Rural-to-urban Migration and Urbanization in Leh, Ladakh: A Case Study of Three Nomadic Pastoral Communities

Abstract: Mountain tourism in developing countries is becoming a growing environmental concern due to extreme seasonality, lack of suitable infrastructures and planning, and interference with fragile ecosystems and protected areas. This paper presents a study devoted to assess the adverse environmental impacts of tourism, and in particular of trekking-related activities, in Ladakh, Indian Himalaya. The proposed approach is based on the use of Geographical Information System (GIS) modeling and remote sensing imageries to cope with the lack of data that affect the region. First, stressors associated with trekking, and environmental receptors potentially affected were identified. Subsequently, a baseline study on stressors (trail use, waste dumping, camping, pack animal grazing and off-road driving) and receptors (soil, water, wildlife, vegetation) was conducted through field work, data collection, and data processing supported by GIS. Finally, impacts were modeled by considering the intensity of the stressors, and the vulnerability and the value of the receptors. The results were spatially aggregated into watershed units, and combined to generate composite impact maps. The study concluded that the most affected watersheds are located in the central and southeastern part of Ladakh, along some of the most visited trails and within the Hemis and the Tsokar Tsomoriri National parks. The main objective of the study was to understand patterns of tourism-induced environmental degradation, so as to support mitigation interventions, as well as the development of suitable tourism policies.

Abstract: Flash floods on the edge of high terrain, such as the Himalayas or Rocky Mountains, are especially dangerous and hard to predict. The Leh flood of 2010 at the edge of the Himalayan Plateau in India is an example of the tragic consequences of such storms. The flood occurred over a high mountain river valley when, on three successive days, diurnally generated convective cells over the Tibetan Plateau gathered into mesoscale convective systems and moved off the edge of the Plateau over Leh. An easterly midlevel jet associated with a midlevel monsoon vortex over northern India and a high over Asia helped the convection organize into propagating mesoscale systems that moved over the edge of the Plateau. On the third day the mesoscale system moving off the plateau was greatly invigorated when it suddenly drew on moisture flowing upslope over the terrain. It gained maximum strength from this intake of moisture near Leh, and the heavy rains washed over the surrounding mountains and down and over the town.

Abstract: The issues of food security and its specifics in high mountain regions are often neglected in national and international science and policy agendas. At the same time, local food systems have undergone significant transitions over the past two decades. Whereas subsistence agriculture still forms the economic mainstay in these regions, current dynamics are generally characterized by livelihood diversification with increased off-farm income opportunities and an expansion of external development interventions. A case study from Ladakh (Indian Himalayas) illustrates how changes of the political and socio-economic conditions have affected food security strategies of mountain households. In the cold, arid environment of Ladakh, where combined mountain agriculture is the dominant land use system, reduced importance of the subsistence base for staple foods is reflected in current consumption patterns. Seasonal shortfalls and low dietary diversity lead to micronutrient deficiencies, a phenomenon that has been described as “hidden hunger”. This paper describes determinants of the transition of the current food system, based on land-use analyses and quantitative and qualitative social research at the household, regional and national level. It shows how monetary income and governmental as well as non-governmental development interventions shape food security in this peripheral region. Focusing on the particular example of staple food subsidies through the Indian Public Distribution System, the paper illustrates and discusses how this national-level measure addresses food security and shows the implications for household strategies. Against the background of our findings we argue that tailor-made regional policies and programmes are needed to face the specific challenges in high mountain regions.

Abstract: The Kathmandu Valley of Nepal epitomizes the growing urbanization trend spreading across the Himalayan foothills. This metropolitan valley has experienced a significant transformation of its landscapes in the last four decades resulting in substantial land use and land cover (LULC) change; however, no major systematic analysis of the urbanization trend and LULC has been conducted on this valley since 2000. When considering the importance of using LULC change as a window to study the broader changes in socio-ecological systems of this valley, our study first detected LULC change trajectories of this valley using four Landsat images of the year 1989, 1999, 2009, and 2016, and then analyzed the detected change in the light of a set of proximate causes and factors driving those changes. A pixel-based hybrid classification (unsupervised followed by supervised) approach was employed to classify these images into five LULC categories and analyze the LULC trajectories detected from them. Our results show that urban area expanded up to 412% in last three decades and the most of this expansion occurred with the conversions of 31% agricultural land. The majority of the urban expansion happened during 1989–2009, and it is still growing along the major roads in a concentric pattern, significantly altering the cityscape of the valley. The centrality feature of Kathmandu valley and the massive surge in rural-to-urban migration are identified as the primary proximate causes of the fast expansion of built-up areas and rapid conversions of agricultural areas.

