Biju Dharmapalan, Kapil K Tripathi
The ever-growing Himalaya is a scientific enigma for the scientific community because of its vast unique biodiversity and geological formations. It is one of the global biodiversity hotspots sustaining about one-fifth of humanity. Recently the Trans- Himalayan region has been recognized as one of the promising astronomical sites globally. Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) located at Hanle near Leh in Ladakh has gained global attention due to its advantages of more clear nights, minimal light pollution, background aerosol concentration, extremely dry atmospheric condition, and uninterrupted monsoon. During the past few years, the UT has made tremendous progress in science and technology, mainly because of the initiatives taken by the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. Various universities and research institutes in the UT have made commendable achievements in science and technology. Still, science is elusive to many due to its peculiar geographical barriers.
The Government of India has taken several steps to popularize science among the community. Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organization of the Department of Science and technology is at the forefront of this venture. Recently it organized the National Urdu Science Congress-2021 in association with the central university of Kashmir. The idea behind organizing such a congress was to engage the academic and scientific community with the local public.
India Science (www.indiascience.org), a flagship project of Vigyan Prasar has played vital role in propagating the science from the valley to rest of the country, through OTT (Over the Top) platform since January 2019. The channel has been constantly telecasting programmes highlighting the scientific contributions from the Himalayan UT. The programmes like “Geological Evidence of Eastern Himalaya Earthquake” and ” Newly identified tectonically active zone in Himalayas” highlights the contributions of researchers from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in understanding the science behind ecologically sensitive Himalayan region. The episode “Himalaya” takes the viewers to the Himalayan mountains – the youngest & most magnificent ranges in the world. Their birth story is a geological legend, with the drifting of massive ancient landmasses and a grand collision that took over 50 million years to unfold. Another episode “Accurate Estimation of Black Carbon in The Himalayan Region” highlights how the study carried out by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, ARIES, will help in accurate estimation of black carbon in the Himalayan region, and improve weather and climate forecasts. The episode “Melting Himalayan Glaciers” highlights the importance of glaciers in maintaining global climate.
Roads are the channels by which people across the country move and interact. Creating good roads in mountainous terrain requires ample scientific skill. Our scientists from Boarder Roads Organization have created one of the landmark tunnels in the Himalayan region. The movie “Atal Tunnel, Rohtang: An Engineering Marvel” takes the viewers to the science behind this engineering marvel.
The channel also highlights the agriculture and farming practices from the UT. The programme “Purple Revolution Unfolds in Kashmir Himalayas” showcases how cultivation of Lavender as a new aroma crop is fast catching up in the Kashmir Himalayas. Lavender is a big hit in the global perfume industry. The aromatic oil extracted from the flowers can sell for more than Rs 10,000 per kg. The lavender plant has now been naturalised for India. India today is a net importer of lavender oil and through its extension activities the CSIR’s Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu targets to make India a net exporter of Lavender oil.
Kashmir is world renowned for its apples. Kashmir produces eighty percent of India’s apples, producing about two million tonnes of apples annually. This industry is worth over Rs 9000 crores. Apples are an introduced fruit in Kashmir and traditional orchards offer low yields. With the use of modern science, high yielding varieties are being introduced in the Valley. The older `Amri’ and `Delicious’ varieties are giving way to varieties like ‘Gala Mast’, ‘Red Chief’, ‘Super Chief’, ‘Gala Redlum’ and ‘Red Velox’. The introduction of high density and dwarf planting is giving farmers much higher yields, spread over 4-5 months, so that farmers get to sell their produce over a much bigger window and are able to avoid the boom-bust cycle. The episode “Giving a New Shine to Kashmir Apples” introduces new varieties of apples produced through crop improvement techniques.
Another key crop of Kashmir is Saffron. The channel has produced several programmes highlighting the recent research in Saffron. The episode “Saffron” highlights the new varieties and technology developed by CSIR-IHBT .
The Dal Lake is the lifeline for the people of Kashmir. In the episode “Dal Lake: Managing a floating city ecosystem” highlights the importance of the `floating gardens’, which provides vegetables to the people of Srinagar.The water in the lake gets polluted leading to outbreaks of algal blooms and weeds like water lily and Salvinia gain ground. The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) along with Sher-e- Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Srinagar had made a massive development plan for the lake. Water management and keeping the ecosystem alive in the midst of a big city pose their own challenges. The management of a high-altitude lake with its unique flora and fauna and the massive human population is a complex developmental issue.
The Kashmir Valley is gifted with variety of cold-water fish species. Wular, Dal and Manasbal Lakes are famous all over Jammu & Kashmir for fish species such as Common carp, Amur carp and the Schizothorax species or trout. With human encroachments and climate change many of these fish species are endangered. The episode of “Farming the Fish: Cold Water Fishery in Kashmir” explores the scientific research and management tools that are being used to give a boost to cold water fishery in the country like the National Fish Seed and National Fish Feed Farm and also J&K’s first Aqua Clinic for Fish .
The Himalayan region, due to its unique geography and climate, is a rich repository of floral diversity. In the Himalayas, most of the people live in villages and use plants as medicine, edible/food, fodder, fuel, timber, agricultural tools and various other purposes. In fact, the heritage of medicinal plants is quite rich, with wide applications. However, this diversity is under the threat of extermination owing to the indiscriminate collection, poor regeneration process and meagre attempts to replenish the dwindling plant population. Of late, due to renewed interest in Ayurveda and other nature-based therapies including rising demand for herbal-based pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, over-harvesting and the exploitation of commercially important rare, endangered & threatened (RETs) species with medicinal properties is a matter of serious concern. Hence, systematic and scientific efforts are being made by scientific institutions to conserve and propagate this indigenous wealth for further use. The movie “Saviours of Himalayan Greens: Indigenous Threatened Plants of Himalayan Region (E)” telecasted in the channel highlights necessary information about the commercially important indigenous rare, endangered & threatened (RETs) species of plants in the Himalayan region and efforts made by CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) in preserving them.
The movie “Dachigam: A Noah’s Ark in Kashmir Himalayas” showcases the high-altitude forest ecosystem of the Dachigam National Park in the Kashmir Himalayas which is the home to critically endangered deer, the Hangul.
Science is essential for uplifting any community, human development is possible only in a society that accepts science as their part and parcel of daily life. This can be done only if our children are properly trained in science. For this science communication and popularization plays a lead role. In a world where digitalization has become the part and parcel of the common man, this can be done through smartphones. India Science being a channel that works from an OTT platform, can easily be accessed from any part of the country without incurring any additional expenses. Being a national channel which is managed by Vigyan Prasar, Govt.of India, its contents are most reliable and authentic and can be utilized as a learning resource for students and teachers. Within a short span of time, the channel has become one of the most sought-after science channels among school children and the public. Its high time the policymakers and administrators from the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh include India Science as a mandatory resource material for teachers and students. This will help the UT to build a strong scientific force for the future.
( Biju Dharmapalan a popular science writer who regularly writes for national newspapers and science magazines and Kapil K Tripathi working as Scientist F at Vigyan Prasar, Govt.of India, New Delhi. )
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel