G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development ANNUAL 1 (An Autonomous Institute of Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India) REPORT 2017-18 SOCIETY Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Experts Scientist - F and Group Head (SED and KCB) Ministry of Human Resource Development G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment President (Department of Higher Education), Ministry Prof. R.K. Kohli, Ph.D. FNA, FASc, FASc, FNAAS and Development Kosi-Katarmal, Minister> In-Charge> > > of Rural Development, Department of Urban Certified Sr Ecologist ESA, USA, JC Bose Almora, Uttarakhand Ministry of Environment, Forest and Development, Ministry of New & Renewable National Fellow Climate Change Energy, Department of Mines, Ministry of Vice-Chancellor, Er. M.S. Lodhi Government of India, New Delhi Water Resources, River Development and Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India Scientist - E Ganga Rejuvenation, Department of Agricul- G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment Vice President tural Research and Education, Planning Prof. Saroj Kanta Barik and Development Nort East Regional Center, Minister of State Commission/Niti Aayog Vivek Vihar Itanagar, Arunanchal Pradesh Ministry of Environment, Forest and Director, CSIR-National Botanical Climate Change Research Institute Rana Pratap Marg Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttarakhand Dr. Sarla Sashni Government of India, New Delhi Lucknow Scientist - C Director General G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment Members Indian Council of Forestry Research Dr. Rakesh Kumar and Development Himachal Regional Two members of Parliament nominated by and Education Forest Research Institute, Director, CSIR- National Environmental Center, Mohal, Kullu, Himanchal Pradesh the Government of India, New Delhi Dehradun Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) Nehru Marg, Nagpur MP (Lok Sabha) MP (Rajya Sabha) Director General of Forest and Special Secretary Convener Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Director Shri Ramesh Negi, IAS (Rtd.) Minister-in-charges of Environment in the Change G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment State Governments Former Chief Secretary, Arunachal Pradesh and Development Kosi-Katarmal, Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkatta Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Government of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Almora, Uttarakhand Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ma- Protection of Child rights, Chairman, Indian Council of Social Science Kashmere Gate, Delhi nipur, Meghalaya, Mizorum, Sikkim, Tripura, Research, New Delhi PROJECT EVALUATION Uttarakhand, West Bengal Director, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun Member Secretary COMMITTEE Two MLAs from the State of Uttarakhand Director nominated by the Government of India Member Secretary GBPIHED, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora Chairman Director Prof. Saroj Kanta Barik Five non-official Members nominated by GBPIHED, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora Director Govt. of India SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute Dr. Kuldeep Chandra COMMITTEE Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow Vice Chancellor GOVERNING BODY Central University of Himachal Pradesh Chairman Members Prof. R.M. Pant Distt. Kangra, Himachal Pradesh Chairman Dr. V.P. Dimri, Padma Shri, FNA, FNASc, FTWAS Former Director & CSIR Distin- Director Secretary National Institute of Rural Development Dr. S.P. Mishra guished Scientist CSIR-National Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate (NIRD) & Panchayati Raj, North Lane, Vice-Chancellor Geophysical Research Institute & INSA Change, New Delhi Jawaharnagar, Khanapara Senior Scientist Uppal Road, Hyderabad Uttarakhand Ayurved University Station Guwahati, Assam Road, Harrawala, Dehradun, Uttarakhand Members Thematic Experts Prof. M.C. Nautiyal Dr. N.C. Gautam Prof. A.R. Nautiyal Secretary Dean, Agriculture & Allied Sciences Vice-Chancellor Director Department of Biotechnology High Altitude Plant Physiology Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya High Altitude Plant Physiology Research CGO Complex, Lodi Road, Research Centre, HNB Garhwal University University Chitrakoot, Satna, Madhya Pradesh Centre, HAPPRC, H.N.B. Garhwal University, Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand New Delhi-110 003 Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand Prof. Yogesh Singh Prof. Dr. J.P. Tamang, FNABS, FNAAS, (Former Director, Netaji Subhas Institute Chief Secretary Dr. Kishor Kumar FIAMS, FBRS of Technology) Govt. of Uttarakhand Chief Scientist and Adviser (E&C) Dean, School of Life Sciences Uttarakhand Secretariat, Dehradun Vice Chancellor Geotechnical Engineering Area Professor Department of Microbiology Delhi Technological University (DTU) CSIR - Central Road Research Institute School of Life Sciences, Sikkim