NEW DELHI: Building a cadre of green warriors, the environment ministry has decided to rope in 75 young researchers as environment managers to generate comprehensive data on the Himalayas, which is the most sensitive ecosystems and is facing several challenges due to anthropogenic causes.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, there is a huge gap in quality research in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), due to its remoteness and inaccessibility.
“Considering its uniqueness, the research and development efforts in this mountain system require special attention to ensure sustainable development of the region. Promoting high-quality research with adequate field data support is the need of the hour to find solutions for the prevailing environmental problems,” said a note by the ministry.
Recognizing the above gap, the National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) through the Himalayan Research Fellowships scheme seeks to fill this gap and create a cadre of young trained Himalayan environmental managers, ecologists and socioeconomists and help generate information on physical, biological, managerial and human aspects of Himalayan environment and development.
“The Himalaya has been recognized amongst the important and sensitive ecosystems of the globe, which is facing several challenges due to natural and anthropogenic causes. Considering its uniqueness, the research and development efforts in this mountain system require special attention to ensure sustainable development of the region. Promoting high-quality research with adequate field data support is the need of the hour to find solutions for the prevailing environmental problems,” it added.
The ministry has identified broad thematic areas for the research to be carried. The areas include addressing water security, the study of hydropower development in the Himalayan region, creating a new database on hydropower potential and carrying a capacity assessment of the hydropower in IHR basins.
Besides, employment generation, options for all weather connectivity for improving accessibility, enhancing infrastructure development, skill development and capacity building and livelihood options and employment generation are other key areas of research.