Reconciling Strategic Infrastructure with Ecological Fragility in the Himalayas

In a move with significant environmental implications, the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC‑NBWL) approved all 32 defence and infrastructure proposals reviewed at its meeting on 26 June 2025. With growing emphasis on year-round operational access for the armed forces along the northern border, infrastructure expansion has accelerated across India’s Himalayan and Trans-Himalayan zones—especially in sensitive areas such as Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. While these projects are vital for strategic preparedness, they intersect with ecologically sensitive areas making the challenge one of how  to build without compromising mountain ecosystem resilience.

The Indian Himalayan Region occupies 18% of India’s geographical area but contains 50% of the country’s total flowering plants, of which 30% are endemic. Many newly cleared projects lie in or near national parks, wildlife sanctuaries (WLS) and conservation reserves that provide critical ecosystem services, wildlife corridors and grazing lands. This makes balancing between security and ecological integrity particularly urgent.

 Ladakh in Focus

Ladakh is both a geostrategic frontier and an ecological hotspot. It hosts unique species such as the Tibetan argali, Tibetan wild ass, black-necked crane and snow leopard—477 of the 718 snow leopards recorded nationwide were found here. These sanctuaries also sustain the Changpa pastoralists’ transhumant livelihoods relying on alpine grasslands, ephemeral wetlands and glacial water sources. Of around 30 proposals, 26 were in Ladakh, most in the Karakoram (Nubra-Shyok) and Changthang Cold Desert WLS (Table 1).

Table 1

Strategic Infrastructure Projects Approved in Protected Areas of Ladakh (SC-NBWL, June 2025)

Sources: Compiled from  Parivesh 2025,  Times of India 2025.

The infrastructural development in these landscapes risks habitat fragmentation, disruption of migratory corridors and increased waste and noise. For example, Hanle’s wetlands—important breeding grounds for black-necked cranes—could face hydrological disturbance. Similarly, road alignments near Depsang may intersect wild ungulates’ grazing routes. The NBWL specified that the legal status of the land shall remain unchanged and that any future use beyond the approved purposes would require fresh clearance. 

Governance and Institutional Challenges

Infrastructure in border zones like Ladakh faces inherent constraints: high-altitude logistics, extreme weather and terrain that demands precision routing. Delays in environmental clearance are often perceived as undermining strategic goals, leading to greater reliance on the Standing Committee route for urgent approvals. However, this process, combined with exemptions from formal Environmental Impact Assessments for strategic projects, can bypass comprehensive ecological review, raising concerns about long-term impacts.

Compensatory afforestation—a standard mitigation strategy—remains largely ineffective in cold deserts, where vegetation regeneration is slow and soils fragile. In Ladakh’s case, SC-NBWL’s permissions were granted with conditions such as implementation of animal passage and wildlife mitigation plans, restriction on timing of construction and areas of operation, preparation and enforcement of waste management protocols and regular compliance reporting by user agencies.

To strengthen oversight and enforcement, technological innovations such as the Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status, jointly developed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India, offer potential models for monitoring high-altitude ecosystems. The system integrates GPS, GPRS and remote sensing technologies to track wildlife populations, habitat conditions, anthropogenic pressures and patrol efforts. In Ladakh, the Indian Army’s Ecology Cell in Leh works with local communities, NGOs and civil authorities on wetland conservation—protecting black-necked crane nests from feral dogs, recording climate witness accounts and reducing tourism pressures. Regular environmental training for the Army reflects a growing institutional emphasis on biodiversity-sensitive operations in India’s borderlands.

A responsible approach to infrastructure calls for better planning through timely ecological reviews, stronger cumulative impact assessments and a regional blueprint for conservation-compatible growth. Landscape-level planning, supported by long-term monitoring and strict oversight, can guide more holistic trade-offs. Where rerouting is not feasible, mitigation should focus on habitat restoration, seasonal restrictions and wildlife corridors. Integrating local ecological knowledge—from Changpa pastoralists to conservation scientists—and improving inter-agency coordination can help future-proof infrastructure through ecological foresight.

The SC-NBWL approvals highlight how quickly defence infrastructure is advancing into fragile mountain ecosystems—not only in Ladakh, but also in Sikkim’s Pangolakha and Arunachal Pradesh’s Namdapha WLS. Conservation and connectivity need not be competing goals. Strategic planning should be guided by ecological foresight, backed by monitoring, transparency and coordination, so that India’s frontiers remain both secure and ecologically resilient.