University Shahbad Daulatpur, Delhi Director General of Forest and Special Delhi- Mathura Road, New Delhi (Central University) Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim Secretary Prof. Zafar A. Reshi Prof. (Dr.) Anil Kumar Gupta Ministry of Environment, Forest and Prof. S.C. Rai Department of Botany (Former Director, Wadia Institute of Climate Change Indira Paryavaran Professor & Head Bhawan, New Delhi Department of Geography University of Kashmir Himalayan Ecology) Srinagar, J&K Professor, Geology and Geophysics & Head, Delhi School of Economics; University of Delhi, Delhi Centre for Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere and Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser MoEF&CC Representative Land Science, Indian Institute of Technology Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Dr. Subrata Bose Kharagpur, West Bengal Change Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Peer Institutions Scientist-E New Delhi Director/ or his representative Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate A representative of the Indian Institute Director Change, Mountain Division, of Forest Management Additional Secretary Botanical Survey of India, CGO Complex, Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jorbagh Road, Salt Lake City, Kolkata, West Bengal Aliganj, New Delhi Director Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Indira Indian Institute of Forest Management, Director/ or his representative Paryavaran Bhawan, New Delhi Member Secretary (Nominee of the Director, Nehru Nagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Director GBPNIHESD) Forest Research Institute, Dehradun Dr. R.C. Sundriyal Secretaries of Govt. of India Adviser G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & DevelopmentScientist- F Ministry of Environment,ANNUAL Forest and Climate Ministry of Environment, Forest and Institute Faculty G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment Change,2 Ministry of FinanceREPORT (expenditure), (AnClimate Autonomous Change Indira Institute of MinistryDr. R.C.of SundriyalEnvironment, Forest & Climateand DevelopmentChange, Govt. of India) Department of Science2017-18 and Technology, Paryavaran Bhawan, New Delhi Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development ANNUAL REPORT 2017-18 FOREWORD The Institute with a strong commitment for sustainable development of the IHR region is the only National Agency of its kind which addresses physical, biological, social and economic issues of the region and its people in an integrated manner. The R&D mandate of the Institute is broad and covers all the facets of environment and development. Towards achieving this, multi-disciplinary approach and integration are the guiding principles. The emphasis on interlinking of natural and social sciences is the major thrust of all the programmes in the Institute. It has also made sincere efforts in identifying problems, developing region-specific approaches, demonstrating their efficacy in the field and disseminating information to various stakeholders. During the reporting period, i.e. Year 2017-18, the year witnessed new challenges and opportunities to pursue R&D ac- tivities keeping in interest the core Himalayan issues in mind. To strengthen the R&D activities of the Institute, the Institute mechanism was reinforced by up-grading its present strategic structure and focusing on the thematic and regional pri- orities. Following this strategic direction, the existing themes have been re-strategized and upgraded to four distinct Himalayan theme-dedicated ”Centres of Eminence” at the HQs of the Institute. These four Himalayan theme-dedicated centres include (1) Centre for Land and Water Resource Management (CLWRM); (2) Centre for Socio-Economic Devel- opment (CSED); (3) Centre for Biodiversity Conservation and Management (CBCM); and (4) Centre for Environmental Assessment and Climate Change (CEA&CC). Similarly, to address the regional priorities, the regional units of the Institute have also been upgraded and renamed as Regional Centres (RCs) viz., (1) Himachal Regional Centre; (2) Garhwal Re- gional Centre; (3) Sikkim Regional Centre; (4) North-East Regional Centre; and (5) Mountain Division Regional Centre. The Institute made considerable advancement in achieving its R&D objectives. Some of the major achievements include Mapping geo-morphological characteristics of Chipa glacier; Recording continuous water discharge data of springs and mapping recharge zone using isotope technique, remote sensing and GIS application; Mapping of climate sensitive Timberline across the IHR; Linking pilgrimage tourism with socio-economic aspect for development of the disaster-af- fected Kedar rural landscape; Development of model villages through technology transfer for livelihood enhancement in the Central Himalaya; Assessment of sub-alpine and alpine ecosystems in Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh; Developing ex-situ conservation efforts and mass production of high value plants and their