DETAILED NARRATION OF THE FACTS RELATED TO VARIOUS ACTIVITIES RELATED TO
GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT, DELHI SCHOOL OF ECONOMIC, DELHI UNIVERSITY
Delhi School of Economics was established in post Independence era primarily for the
displaced students of Punjab University that a college was started in January, 1948. The
students of the college came from the camps established in various part of Delhi to provide
shelter to the displaced population. Consequently, it came to be known as Camp College and
was housed in the now Butler High School Campus, New Delhi Classes in geography were
conducted for under graduate and post graduate students by Dr. M.P. Thakore, the then
Head of the Department of Geography, Punjab University College, New Delhi and Mr. Shyam
Sunder Bhatia. In 1960, after continuing for thirteen years, the Camp College was converted
into Dyal Singh College. Meanwhile, in 1955. Mr. M.P. Thakore had formed the Association
of India Geographers in Delhi. In 1958 addressing the Association, Professor V.K. R.V. Rao,
then Vice, Chancellor of the University of Delhi had given an assurance to open a Department
of Human Geography in the Delhi School of Economics at the instance of Dr. M.P. Thakore.
When established, in 1959, Dr. B.N. Ganguli, Director, Delhi School of Economics, stated in his
talk on the occasion of the Annual General Meeting of the Association that. “in the University
of Delhi, we have been realizing the need for inter-disciplinary approach to specific problems
for a very long time, and in Delhi School of Economics we have already established a
Department of Human Geography. You will be glad to know that we have been working in
order to bring different disciplines together and put for the some of their common problems
which really concern different disciplines. You will be happy to hear that owing to my efforts
and the efforts of my very esteemed friend Dr. V.K.R.V. Roa, the Vice Chancellor, we have
been able to add to Department of Human Geography with the Department of Economics and
Sociology in the School.” Thus, it was in July, 1960 that the Department of Human Geography
opened its doors to the first batch of students. At that time, the University had envisaged the
development of only the social and economics aspects of geography. “We have named this
new department as the Department of Human Geography for a specific reason. Geography
plays a very important role in the field of social science. We thought that we need a
Department of Human Geography for the simple reason that we wanted to emphasize that
particular part of Geography which is closely allied to Economics, Political Science and also
Agricultural Economics.”
Since 1959, the Department has grown from a highly fragmented character to more
composite and unified one. However, may post graduate department had been established
much earlier Aligarh (1931) Calcutta (1941) Banaras (1946) Allahabad (1946), Madras
(1948), Punjab (1948), Patna (1949), Poona (1954), Ranchi (1954) Osmania (1955), Baroda
(1956), Sagar (1956) and Gauhati (1958).
The entry of the Department of Human
Geography in the national mainstream was late sometime during the second successive
phase (1951-70) in the growth of Indian Geography. The 1960s and 1970s witnessed an
emergence of American educated Indian geographers who chaired many departments in
India and directed their curse of development of Human Geography, however, grew under
the mixed influence and guidance of the British, the indigenous, and the American trained
geographers with their sharply differentiated philosophies, themselves concepts and
methods. Thus, Geography in this Department has charted its own particulars course in
national trends in the field. The development has followed fourteen main phases, each
associated roughly with the term of office of fourteen chairs who have guided its destiny.
THE TEETHING YEARS
The first phase started in the beginning session of 1959 with Dr. Shyam Sunder
Bhatia as Reader and head of the Department. Dr. (Mrs.) Savitri G. Burman and Mrs. Rukmini
Srinivas were appointed as Lecturers.
The staff sanctioned by the University Grant
Commission (.U.G.C.) at the initial stage was one professor one Reader and two Lecturers.
Additional posts of a reader and a Lecturer were sanctioned during the Third Plan period.
Two additional appointments were consequently made in 1961.
Dr. Amrti Lal was
appointed as Reader and Mr. Ranjit Tirtha, a Lecturer. During the first few years of its
working considerable difficulty was experienced in running the department in view of
differences of vision among the teachers. Nonetheless, the Department continued to present
a good M.A. program. Throughout this period, the post of Professor remained vacant. In the
spring of 1961, Dr. Bhatia resigned from the post of Head. His resignation from Headship
ended the first brief phase of geography at the University of Delhi. A young lady who was
recruited in this period and was destined to be associated with the department for a very
long time was Dr. (Mrs. Savitri G. Burman with specialization in land resource, She had
taught geography for more than five years (1941-46) at Degree College in Lahore, was
research Officer in Planning Commission for a year 1952-53) and was also reader in
Geography at the University of Rangoon for more than two years (1953-55). In those days
the small faculty was responsible for teaching as many as twelve courses in addition to
discharging various administrative duties. It was in this phase that undergraduate teaching
in geography commenced in University of Delhi. In 1960, the camp College was renamed as
Dyal Singh College after it was affiliated to the University of Delhi. In 1961, geography
department in Dyal Singh College came under the charge of Mr. I.D. Malhotra and continued
to offer B.A. (Pass) under the University of Delhi.
