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Gharat: an environment friendly livelihood source for the natives of western Himalaya, India.

ABSTRACT: The native people of the Himalayan region use an indigenously designed watermill locally called as 'Gharat'. The 'Gharat' is made from the natural resources that are easily available in the area and operates through the water force coming from glaciers, perennial streams and rivulets. Thus, it is an environment friendly source of livelihood for the 'Gharatis' (the owner of Gharat). In the present communication, an effort was made to document the status of Gharats in the high-altitude Himalayan regions of Pangi and Tissa of district Chamba. Field surveys were conducted in a total of twenty remote villages of Pangi and Tissa regions (ten in each site). Information was collected on pre-designed semi-structured questionnaires from local people that primarily consisted of Gharatis, elderly informants and the inhabitants living in the vicinity of Gharats. All possible reasons responsible for the increase and reduction in the number of Gharats in the study areas were also documented by interviewing the informants. The study revealed that in the Pangi region number of Gharats have increased and are in good condition whereas there is a drastic decline in the number of Gharats in Tissa. The informants in Pangi gave maximum responses favouring motivational factors while in Tissa maximum responses were obtained for demotivational factors. Based on these responses, we prioritized the corrective measures for improving the efficiency of Gharats and restoration of this age-old indigenous and environment friendly technology. This will surely enhance livelihood security of the inhabitants besides optimum utilization of the natural resources in the Himalayan region.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-021-01455-4.

SUBMITTER: Bhatt A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8084263 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:This study examined forest structure, composition, and regeneration patterns of two sites, Tolma-Lata-Raini (TLR) and Bhyundar-Ghangaria (BG). Both sites are located within the temperate zone along the altitudinal gradient between 2,800 to 3,400 m asl of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) in the Western Himalayan Region of India. We recorded a total of 223 species of vascular plants (Angiosperm, Gymnosperm, and Pteridophytes) within the study area. Of the recorded species, plants within the family Rosaceae were dominant (17.69%), followed by Asteraceae (14.97%) and Ranunculaceae (12.93%). Betula utilis had the highest tree density (724 and 324 individuals ha-1) and species cover (44% and 36%) at both TLR and BG sites, followed by Pinus wallichiana (24%) and Cedrus deodara (15%), respectively. In BG site, 56% of tree species showed fair regeneration (i.e., seedling density > sapling density ≤ adult density), 22% good (i.e., seedling density > sapling density > adult tree density), 11% exhibited poor (i.e., species survived only in the sapling stage but not in the seedling stage), and the remaining (11%) indicated no regeneration. Comparatively, at TLR site, 40% of the tree species showed fair regeneration, 40% good, and the remaining 20% showed no regeneration. Across the two sites, species richness and diversity significantly decreased as the altitudinal gradient increased. Vegetation structure and soil properties also revealed differences between the southern and northern aspects. The baseline information generated in this study is helpful in designing effective conservation and management measures for these ecologically sensitive and important ecosystems. To effectively monitor changes in vegetation structure, species composition, and regeneration, we suggest that permanent vegetation plots with meteorological stations be established across the region for long-term monitoring of forest dynamics in response to the changing climate and anthropogenic pressures.

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Gharat: an environment friendly livelihood source for the natives of western Himalaya, India.

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