Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee
Designation: Scientist E
Centre Head : Ladakh Regional Centre
Discipline: Climate Change ; Meteorology ;
Email Id: sandipanmukherjee@hotmail.com
Profile
Ladakh Regional Centre of NIHE was established in December, 2019, to ensure research and development outreach in the Trans-Himalayan region of Indian Himalaya. The Trans-Himalayan landscape with most of its areas lying above 3000 m asl is characterised by extreme cold climate, minimal rain and with very sparse vegetation. This landscape, most often, is also termed as ‘Cold Desert’. The region is endowed with rich diversity of culture, unique biodiversity elements and significantly large number of wetlands/water bodies. Although, the communities inhabiting these areas have adapted for extremely harsh climate and resource poor living conditions, they face numerous challenges.
Especially under changing climate scenario, when impacts are expected to be more intense in higher altitudes, the Trans-Himalayan landscape and people are likely to face more sever challenges. This calls for better understanding of its landscape and developing strategies and implementation of plans for addressing issues of environmental conservation, people's livelihoods, and sustainable development under changing scenario. Considering this, the Ladakh Regional Centre of NIHE aims to ensure R&D outreach in Trans-Himalayan region of Indian Himalaya.
- Towards bringing changes and achieving the targets, the center is focusing on two cardinal principles: (a) science for society, and (b) networks and collaborations.
- To achieve the targets, centres’ major activities include:
(i) Development of Knowledge Network of institutions/organizations working in the Ladakh &Knowledge Repository for policy inputs on issues of Trans-Himalayan Region.
(ii) Demonstration of successful and sustainable technologiesfor adoption and partnership of private sector.
(iii) Promoting energetic young professionals in providing solutions to address environmental challenges.
- Promoting alternative livelihoods for climate change vulnerable cold-desert communities
- Facilitating conservation of critical and important cold desert habitats and biodiversity
- Strengthening and establishing approaches for addressing issues of water scarcity
- Fostering climate smart communities in the trans-Himalayan landscape
- To develop and upscale of low-cost technologies for sustainable livelihood promotion and dissemination of the developed technologies through capacity building programmes.
- To promote ex-situ conservation of threatened and high-value Trans-Himalayan plants.
- To address water scarcity through integrated water resource management and monitoring of high-altitude wetlands, springs and glaciers.
- To assess climate change impact on the economical marginal societies of Trans-Himalaya and to develop adaptation and mitigation measures.
Rural Technology Center-Leh (RTC-Leh) was established on 19 August 2021 at Council Secretariate Complex to serve as a knowledge centre for education and awareness to harness the rural livelihood opportunities through natural resources
Automatic Weather Station and Numerical Weather Simulation Facility
Treated Waste water Hydroponic Proto-type
Low-cost Hydroponic Unit
Designation: Scientist E
Centre Head : Ladakh Regional Centre
Discipline: Climate Change ; Meteorology ;
Email Id: sandipanmukherjee@hotmail.com
Profile
Designation: Scientist C
Discipline: Glaciology ; Remote sensing ;
Email Id: garg.glacio@gmail.com
Profile
Designation: Scientist C
Discipline: Ecology and Biodiversity ;
Email Id: bhattnaveen857@gmail.com
Profile
Designation: Technical Assistant-II
Discipline: Biodiversity Conservation ;
Email Id: dalbeerp3@gmail.com
Profile
Designation: Field Coordinator
Discipline: Political Science
Email Id: sonamchorol12@gmail.com
Designation: Junior Project fellow
Discipline: Botany
Email Id: cangmo9997@gmail.com
Designation: Young Professional-I
Discipline: Environmental Science
Email Id: imsinghsidharth@gmail.com
Designation: Junior Project fellow
Discipline: Glaciology/ Remote Sensing
Email Id: mohitp672@gmail.com
Designation: Junior Project Fellow
Discipline: Bitechnology
Email Id: stanzindolma130@gmail.com
Designation: Junior Project Fellow
Discipline: Geology
Email Id: ilyasladakh978@gmail.com
Designation: Project Associate-I
Discipline: Life Science
Email Id: eachen22rchan@gmail.com
Designation: Junior Project Fellow
Discipline: Environmental Science
Email Id: annupriyasoni99@gmail.com
Designation: Junior Project Fellow
Discipline: Environmental Science
Email Id: aamirfarooq813@gmail.com
Provide access to Rural Technology Center (RTC) of LRC to partner organizations/ stakeholders for demonstration, training, and teaching.