In the session of 1962, a leading and influential geographer, Professor George Kurian from
the University of Madras joined as Head of the Department. AT that time Dr. C.D. Deshmukh
was the Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi. Professor Kurian became not only the
Head of the Department but also the Director of Delhi School of Economics and the Dean,
Faculty of Social Science (1962-65). He was an able administrator, good teacher and gifted
writer and speaker. His main interests were Economics Geography and Geography of India.
His illustrated lectures were models of interest and succinctness. Professor Kurian who had
a pre-eminent position in Geography in India and abroad, gave a new standing to the
Department.
During his brief tenure, Geography Department in two colleges were
established; one in Kirori Mal College under the charge of Dr. M.P. Thakore in 1963 and
another in Miranda House under Dr. (Mrs.) Surinder Sahi in 1965. Professor Kurian was
very much interested in promoting geography in Delhi University Colleges. Professor V.L.S.
Prakasa Rao who was at that time the Head of the Department of Geography at Osmania
University took over the reigns of the Department in July, 1966. Writhin a few months Dr.
S.S. Bhatia, Dr. Amrit Lal and Mr. Ranjit Tirtha resigned from their respective posts to accept
mor lucrative and satisfying assignments in the United States and Candada at the Wisconsin
State University. University of Windsor and Eastern Michigan University, respectively. This
loss of three experienced and productive teachers within a relatively short space of time, a
singular experience in the Department’s history, posted real problem for Department
vitality. At the same time, these departures provided opportunities to have a few faculty.
The first doctoral degree was awarded in 1965 to Edison Dayal for a dissertation entitled
“some Aspects of agricultural Geography of the Punjab Plains’ under the guidance of Dr. S.S.
Bhatia. An important indicator of highly quality graduate students is that Dr. Edison Dayal
become Professor of Geography at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
THE TAKE OFF STAGE AND EXPANSION
The Department established is pre-eminent position during the late 1960 and early 1970s
with the new leadership provided by Professor V.L.S. Prakash Rao. Before he joined as
Profession and Head of the Department in 1966 when Dr. C. D. Deshmukh was the Vice
Chancellor of the university (1962-67), he has amassed tremendous experience in research
and teaching a Calcutta, Madras and Osmania.
The Department
had only three staff
members at that time. Dr. V.L.S. Prakasa Rao who was the Professor, Dr. (Mrs. Savitri G.
Burman and Mrs. Rukmini Srinivas, who were Lecturers. At the suggestion of Professor
Prakasa Rao the reader’s post which had become vacant were converted into one post of
Professor and one of Lecturer and Dr. Khatu (1967 and Mr. Saroj K. Pal (1967) were
appointment as Lecturers. Dr. Khatu, however, resigned from his post within a period of a
year. These attempts proved futile as no suitable person could be selected. In view of this,
Professor Prakasa Rao suggested the appointment of a Reader against the Professor’s post as
a temporary measurer, on the assumption that the post of the professor would be released
as and when the post of a reader is created during the Fifth plan. Dr. R. Ramachandran was
appointed first as Lecturer in July, 1970 and was later promoted to the position of Reader
against the Professor’s post August, 1970. In 1972, Dr. C.P. Singh was appointed as Lecturer
to fill up the vacant created by the promotion of Dr. Ramachandran, Soon Mrs. Rukmini
Srinivas who was Lecturer in the Department since 1959, resigned in October, 1972.
The stability and continuity in the teaching and research programs were maintained
by the dedicated Professor V.L.S. Prakasa Rao. Uncertainty was replaced by a determination
to maintain sharper disciplinary focus and to monitor close the Department’s programs and
offerings. He was also the Director of the Delhi School of Economics and Dean, Faculty of
Social science during 1970-72. He held these two posts with great distinction and honour.
The 21st International Geographical Congress held in New Delhi in 1968 under the
Presidentship of Professor S.P. Chatterjee afforded valuable opportunities to the India
Geographers for acquaintance with the philosophical and methodological developments in
geography. Professor Prakasa Rao played an important role in this congress and was joint
Organizer of the International Symposium on Regional Planning in the Department. He was
also a member of the Commission on Quantitative Methods in Geography and of the
Commission on Regional Aspect of Economic Development, both under the International
Geographical Union. He played a major role in stimulating the younger generation of
geographers to experiment with application of quantitative methods as an essential tool of
research in geography. Major attention was devoted to helping teachers and students
understand geography through workshop offered on campus. For example. In 1971 a two
week long summer workshop on quantitative Geography was organized for teachers
sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research. Another achievement during his
period was the establishment of a collaboration with Birtish Geographers and the
organization of the First Indo-British Seminar on Rural Urban Interaction in India in
December, 1972. Thus, he was a great intellectual fore in boosting up the Department’s
academic and research programs and in opening up many research frontiers in geography.
