Gangtok: The Department of Forest, Environment and Wildlife Management successfully conducted the first ever multi-disciplinary team expedition to Ocean Lake Gyam Tsona, Gurudongmar Tso and Tso Lhamo, in Sikkim’s cold desert in North Sikkim, official sources said today.
The team included officers and young scientists from Department of Mines & Geology, Science & Technology, Ecclesiastical Affairs, Sikkim Government College, Botanical Survey of India, State Pollution Control Board, Sikkim Biodiversity Conservation & Forest Management Project (SBFP) researchers, State Biodiversity Board / Biodiversity Research Wing and Territorial Circle, the sources said.
The 18-member team collected samples of water, soil, rocks, flora and documented fauna from these three lakes which are the sources of Sikkim’s lifeline Teesta from September three to seven, a press release issued by Principal Research Officer, Forest department, Usha Ganguli-Lachungpa said.
A more in-depth study was conducted around the Gyam Tsona and its feeder spring Mirdo (flintstone), to check its Tethys origin, ecological importance, reason for its brackishness and existing efforts to revive this dying lake, the release said.
It would take a while to complete the investigations, but one of the highlights of the tour was a find by one of the army officials of the enormous antlers of the Sikkim Stag or Tibet Red Deer, (known to be extinct from present day Sikkim limits) from the dried lake bed, the release mentions.
PTI
