Great Himalayan National Park: UNESCO nomination
why in News? March 2014: Government nominated it for UNESCO heritage site, because of its fragile ecology and inaccessibility.
- located at Kullu, Himachal Pradesh
- At the height of 1500-6000m. Climate: Western Himalayan temperate and alpine type.
- Rare species found in the park
- Also has glaciers.
- Rivers: Tirthan, Sainj, Jiwa Nal, and Parvati. (all get water from glaciers)
- Sanctuaries near the park: Sainj, Tirthan
UPSC’s unwritten rule dictates that we mugup the species found in this park and their “endangeredness” for MCQ!
| Species | IUCN classification |
|---|---|
| Blue Sheep / Bharal | least concern. Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar. |
| Snow Leopard | Endangered |
| Himalayan Brown Bear | least concern. |
| Himalayan Tahr | near threatened. one type of goat. |
| Musk Deer | Endangered. Musk produced by Males. Used in cosmetic/perfume industry. Also found in China. |
| Kalij Pheasant (Bird) | least concern |
| Cheer Pheasant (Bird) | vulnerable |
| Himalayan Griffon Vulture | least concern. [note: Indian vulture (long billed) is critically endangered but this Griffon is least concern, as per IUCN. |
| Golden Eagle | Least concern. Note: Bald Eagle is the national bird of USA. |
Western Ghats: Draft notification
Q. Discuss in brief the Draft notification on Western Ghats ecologically sensitive areas. [100 words]
MoEF published this draft, based on Kasturirangan committee’s recommendations for protection of Western Ghats.
Salient features
In Ecologically sensitive areas:
- New hydropower projects only after EIA (Environmental impact assessment)
- Permitted “orange” category industries but with strict vigil.
- Diversion of forest land for non-forest purpose: information must be provided in public domain.
- Gram Sabha consent necessary for all new projects.
Following activities are prohibited in the Ecologically Sensitive areas
- New thermal power plants
- mining, quarrying and sand mining. Existing mines will be phased out within five years.
- Any new ‘Red’ category of industries. (Categorization will be decided by pollution control board)
- Building and township projects beyond specified size.
| Enforcement: |
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|---|---|
| Penalty: |
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~130 words.
Btw,Why controversy over this draft?
- Kasturirangan committee wanted creation of ecologically sensitive areas (ECA) in Western Ghats
- The villages are to be declared as ECA if they have more than 20% ecologically sensitive areas in their boundaries.
- But this draft notification removed “agriculture, plantation and settlement” from ECA definition. (to benefit some regions in Kerala, because of farmers’ protests)
- Environment activists have challenged this in in National Green Tribunal.
93 Comments on “[Conservation] UNESCO status for Great Himalayan National Park, Draft Western Ghat Notification”
sir im pavitra. im going to give IAS pre this year (2014). sir i have a doubt about current affair preparation. sir i could not read the hindu of previous months. i started it from 1 april 2014. sir for pre 2014 from which month it is necessary. you are giving information from march 2014 and im following that religiously. sir is this sufficient or i will have to read previous months the hindu. sir im from hindi medium so it is very difficult for me to cover old the hindu. sir please suggest me what should i do. now a days im preparing environment, history, polity, india yearbook and comprehension. but not doing anything for current. only reading your posts. plz sir help me…. thankyou
Hiiii…. waoo weldone. Nice n incredible side and helpfull .
thank you…
It is indeed an extremely useful initiative and deserve gratitude from all the aspirants.
Thanks a lot.
Mrunal Sir, your contribution for doing this great job will be written in “Golden letters” in the history of Career Mentors
We all thank you for this priceless work, especially from the section of students, who can not afford the coaching fees and the costly education material.
sir… thanks a lot…..
Draft notification on western ghats don’t even deserve my meaningful comments..Protection of environment and development need a balanced approach.But as always government is trying maximum to tilt it towards the latter side without even caring for the sustainable development which is still a paper material.An angry citizen’s next step should be to plead remaining 5 states to do the same as kerala did and further help government in reducing size of e sensitive areas..I dont want to say anything more on this..Just want to ask government that is there any other committee in process after kasturi???
C.m Punk(best in the world)
thank u sir ,this site is very useful for me
The missing flight brought up the issue of hitherto less known chagos islands.on one hand it was declared marine reserve which is a highly protected area rich in biodiversity and on other it has been polluted by us navy human waste..2016 will be a very important year for mauritius as it will pave way for its full rights on these islands once again since 1968..no issues between usa and mauritius as they are allies but the way u.k has been asserting its sovereignty over many such territories is quite worrisome…Fingers crossed
C.m punk(best in the world)
Nice analysis!!
Sir in RPA topic you have written U/A 101& U/A 190 of the constitution members are disqualified.I think it shoud be U/A 102 & U/A 191.
Yes exactly. I too wanted to type the same comment before seeing yours.
THAK U SIR
Am unable to setup how ro relation betwwen study and current ,will u plz guid me on it or am not regular studying .
anyone with Management optional… plz share the notes!!
Thnku sir
RPA Section 8 SC Guidelines. Who got disqualified
1. lalu Ji
2. Jayalalita Ji
3. I don’t remember Ji
Its very helpful to prepare civil services sir i want to ask which magine should read
Sir , i am facing problem doing geography..i have done geo ncerts 6 to 12 but i have rea them once..seniors say revise them only .. I have done wizard geo book alongwith..but m not satisfied..
Plz tell me some gud soiurce where i can quickly revise geo….
mai net ki taiyari kar rahi hu first paper me liye help chahiye