Lucknow, Dec. 17 -- The ecological landscape of the Himalayan region in recent years has witnessed crucial transformations, highlighted experts during the fourth TN Dhar Memorial Lecture titled 'Himalayas on the move: A metabolic perspective for sustainable mountain development' held at DP Mukherjee Auditorium of Sociology Department of Lucknow University on Tuesday. The lecture was organised by The Society for Himalayan Environmental Rehabilitation and People's Action (SHERPA) in collaboration with the Sociology Department of the University. It was delivered by environmental sociologist Prof Sudha Vasan of Delhi University."There is a need to re-imagine environmental issues through the concept of the region," said Prof Vasan. "I believe the region is not an administrative unit, instead the region is a socio-ecological complex. It is shaped by the flows through the nodes of various networks. Drawing inspiration from the social ecology concept of Prof Radha Kamal Mukherjee, I believe that the ecological landscape of the Himalayan region in recent years has witnessed crucial transformations. Diversification of agriculture, aspirational migration, and multi-local households are some key sociological changes that one can witness here," said Prof Vasan. She also said that tourism, urbanisation and capital-intensive infrastructural changes have compelled the mobility of people, materials and culture. Most importantly, such changes have transformed 'communities' from being place-centric to identity-centric. G Patnaik, retired bureaucrat, and president, SHERPA & Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society (EFCS) and former vice chancellor, Lucknow University said that the Himalayas are not only a geological entity but have a mystic appeal to people. "The various rivers flowing through them are a source of livelihood to millions of people. But over the years in the age of the anthropocene, they have been denuded due to rampant deforestation and other such human interventions," said Patnaik. Over 200 research scholars, students and faculty members of the department participated in the lecture. Kathak exponent and former VC of Bhatkhande Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya Kumkum Dhar was present during the event....