Geography Socio-economic and environmental transformations in the Changthang region of Ladakh

The research examines socio-economic and environmental transformations in the Changthang region of Ladakh, focusing on the impacts of expanding road infrastructure. Geographically, Changthang is an extension of the Tibetan Plateau (Goldstein and Beall 1990). It is characterised by extreme aridity, high solar radiation, and strong winds (Namgail et al. 2010). The region is home to Changpa tribe, a nomadic pastoralist community of Tibetan origin (Jina 1995). During the middle of the twentieth century, when Changthang along with whole of Ladakh region became a peripheral locality of India, it carried structural political economic transformations for the local pastoral economy and the related social and cultural institutions (Sabharwal 2016). As the western sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China, Changthang occupies an important strategic position in India.The pace of Indian infrastructure building along LAC has historically been slow due to financial, geographical and doctrine constraints, but has accelerated in the past 20 years (Observer Research Foundation 2024). These projects are embedded within a broader strategic push for all-weather road and tunnel infrastructure in Eastern Ladakh, with the stated aims of improving troop mobility, supporting local socio-economic development, and reinforcing India’s position in the high Himalayas (Press Information Bureau 2022). Road infrastructure has emerged as the most visible and influential marker of these development interventions and frontier strategy. In Ladakh, the development of the roadscape has depended largely on geopolitical considerations and the perception of emerging threats from China and Pakistan. Lately, roads have been justified in terms of socioeconomic development (Demenge 2012). The first major roads opened in the early 1960s (Fox et al. 1994), and today state-led link road projects, branching out from national highways, are underway to connect remote corners of the region. The construction of roads serves a multiplicity of purpose, they are not only integral to the broader national strategy of strengthening borderland but are also aimed at improving connectivity and access to services, thus enhancing regional development. Road construction through a village involves gains and losses for villagers, and the distribution of these gains and losses depends on the trajectory of the road (Demenge 2012). For Changpa pastoralists, the expansion of road networks presents both opportunities and challenges. External and internal drivers of change are reshaping mobility patterns, livelihoods, gender dynamics, land and resource use. Key stresses to the perpetuation of traditional pastoral knowledge include livelihood diversification, increasing dependence upon exogenous food production system and diminishing significance of traditional livelihood practices with improved connectivity, higher education aspirations and development of tourism and military services(Ladon et al. 2023). These shifts are further intensified by climate change, which exacerbates the already limited natural resources and increases ecological vulnerability. 

My research draws on the frameworks of political ecology and rural development to examine the changes taking place in Changthang from a bottom-up perspective. It focuses on the lived experiences, adaptive strategies, and shifting identities and agency of the Changpa nomadic pastoralists, who navigate life within an ecologically fragile and geopolitically sensitive environment. It seeks to inform a more inclusive, sustainable, and culturally grounded approach to rural and borderland development in the Trans-Himalayan Ladakh. By adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, the project holds potential to advance academic discourse and shape policy frameworks on frontier area development, with applicability to other comparable regions.

References:

Demenge J (2012) The political ecology of road construction in Ladakh. Thesis, University of Sussex

Fox JL, Nurbu C, Bhatt S, Chandola A (1994) Wildlife Conservation and Land-Use Changes in the Transhimalayan Region of Ladakh, India. Mountain Research and Development 14:39–60. https://doi.org/10.2307/3673737

Goldstein MC, Beall CM (1990) Nomads of Western Tibet: the survival of a way of life. University of California Press, Berkeley, Cal.

Ladon P, Nüsser M, Garkoti SC (2023) Mountain agropastoralism: traditional practices, institutions and pressures in the Indian Trans-Himalaya of Ladakh. Pastoralism 13:30. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-023-00289-1

Namgail T, van Wieren SE, Prins HHT (2010) Pashmina production and socio-economic changes in the Indian Changthang: Implications for natural resource management. Natural Resources Forum 34:222–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2010.01303.x

Observer Researcher Foundation (2023) Tracking India’s Infrastructure Development Near the Line of Actual Control. In: orfonline.org. https://www.orfonline.org/research/tracking-indias-infrastructure-devel…. Accessed 11 Aug 2025

Press Information Bureau (2022) Enhance capability through latest technology for faster infrastructure development in border areas: Raksha Mantri tells BRO on its 63rd Raising Day. http://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1823456. Accessed 11 Aug 2025

Sabharwal A (2016) Contested Affluence: Cultural Politics of Pashmina Wealth and Wildlife Conservation in Ladakh. In: The Economics of Ecology, Exchange, and Adaptation: Anthropological Explorations. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp 77–113

PhD Project: Kunzang Angmo
Funding: Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India
Duration: 2025-2028