Hanle Dark Sky Reserve: A Science-Driven Sustainable Development Project in Ladakh
The region around Hanle in Ladakh has one of the darkest skies in India. Due to its superior sky conditions, it is home to the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA, Bengaluru). A region of roughly 22 km radius around Hanle, inside the Changthang Wildlife Reserve, was declared as the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve (HDSR) in December 2022. HDSR is the first dark sky reserve in the country, and is being operated through an MoU between UT Ladakh, LAHDC Leh, and IIA.
The key component of HDSR is astro-tourism. From among the local villagers, 24 people were selected and trained as Astronomy Ambassadors, all of them whom are relatively young, and two-thirds of whom are women. Each of them have been given a 8-inch telescope, funded by UT Ladakh, and have been trained to operate them. They now function as the astro-tourism guides for HDSR. HDSR is being advertised as a tourism destination to enjoy the dark skies, and the increased tourism influx, along with employment as astro-tourism guides, will lead to further science based socio-economic development in the local community.
The complement to astro-tourism is the HDSR Light Management Plan, which prescribes rules, guidelines, and measures to keep light pollution inside HDSR to a minumum. To preserve these dark skies for continued progress in astronomy research and tourism, HDSR has been providing equipment like thick curtains, warm light bulbs, lamp shades, etc to each house inside the region (funded by UT Ladakh), and further regulations have been notified with regard to light pollution reduction, for visiting tourists and other installations inside HDSR.
A Skills course on astro-tourism will start soon at Leh to train prospective astro-tourism guides, and will thereafter be offered across the country as well.
