Spiti Valley Is Fighting To Preserve Its Cultural Identity; This Woman Is Striving To Keep It Alive

I was born and raised in Dehradun at the foothills of the mountains and went on to complete a master's in social work at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. I then worked for a few years with the state government of Himachal Pradesh in their rural development department before going on to found MUSE (a non-governmental organisation) with a group of friends. The NGO worked with marginalised communities to create access to livelihoods, healthcare, water, nutrition and education to name a few. Spiti Ecosphere grew out from the initiatives of MUSE as a social enterprise to help further these initiatives.

Spiti Ecosphere was founded in 2007 as the enterprise arm of MUSE as well as to help market the travel experiences and products of Spiti to the outside world.

The purpose was two-fold: one, to help connect Spiti with the mindful and curious traveller and to share the region's rich natural and cultural heritage with others. The aim was to create a win-win for the local communities, the traveller and the region. The second purpose was to ensure [the] long-term sustainability and replication of various initiatives in Spiti independent of financial support from outside. This was done through the revenue generated from the trips and experiences Spiti Ecosphere offers.

Spiti Ecosphere is one of the most awarded and recognised responsible tourism interventions in the country today. Together, Spiti Ecosphere and MUSE have initiated various community initiatives across the length and breadth of India that have received worldwide recognition. 

It's hard to say which has been the most significant, as each of our interventions has been implemented by looking at the issues on the ground and how we can find ways to address and find solutions to [those] challenges and problems, from creating access to quality healthcare to building climate resilience. 

Our initiatives have impacted the whole Spiti Valley in one way or the other through our various initiatives. Our healthcare initiatives have also impacted [the] rural populations of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Punjab and the urban marginalised in Delhi.

Spiti is a high-altitude cold-desert valley lying in the rain shadow of the Himalayas. This beautiful valley receives scanty rainfall and snow is the main source of moisture. Water is a scarce resource here. Most villages in Spiti receive fresh water from glaciers and springs, which in turn are recharged by the winter snow. However, shifts in climate and freak weather conditions, which are increasingly becoming the norm, have resulted in less snowfall, impacting the availability of water not just in summer but in the winter, too.

In recent times, springs have started receding due to changes in the rate and pattern of snowfall that induce and help them recharge. This is primarily due to changes in climate and decreasing amounts of snowfall every year, resulting in the depletion of groundwater aquifers. A number of springs have dried out or have significantly reduced discharge in the many of the highland villages.

The main livelihood in Spiti is agriculture. Agricultural activities, which are restricted to one crop a year, share a delicate balance with climate as irrigation water is solely dependent on springs and winter snowmelt. Climate change is impacting the availability of water, leading to a common occurrence of drought and crop failures.

An additional challenge faced in the region is the unavailability of water, especially drinking water, in the winter season across several villages in Spiti. Villagers have to walk for kilometres every day just to access drinking water or water for cooking, household activities, livestock and personal hygiene. Often, this entails taking an arduous and treacherous walk down to the river bed, where they proceed to collect 20 litres on their backs to last one day for the entire family. In the winter, villagers have to resort to melting snow—which is possible when it does snow.

This is a very fragile situation for those living in the Himalayas, especially those who are dependent on climate, which can either make or break their entire year and the associated livelihoods. It's a year-on-year challenge for livelihoods that are climate-dependent.

It's hard. One needs to innovate, diversify and take the challenges in ones stride.

There are lots of challenges associated with working in a remote area like Spiti. Some of these include poor road networks, limited phone and internet connectivity, frequent power outages at times for days and months, difficulty finding professional staff that sticks, etc.

The satisfaction one gets on being able to make a difference in a person’s life, however small that may be—a light in someone’s house, education for a child, livelihoods that have created self-reliance to numerous families over the years, the smile on a person’s face on having their teeth restored (at our dental camps/clinic) or when they can read clearly again (from spectacles or eye interventions during our vision camps).

Plenty of spaces currently not on a tourist map and I’d like to keep it that way.

We have various trips we offer. One is ideal for first-time travellers called the “Kinnaur and Spiti Safari.” It offers deep insights into Spiti culture and life; the stunning valleys of the Sutlej and Sangla in Kinnaur via the spectacularly graphic valleys of the Spiti and Pin; and the Kunzum Pass into the Chandra Valley.

We are expanding our travel experiences across the Himalayas and initiatives across India.