Avalanche Protection and Control in the Himalayas

Abstract

The problems of snow avalanches, their prediction and control in the Himalayas have assumed great relevance and importance not only for the Army but also for the progress of the Himalayan States of Jammu & Kashmir. Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, whose upper reaches remain snowbound for nearly six months in a year. The paper discusses briefly the gravity of the problem and presents a broad outline of a case-study of avalanche control for Badrinath Templeand Township in Uttar Pradesh undertaken by the Snow & Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), Manali. This and many other studies undertaken by the SASE illustrate the contribution of Defellce Science to the solution of this major problem affecting communications, tourism and hill development, as a spin-off from Defence Research.