Abstract: This work is produced by the members of the Committee on South-North Migration the committee was set up by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population in 1991 to develop a better theoretical understanding of the forces producing contemporary international migration. The approach is interdisciplinary. The book "was intended to describe the international migration systems that had emerged in different world regions by the decade of the 1980s; present and evaluate the leading contemporary theories proposed to explain the emergence and operation of these systems; evaluate the efficacy of the various theories as they applied to trends and patterns in North America Western Europe the Persian Gulf Asia and the Pacific and South America and then to synthesize the results of these reviews to produce an integrated theoretical vision capable of providing a coherent guide for future research and policy formation. We also planned to devote special attention to the thorny issue of international migration and economic development." (EXCERPT)

Abstract: 1. The Theory of Himalayan Environmental Degradation: what is the nature of the perceived crisis? 2. The Himalayan Region: a geographical overview 3. When did Deforestation Occur? An historical perspective on Himalayan forestcover changes 4. Perceived Pressures on the Himalayan Forests and Their Role as Environmental Shield 5. Mountain Slope Instability: natural processes or human intervention? 6. The Himalayan-Lowland Interactive System: do land-use changes in the mountains affect the plains? 7. The Human Dimension: what are the facts? 8. Two Approaches to the Population Pressure - land productivity decline problem in the Himalaya 9. Crisis, Pseudo-crisis, or Supercrisis? 10. Research Strategy for the Himalayan Region

Abstract: This book focuses on the study of migration at the individual microlevel. This approach emphasizes the process of migration decision making. The book addresses the need for a systematic evaluation of microlevel theories and models of migration decision making in the work of demographers economists geographers planners anthropologists and psychologists. Several trends indicate the rising significance of migration in population studies: 1) there is a slowdown in the rate of natural increase which results in the dynamics of internal population growth patterns shifting to migration 2) the enlarged size of rural-urban population movement in developing countries excerbate serious problems of unemployment housing and education 3) there is the emergence of a population deconcentration trend through metropolitan-nonmetropolitan area migration in developing countries and 4) there is increasing attention to migration policy in developing countries. The microlevel determinants of internal migration are predicated on the knowledge that transfers of population will be internal and not international. The concept of decision making is used in its most general form to refer to the formation of an intuition or disposition towards migration behavior. 3 themes are addressed by the authors: 1) systematic review and evaluation of microlevel frameworks and models of the migration decision 2) applicability of microlevel migration models and frameworks to developing and developed countries and 3) general policy implications of microlevel migration models. One of the more fundamental arguments in this book is that all noncoercive migration-related policies must respond to individual and/or household-level migration decisions. Commonalities in the authors migration decision analysis are: 1) emphasis on microlevel decisions 2) an assumption that the decision makers are rational 3) the emphasis on the motivations of migration information and actualizing decisions to move 4) the design of research on microlevel aspects of migration and 5) explanation of the decision to move or stay and different types of movement.

Abstract: Ladakh, or 'Little Tibet', is a wildly beautiful desert land up in the Western Himalayas. It is a place of few resources and an extreme climate. Yet for more than a thousand years, it has been home to a thriving culture. Traditions of frugality and cooperation, coupled with an intimate and location-specific knowledge of the environment, enabled the Ladakhis not only to survive, but to prosper. Everyone had enough to eat; families and communities were strong; the status of women was high. Then came 'development'. Now in the modern sector one finds pollution and divisiveness, inflation and unemployment, intolerance and greed. Centuries of ecological balance and social harmony are under threat from pressures of Western consumerism. Ancient Futures is much more than a book about Ladakh. Passionately argued, it raises important questions about the whole notion of progress, and explores the root causes of the malaise of industrial society. At the same time, the story of Ladakh serves as a source of inspiration for our own future. It shows us that another way is possible, and points to some of the first steps towards kinder, gentler patterns of living.