Khecheopalri Lake - Conservation Measures

Conservation Measures

A scientific study was, therefore, instituted (the first such study in India of a sacred lake in a temperate zone) with the objective of quantifying the sacredness value of the lake and the related recreational value of the Yuksom-Dzongri-Goechha La corridor. The study was carried out by gathering interactive information from tourists who visit the lake throughout the year (both national and international) and local community on their perceptions for conservation and tourism. This study has established that monetary values need to be attributed to conservation of the site for biodiversity and pilgrimage through regulated ecotourism. This could also usher in economic development, closely linked to conservation.

Thus, ecotourism, promoted with the involvement of local communities, could not only provide economic benefits but also control further deterioration of biodiversity in the Khecheopalri Lake surroundings as well as in the Yuksom-Dzongri-Goechha La Corridor. Further, as a conservation measure, fishing or any other recreational activities at the lake have been prohibited. Swimming and boating in the lake are also prohibited. There is also the belief among the local community that any disturbance on the 'Holy Lake' could lead to calamities and unwelcome events.

To reduce the pollution levels in the lake, the measures envisaged are: afforestation of degraded forest areas, prayer ceremonies to be made monastery centric than lake centric, implement a management plan with full local participation, shifting cultivation and grazing in the catchment to be discouraged, weed control through manual and mechanical extraction and most importantly to check anthropogenic and agricultural runoff into the lake.

To ensure lake conservation and management, the Khecheopalri Holy Lake Welfare Committee (KHLWC) and the local community are involved in developing plantations and management of festivals. They have stopped grazing around the lake periphery and even stopped construction of a foot path on the periphery of the lake in order to maintain the forest vegetation surrounding the lake.