Provide laboratory access to local students and researchers from partner organizations/ local stakeholders.
Provide GIS and Statistical Analysis Facility students and researchers from partner organizations/ local stakeholders.
Provide advisory services to local partner organizations/ stakeholders.
LRC provide library access free to local Students form Local universities and colleges
Provide Accommodation to researchers and trainees.
Temporal change assessment of glaciers in J&K (UT); and updated glacier mass balance studies for Ladakh (UT).
Glacial lake inventory of Kargil district of Ladakh UT.
Assessment of long-term meteorological drought scenarios of Ladakh and J&K (UT).
Creation of artificial snow reservoir through participatory approach for addressing the rural water scarcity
A comprehensive account of Birds and Mammals of Ladakh (UT) developed using citizen science approach.
Accessions of medicinal plants and tree species maintained at Herbal Garden and Mini Arboretum.
People Biodiversity Registers for Leh Municipal Committee Leh, Ladakh (UT)
Action plans on management and mitigation of disasters in Ladakh UT.
A policy document on review, recommendation and action agenda for sustainable tourism in Ladakh UT.
Promoting the Carbon Neutral Ladakh Campaign through outreach progammes targeting minimization of single use plastic and tree-based products.
Rural Technology Centre (RTC)-Leh in collaboration with Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Leh developed and demonstrated Trans Himalayan specific low-cost technologies for livelihood improvement i.e. low-cost simple portable polyhouses, low-cost simple solar powered hydroponic prototype, low shading poly-tunnels, biocomposting unit, micro-irrigation model, floriculture through vernalization, integrated pest and nutrient management, integrated vegetable and mushroom cultivation, etc.
Green skill development programmes are being executed to develop local resource based entrepreneurship and to create off-farm livelihood employment opportunities in the remote areas of Ladakh. Since 2020, four major training programs namely (i) Apricot fruit processing, (ii) Seabuckthorn fruit processing, (iii) Basket Weaving, and (iv) Integrated Mushroom cultivation have been organized across 25 villages in Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh. These programs, tailored to the natural resources available in each village, aimed to enhance capacity and skills, fostering local entrepreneurship and sustainable resource utilization. Till date efforts have yielded positive outcomes, with 623 participants (585 female and 38 male) from 26 villages of Ladakh actively engaging in the training programs
National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem Task force on Forest Resources and Plant Biodiversity (TF-3)
Exploring the use of treated wastewater for vegetable cultivation through hydroponic techniques in Ladakh UT.
Assessment of glacier-climate functional relationships across the Indian Himalayan Region through long term network observations.
Strengthening Ladakh’s livelihoods: Empowering selp-help groups (SHGs) through harvesting and primary processing of Seabuckthorn
Natural grassland ecosystem monitoring system for peninsular and trans-Himalayan India to sustain pastoral communities
Multidimensional Assessment of Ecological Dynamics and Ecosystem Health of Selected High-Altitude Wetlands of Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) for Effective Conservation and Management planning.
Mainstreaming Passive Solar Buildings in the Indian Himalayan Region: Integrating science with traditional practices to enhance climate resilience.
Pine-Oak systems: interactions between water-climate and plant biodiversity.
Demonstration of Plastic Free – Rajbhawan Complex, Ladakh.
Timberline and Altitudinal Gradient Ecology of Himalayas, and Human Use Sustenance in a Warming Climate.
Himalaya Calling: Bridging science, policy and practice to foster sustainable development in the Indian Himalayan region (IHR)- Ladakh Chapter.
Carrying Capacity estimation of Tourism in Leh town complex in Ladakh.
People Biodiversity Register of Municipal Committee Leh.
Developing new and improved agriculture techniques (mushroom cultivation) in the GoI-UNDP-GEF SECURE Himalaya Project Landscape in the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Develop educational mini urban arboretum using permanent flower pot container located in main market of Leh town.
