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| Environmental
Status of Leh and Adjoining Areas |
| Foreword
The
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has taken up the task of preparing the
State-of-the-Environment Reports and Pollution Profiles for different areas. This
will help in dissemination of useful information on the status and trends of environmental
quality in various parts of the country. Such reports/profiles are needed particularly
for those areas in respect of which adequate information is not collated and documented.
With this in view, CPCB carried out a study and brought out a State-of-the-Environment
Report for Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The present report is based on studies
in leh district and its surroundings located in ladakh region lapped in the midst
of snow-clad fringes of the Himalaya.
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The report brings to light some interesting issues. Though the
region is extensively drained by major rivers, water (an acute resource in the
region) is neither abstracted for meeting drinking water needs nor does it serve
as an affordable energy alternate in the form of hydel power mainly due to the
burdensome silt land. Groundwater (tube wells) is mainly used for drinking water
and devices installed for tapping solar energy to meet power requirement. The
water quality in rivers is suitable for human consumption except for high suspended
solids and dissolved iron. leh town is supplied exclusively by tube well water
which is meeting the water quality standards even without any conventional treatment.
Total ban on polybag usage and voluntary refilling facility of mineral water bottles
have helped in curbing the menace of plastic wastes.
I am grateful to
my colleagues inspired by Dr. B. Sengupta, Member Secretary, CPCB for their painstaking
efforts in conducting the survey for preparation of this report. I am also grateful
to Shri Brij M. Sharma, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), leh who helped our team
in finding their bearings in the region besides arranging for their travel permits.
I hope, the findings of our team will be useful to the concerned agencies and
general public. |
Dilip Biswas
Chairman,
CPCB | |
