Himalayas UPSC : A Comprehensive Guide on Himalayas

Introduction

Himalayas are the young fold mountains which stand as a grand barrier guarding India’s frontiers against both cold winds arising from central Asia and foreign invasions from the central Asian rulers.

Recent News – 

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has issued a warning, calling for “bold action” and “urgent finance” to prevent the collapse of nature in high Mountain Asia.

Read a Complete Guide on nari shakti vandan adhiniyam here.

Study of Himalayas

There are two ways to study Himalayas

• Longitudinal study
• Cross sectional

Longitudinal study 

According to this study, Himalayas are divided into 4 parts from north to south. 

Trans-Himalayas 

These are composed of 4 mountain ranges 

• Kailash ranges – Located completely in Tibetan Region. The most important and sacred mountain here is Mt Kailash. At the foothills of Kailash is Mansarovar. 
• Karakoram ranges – These are northern most ranges of Himalayas. Highest peak here is K2.
• Ladakh range- Highest peaks here are Gasherbrum 1 and 2.
• Zaskar range – They extend southeastward for some 400 miles (640 km) from the Karcha (Suru) River to the upper Karnali River. Kamet Peak is the highest point, and the most important passes are Shipki, Lipu Lekh (Lipulieke), and Mana.

Important Plains – Aksai chin and soda plains

Important valleys- Nubra 

Glaciers – Siachen, Baltora, biafo 

Rivers- Indus 

Great Himalayas (Himadri)

• These are a continuous chain of mountains extending from Nanga Parbat to Namcha Barua for a stretch of 2400 kms.
• Most of the highest peaks are located here. Some of the peaks include Mt Everest, Mt Kanchenjunga, Mt Makalu, Mt Manaslu etc.
• At the extremes of the Himalayas, the mountains have a bend called a syntaxial bend. In the western end leading to 2 ranges – Kirthar and Suleiman and towards the east leading to Peru yoma and Arkan Yoma.

Middle Himalayas (Himachal) 

• These are located between greater Himalayas and shivaliks.
• They are highly polluted ranges 
• All the major hill stations are restricted here. Ex- Darjeeling, Kullu, Manali, Dalhousie etc.
• It consists for 5 broken hill ranges- Pir panjal, Dhauladhar, Kumaon, Gahrwal and Mahabharat ranges.

Outer Himalayas (Shivalik)

• Average height of the mountains is between 700-1500m.
• They are low lying hills.

Cross sectional study 

Kashmir Himalayas

Important peaks- K2, Gasherbrum 1 and 2

Important Passes

Important duns – Jammu doon, Patli doon

Formation of mergs is important feature here- ex- Sonmarg, gulmarg

Rivers flowing – Indus and its tributaries

Lakes located here- Dal lake, Wular lake, Tso moriri, Tang Pang Tso 

Important cultivation – Apple, Saffron, Peaches, Berries etc.

Uttarakhand Himalayas

They extend between Sutlej and Kali for about 320 km. 

Important duns- Dehradun 

Important Passes 

Important hot springs- Manikaran, Jwala Mukhi 

Lakes present – Renukatal, Chandratal, nainital

Valleys – Valley of flowers (Uttarakhand), Lahaul spiti valley (HP)

Nomadic groups present here- Bhotiyas and Bhugiyal

Nepal Himalayas

These Himalayas extend between Kali to Teesta for about 800 km. Nepal is located in these ranges hence its name. 

Tallest peaks like Mt Everest, Mt Makalu, Mt Annapoorna etc are located here.

Here the eastern part us dominated by tea plantations and western by horticulture plantation.

Assam Himalayas

They extend between Teesta river and Dihang river for about 700 kms. 

Important feature include duar formation

Important peaks- Kanchenjunga 

Important Passes –

• Nathu la pass, Jelep la pass – Sikkim
• Bum la, Bomdi la, Tawang, Tunga, Diphu, Yangyap – Arunachal Pradesh 

Important cultivation – Tea 

Assam Himalayas are further divided into 2 sets of Himalayas – Poorvanchal and Shivaliks.

1. Poorvanchal range includes Mizo hills, Patkai Bhum, Naga hills, Manipur hills, Tripura hills, Khasi, Garo, Jaintia, Rengma and Mikir hills and Buril ranges.
2. Shivalik ranges includes Miri hills, mishmi hills, Abhor hills, and Dafla hills.