Principal Invigilator Dr. J.C. Kuniyal Co-PIs Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee, Dr. Ajay Kumar Gupta
Principal Invigilator Dr. Lalit Giri
Principal Invigilator Dr. Ashutosh Tiwari Co-PIs Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee, Dr. PK Garg
Principal Invigilator Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee Co-PIs Dr. Lalit Giri ; Ms. S. Chorol
Principal Invigilator Dr. Ajay Kumar Gupta Co-PIs Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee
Principal Invigilator Dr. Rajesh Joshi Co-PIs Dr. Ajay Kumar Gupta
Principal Invigilator Er. MS Lodhi Co-PIs Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee, Dr. PK Garg
Principal Invigilator Dr. S. Mukherjee
Principal Invigilator Head: LRC-NIHE
Principal Invigilator Dr. S. Sharma
Principal Invigilator Dr. S. Sharma
Principal Invigilator Dr. Lalit Giri
Principal Invigilator Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee Co-PIs Dr. Lalit Giri
Principal Invigilator Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee Co-PIs Ms. S Chorol
Principal Invigilator Dr. Sandipan Mukherjee Co-PIs Dr. Lalit Giri
Sharma, RS Rawal, RK Pande, C Phunsog, P Raina, MS Sultan
Subrat Sharma, RS Rawal, P Raina, MS Sultan, R Kotru, SP Singh, S Norboo, D Angmo, RW Lachic
Authors Bisht A, Lalit Giri, Belwal T, Pandey A, Bahukhundi A, Bhatt ID, Rawal RS
Plant Biosystems, 2021
Authors Suresh K Rana, Ranbeer S Rawal, Bhawana Dangwal, Indra D Bhatt and Trevor D Price
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2021
Authors Belwal T, Singh G, Jeandet P, Pandey A, Lalit Giri, Ramola S, Bhatt ID, Venskutonis PR, Georgiev MI, Clément C, Luo Z.
Biotechnology Advances, 2020
Authors Dash, J., M. D. Behera, C. Jeganathan, C. S. Jha, Subrat Sharma, R. Lucas, A. A. Khuroo, A. Harris, P. M. Atkinson, D. S. Boyd, C. P. Singh, M. P. Kale, P. Kumar, Soumit K. Behera, V. S. Chitale, S. Jayakumar, L. K. Sharma, A. C. Pandey, K. Avishek, P. C. Pandey, S. N. Mohapatra & S. K. Varshney
Tropical Ecology, 2020
Authors Singh, R. P. R. Krausmanc, P. Pandeya, A. Maheshwarid, R. S. Rawal, Subrat Sharma, R. Shekhar
Theoretical and Applied Economics, 2020
Authors Salehi B, Sharifi-Rad J, Capanoglu E, Adrar N, Catalkaya G, Shaheen S, Jaffer M, Lalit Giri, Suyal R, Jugran AK, Calina D.
Applied Sciences, 2019
Authors Kumar, D., M. Singh, S. Sharma.
Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 2019/20
Workshop was organized in collaboration with Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL)
Program was chaired by Dr. Ishey Namgyal, President of Municipal Committee Leh (MCL)
Introducing products from Seabuckthorn to Tsar-tar (WSHG of Matho Village) (Collaborator: Mr. StanzinChospel, CouncillorMartsaling Constituency, LAHDC-Leh).
Value addition on Seabuckthorn and Apricot Products to Chamshen: ZAMO-40 (WSHG) of Nubra Valley (Collaborator: Mr. Rigzin Lundup, Councillor, Tyger Constituency, LAHDC-Leh; and Mr. JigmetSingay, JIMPO Enterprise, Leh)
Making of Back Baskets/Dustbins/Small Containers from local plant resources to WSHG (Basket Group) of Matho Village. Products linked with UT administration and LEDeG. (Collaborator: Mr. StanzinChospel, CouncillorMartsaling Constituency, LAHDC-Leh; and Mrs. TseringDolma,and Mrs. Kunzes Dolma from Village Youlkham, Nubra Valley)
Himalayan Popular Lecture, Ladakh Series (First) on the topic“Impact of Climate Change on India’s Trans-Himalayan Region” by Shri C. Phunsog, Padam Shree, Vice Chancellor,Ladakh University
Hands on training/practice: Making of three Apricot Productsto Chamshen: ZAMO-40 (WSHG) of Nubra Valley (Collaborator: Mr. Rigzin Lundup, Councillor, Tyger Constituency, LAHDC-Leh; and Mr. JigmetSingay, JIMPO Enterprise, Leh)
Tailoring Operations to Women Self Help Group (WSHG) of Stok Village (Collaborator: Mr. StanzinChospel, CouncillorMartsaling Constituency, LAHDC-Leh).
Four-day summit on the theme “Carbon Neutral Ladakh- A new beginning” in collaboration with UT Administration (Department of Wildlife Protection), Ladakh UT, Leh
Copyright © G. B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment 2025
