Mountain Springs in the Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh, India. Water in the upper belt of the Himalayas and other mountain regions across the world are only sustained because of natural springs.
These springs often serve humans with sweet water for drinking by livestock, wild animals and if the flow is good, for irrigation too.
If one studies human habitation and settlements in the mountains, one will have to see that despite the immense greenery, shrubbery and forests, these springs are like oasis in a desert. The flora, the trees and the shrubs prevent water runoff during rain, and allow it to percolate into the ground and reach aquifers to be released as springs, so springs are almost completely dependant on plants to renew them and the balance is a very fragile one. Since humans need water directly and we cannot absorb water from the soil, it is very important to understand that human habitation is solely dependant on a very fragile ecological balance and in mapping human habitation and these springs, we are existing in a somewhat "green desert with few oasis". These oasis or natural springs have very complex networks and it is not necessary that the water coming out in a certain place is where its feeder aquifer is also located. Underground aquifers can be supplying water to a spring very far away. Human interventions in dam construction, road building, blasting or cutting of forests can have very adverse irreversible impacts on natural springs. The lifeline to human and wildlife existence in the upper mountains tracts is balanced on a very fine thread which if broken can cause immediate disaster and will forcibly uproot people from their traditional lands and homes.
