Characteristics of villages in hilly regions of india
Answers
Any area having an altitude of more than 600 m from the mean sea level or an average slope of 30° may be classified as hilly in India [1], which includes the Himalayas, the Central Highlands, the Deccan Plateau and the north eastern hill ranges. Depending upon the altitude and prevailing climatic conditions, hill regions have been classified into three categories as Foot-hill regions (below 1200 m), Mid-Hill regions (1200–3500 m) and High-hill regions (above 3500) [2]. These different hill regions have varied geo-environmental conditions and resources available for development. Hill regions are the most difficult, yet most interesting and challenging terrains, to carry out any development work as development in Hilly regions is constrained by difficult terrains, steep gradients, complex geological structure, climatic conditions and rich flora.
Most of the hill towns/stations like Shimla, Nainital, Dalhousie, Mussoorie etc. are situated in the mid hill regions. These hill towns have been experiencing great pressure for development (due to high population growth, large tourist influx and better living conditions) from the last three decades, which has changed the environment and visual appearance of hill towns. Hill towns have grown many times more than their design and carrying capacity and are under a lot of pressure for providing residential, educational, health, work and recreational facilities, which is further pronounced due to scarcity of buildable land, as well as high land prices. For example, Shimla is designed for a highest population of 25,000 on a pedestrian scale, but the present population of the Shimla town is around 169,758. As a consequence of this, the lush green slopes of hill towns are converted into barren concrete jungles coupled with problems like congestion, overcrowding, pollution, traffic jams, inaccessibility, landslides, forest reduction and slope failure, which resulted in environmental degradation and ecological disturbance .
villages generally have huts which have slopy roofs
people generally follow step farming