Responding to climate and other change processes in complex contexts:: Challenges facing development of adaptive policy frameworks in the Ganga Basin

The Ganga Basin, one of the world's most densely populated and vulnerable regions, is also among the world's most dynamic hydrological systems. Rivers exiting the Himalaya deposit massive amounts of sediment in the plains and shift their courses regularly. The natural dynamics of this system have a direct impact on populations. On August 18th, 2008, for example, embankments on the Kosi River (a tributary to the Ganges), failed and the channel shifted by as much as 120 km (Sinha, 2008 [1]) displacing over sixty thousand people in Nepal and three and a half million in India. Transport and power systems disrupted across large areas. The embankment failure was not caused by an extreme event. Instead the breach represented a failure of interlinked physical and institutional infrastructure systems in an area characterized by complex social, political, and environmental relationships.Projected climate changes in the Ganga Basin are likely to greatly exacerbate vulnerability (Adaptation Study Team, 2008 [2]). While the Kosi breach had nothing to do with climate change, such events will increase if climatic variability, sediment transport, and extreme events increase. Understanding how populations can respond to the dynamic nature of rivers such as the Kosi is, as a result, essential to develop strategies for adapting to climatic change. Understanding is also essential at the policy level for building adaptive capacity. The challenge is to identify policy frameworks and their relationship to interlinked physical and institutional infrastructure combinations that create environments enabling adaptation within households, communities, and regions.This paper explores the challenges and opportunities facing the development of adaptive policy frameworks in the Ganga Basin. The characteristics of frameworks that are adaptive in themselves and enable adaptation along with their relationship to different types of interlinked institutional and infrastructure systems are explored first. Following this, the case of the Kosi embankment along with the projected impacts of climate change across the Ganga Basin is used to identify the key challenges and opportunities that are common in many regions. The paper concludes with specific observations on the development of adaptive policy frameworks for responding to climate change in complex developing country contexts.     

Solid Waste Management in the Himalayan Trails and Expedition Summits

The leaving behind of self-generated waste by visitors to the trails and expedition areas of the world’s mountains is one of the most adverse features of adventure tourism. This study shows how visitors, host communities and government could reduce waste creation and earn income from waste in various ways. Two case studies representing the Himalayas – one for trekking (in and around the Valley of Flowers: 1830–4330 m) and the other for expeditions (Pindari valley: 2300–5500 m) – have been researched in depth. Visitor inflows during the four months’ annual activity period at both locations ranged from 25,000 in expedition to 116,392 in trekking areas. The per capita per day waste generation varied from 200 to 288 gm in expedition and trekking areas respectively. Non-biodegradable waste dominated biodegradable waste at 66.4% for expedition and 84.5% for trekking areas. The sustainable solid waste management options urgently needed are rejection (of waste-prone commodities), reuse, recycling and biocomposting from a variety of waste compositions that are usually considered valueless and useless by local people, trekkers and mountaineers. A possible scheme of administration is suggested.     

Carrying capacity analysis and destination development: a case study of Gangotri tourists/pilgrims’ circuit in the Himalaya

The Himalaya has numerous natural, cultural, aesthetic, and adventurer tourists/pilgrims’ destinations, which are the major source of income and employment to the local people and revenue generation to the government. Meanwhile, tourism carrying capacity of these destinations is poor and thus tourism development could not take shape. This article examines carrying capacity and destination development of the Gangotri tourists/pilgrims’ circuit, which is also known as Gangotri eco-sensitive zone. We conducted this study using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, in which we collected data on tourists/pilgrims flow, accommodation, transportation, and infrastructural facilities. Primary data were collected through interview of 160 persons of 8 tourists/pilgrims centres who are involved in tourism activities. Further, we employed a participatory observation method after an extensive visit of Gangotri tourisms/pilgrims circuit in January 2017. Secondary data were collected from the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Dehradun. We used correlation and rank method and analysed infrastructural facilities, carrying capacity dimensions, proposed destination development model for the circuit, and observed that a sustainable tourism development may enhance economic activities such as income generation and employment augmentation as the whole circuit obtains natural, cultural, and aesthetic importance.