and requires proper remedial measures and reinforcements to avoid any mishap in future. Therefore, in this regard, the present study endeavors the slope stability assessment of one such half tunnel, a stretch of ca.1km located near Thopan on NH- 05 in Kinnaur district, Himachal Pradesh, India. Basic Rock Mass Rating (RMR basic) has been used to classify and evaluate rock mass exposed in this half tunnel. Total six slopes have been chosen for stability assessment. Rock mass classification done by Basic Rock Mass Rating (RMR<sub>basic</sub>) categorizes all six rock slopes into class II (good rock).  Continuous Slope Mass Rating (CSMR) was used to evaluate the stability of these six slopes in which 5 slopes fall into the Class V category and one slope fall into Class III category. The kinematic analysis demonstrates that wedge failure is the most common and likely failure type amongst the three failures (wedge, planar, and toppling) in the jointed rock slopes of half tunnel. The Factor of Safety (FoS) was also calculated for all the six slopes having the lowest CSMR values in the wedge failure case. All these 6 slopes are unstable showing FoS values less than one.</p> <p><strong> Keywords: </strong>Slope Stability, NW Himalaya, Half Tunnels, Rock slopes, RMR, CSMR, Kinematic Analysis, FoS, Swedge model.</p>