ORIGINAL ARTICLE
AN ASSESSMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY OF RURAL AREAS OF UPPER BEAS VALLEY, HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA
| 1 | BEST, Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability, India |
| 2 | Department of Environmental Studies, Shivaji College (University of Delhi), India |
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Virat Jolli
BEST, Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability, 1ST Floor 143, F-17, Sector-8, Rohini, 110085, New Delhi, India
BEST, Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability, 1ST Floor 143, F-17, Sector-8, Rohini, 110085, New Delhi, India
Submission date: 2020-06-16
Final revision date: 2020-08-19
Publication date: 2020-09-29
Economic and Regional Studies 2020;13(3):295–306
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Subject and purpose of work: The study aims to assess the sustainability of rural areas of Western
Himalayas during the year 2019. Materials and methods: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in upper Beas Valley of Himachal
Pradesh. A total of 101 individuals were interviewed and the questionnaire was filled by the surveyor. Results: Survey showed that high level of unemployment prevailed in the region with minimal monthly
income. However, they engaged in agriculture and allied activities along with collection of non-timber
forest products (NTFPs) to supplement their incomes. The proximity to protected areas led to frequent
encounter with wildlife and such encounters increased after the commencement of Hydro Power
Projects. Respondents believed that construction HPPs and expansion road network in the region has
increased the occurrence of landslides; and many of them had lost their cultivated land due to landslides. Conclusions: The study showed rural areas of upper Beas Valley were moderately unsustainable.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am thankful to Biodiversity and Environmental
Sustainability (BEST), New Delhi, for providing funds
for this survey. I thank Dabe Ram Rana and Govind
Dhami for their help during the survey. They travelled
extensively and covered the whole upper Beas Valley.
PEER REVIEW INFORMATION
Article has been screened for originality
iThenticate
REFERENCES (19)
1.
Ballabh, H., Pillay, S., Negi, G., Pillay, K. (2014). Relationship between Selected Physiographic Features and Landslide Occurrence around Four Hydropower Projects in Bhagirathi Valley of Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya, India. International Journal of Geosciences, 5, 1088-1099. https://doi: 10.4236/ijg.2014.510093.
3.
HPPWD (2019). National Highways Length in State of Himachal Pradesh. Downloaded from: http://hppwd.gov.in/Links/NH%2... accessed on 18, 2020.
4.
Jolli, V., Pandit, M. (2011). Influence of Human Disturbance on the Abundance of Himalayan Pheasant (Aves, Galliformes) in the Temperate Forest of Western Himalaya, India. Vestnik Zoologii, 45(6), e-40. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10058....
5.
Jolli, V. (2017a). Hydro power projects-boon or bane for the rural communities of Western Himalayas. Present Environment and Sustainable Development, 11(1), 55-64. https://doi.org/10.1515/pesd-2....
6.
Jolli, V. (2017b). Hydro Power Development and Its Impacts on the Habitats and Diversity of Montane Birds of Western Himalayas. Vestnik Zoologii, 51(4), 311-324. https://doi.org/10.1515/vzoo-2....
7.
Khanna, R. (2019). Himachal farmers now poisoning monkeys. Down To Earth, New Delhi. Downloaded from: https://www. downtoearth.org.in/news/wildli... accessed on December 23, 2019.
8.
Kaur, T., Kumar, R. (2016). Parbati hydroelectric project and rural sustenance: an impact analysis. In: P.P. Balan, S. George, T.P. Kunhikannan (eds.), Marginalisation and Deprivation, (p. 189-202). Thrissur: Kerala Institute of Local Administration. Downloaded From: http://dspace.kila.ac.in/bitst....
9.
Kerlinger, F. (1986). Foundations of Behavioral Research (3rd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
10.
Kumar, D., Katoch, S. S. (2017). Dams turning devils: An insight into the public safety aspects in operational run of the river hydropower projects in western Himalayas. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 67, 173-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser....
11.
Likert, R. (1932). A technique for the measurement of attitude scales. Archives of Psychology, 22(140), 1–55.
12.
Mehra, D. (2017). Wealth, mobility, accretive citizenship and belonging: Why everyone comes to Kullu and how they remain. In: Subaltern Urbanisation in India (p. 283-309). New Delhi: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81....
13.
NHPC (2020). Power Stations. Downloaded from: http://www.nhpcindia.com/proje... accessed on August 18, 2020.
14.
Pandey, S., Wells, M. P. (1997). Ecodevelopment planning at India’s Great Himalayan National Park for biodiversity conservation and participatory rural development. Biodiversity & Conservation, 6(9), 1277-1292. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BIOC....
15.
Sarkar, R. (2010). Rural accessibility and development: Sustainability concerns in an ecologically fragile mountain belt. Economic and Political Weekly, 63-71.
16.
Singh, N., Kohli, D. S. (1997). The green revolution in Punjab, India: The economics of technological change. J Punjab Stud, 12(2), 285-306.
17.
Szolnoki, G., Hoffmann, D. (2013). Online, face-to-face and telephone surveys—Comparing different sampling methods in wine consumer research. Wine Economics and Policy, 2(2), 57-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wep.....
18.
UNESCO (2014). Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area. Downloaded from: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list....
19.
UN (2020). Final List of Proposed Sustainable Development Goals Indicators. Downloaded From: https://sustainabledevelopment....
RELATED ARTICLE
