Environmental impact assessment of a few selected watersheds of the Chamoli district (Central Himalaya) using remotely sensed data

Fine-resolution remote-sensing and modelling of Himalayan catchment sustainability

“…Combined with vegetal cover, slope inclination is a major factor influencing soil erosion processes in the Himalayan region (Kimoti & Juyal, 1996). The Pokhare Khola catchment is dominated by steep slopes with 70% of all terrain steeper than 15.0°.…”

Forest management and land use/cover changes in a typical micro watershed in the mid elevation zone of Central Himalaya, India

“…This had led to a rather simplistic notion that forest loss and expansion of agricultural land use are positively correlated (Lele and Stone, 1989;Saxena et al, 1991;Collier et al, 1994;Brookfield, 1995;Turner and Ali, 1996;Kimothi and Juyal, 1996;Cuffaro, 1997;Pender, 1998;Tilman, 1999;Doos, 2000;Sunderlin et al, 2000;Zeleke and Hurni, 2001). Studies by some workers in the Himalaya and elsewhere indicated that oak forests were being replaced by pine forests and such changes sometimes formed intermediate stages before natural forests were converted to degraded areas or agricultural areas (Singh et al, 1984;Gibson et al, 1988;Singh and Singh, 1992;Thadani and Ashton, 1995).…”

The mountain-lowland debate: Deforestation and sediment transport in the upper Ganga catchment

“…The deposit begins near the upstream end of Ghona Tal (lake) (Fig. 1) where the right bank tributary Pui Gadhera reaches the valley floor (Kimothi and Juyal, 1996). At this point, the deposit comprises 100% LH (Table 3) showing that the intense rain at the time had minimal effect on the HCH upstream of Ghona Tal in the Birehi Ganga Valley.…”

“…Most of the sediment carried downstream in 1970 came from within 30 km of the MCT (Kimothi and Juyal, 1996), an area already identified as producing a large amount of the modern river sediment (Fig. 2).…”

“…In the Birehi Ganga, Patal Ganga and Garud Ganga catchments, Forest Department records enabled identification of compartments that were clearfelled between 1959 and 1969. These were identified on 1972 Landsat images and landslide scars were mapped (Kimothi and Juyal, 1996). About 70% of the deforested compartments were sites of landslides in 1970, and the remainder of the landslides occurred in forest and alpine pasture.…”