He did not receive his professional degree from a road and his efforts bore an indigenous
stamp on the growth of post independence Indian geography. Still, a major accomplishment
spearheaded by him was the securing of suitable physical facilities providing geography with
more than 2000 square feet on the first floor of Teaching Block, Delhi School of economics
building for faculty officer laboratories and class rooms. In 1971, Professor Rao initiated
publication of Analytical Geography, a half yearly journal devoted to theoretical and
empirical research in geography. But the journal could not survive beyond more than an
year for want of support. During Professor Prakasa Rao’s tenure in the University, the M.A.
and the B.A. (Honuors) programs were completely revised.
In the M.A. Program emphasis was placed on aspects of regional development and planning
with a view to training geographers in applied aspect of geography. The strength of students
increased substantially, each year 15 to 20 students were admitted. It was a period in which
Delhi’s five students were awarded Ph.D. degrees under his guidance. They were M.N. Pal
(1968) on regional Analysis for National Development: Techniques and case studies; R.L.
Patni (1969) on Concentration and Dispersion of Major Industries in India; R.S. Gangwar
(1971) on Urban Geography of Pilibit: A study of Internal structure of city and its. Regional
Relationship; Sudesh Nangia (1972) on Patterns of Rural Settlements the Delhi Region; and
R. Parthasarthy (1972) on Commercial Retail Shopping Structure in Urban Delhi. Professor
Prakasa Rao also directed and completed three research projects – Terrain Evaluation Study
of Bikaner and Jaisalmer District (1967-69); and Sociao – Economic Survey of Vijayawada
City (1971-72) sponsored by the U.G.C. and the Indian Council for Social Science Research
(I.C.S.S.R.) and thereby strengthened research without neglecting teaching. Her tenure saw
the opening of Honour Course in Dyal Singh College in 1974 under the charge of Dr. Nafis
Ahmed Siddiqui and in Shaheed Bhagat Singh College 1969 offering the courses at B.A.
(Honours and Pass) under the charge of Shri S. Gupta and Dr. M.P. Thakore as Principal. A
number of distinguished teacher joined colleges in the process of expansion of already
established department between 1966 and 1972. Mrs. Nirmal Kandhari and Mrs. Mamta
Sharma joined Miranda House in 1966 followed by Mrs. D. Choudhary in 1967. In 1969 Mrs.
Usha Chhabra joined Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (M) followed by Mr. V.K. Tyagi and Dr.
C.P. Singh in 1970 Shri C.S. Yadav and Mrs. Krishna Prabha in 1977 Shri Zamir Ahmad was
appointed in Dayal Singh College in 1967. Dr. Edison Dayal, Mr. K.K. Majumdar and Dr. Noor
Mohammad joined K.M. College in 1967 and 1969, respectively. Thus staff expansion in
colleges was essentially a response in growing college enrollments and popularity of this
subject. Together the tow student population in all these colleges admitted to these course
was approximately 200.
THE STAGE OF CONSOLIDATION
A new period of geography at the University began in 1973 with the department of Professor
Prakasa Rao to the Institute of Economic Growth and social chamber at Bangalore. The
expansion of Geography in the University of Delhi suffered temporary setback with his
departure. Dr. R. Ramachandran was appointed as the Acting Head of the Department which
the served in this capacity for four year (1973-76) and Head till 1980. After a rather
prolonged period of difficult transudation between 1973-76, the Department not only
revived under his headship but also consolidated the progress that had been made in the
early years. Dr. Ramachandran had earned his Ph.D. as one of the brightest students of
Professor Robert Kates at Clark University (1964-69). His main interests have been urban
and regional planning, historical geography and research methodology. He has been the
final member among the staff to evince keen interest in the growing quantitative analysis
and computer cartography. He showed considerable skills as Head and his duration as Chair
will long be remembered as a period bringing stability and continuity Department. He was
also the Director of Delhi School of Economics from April, 1977 to April, 1979. By the mind
seventies it was felt that unless the physical and resource aspects of geography were also
incorporated as part of the core program of the Department, full justice could not be done to
the human aspect of the discipline. The Department was therefore, renamed the Department
of Geography in 1976. The syllabi at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels saw a sea
change and under his guidance significant advances and improvements in the status of
geography were accomplished. Several new course in the fields of urban and regional
planning, resources and environmental management, social and political geography and
research methodology were added, while some of the more traditional courses were
dropped.
He played a major part in planning for the expansion in faculty. Dr. Noor
Mohammad joined the Department as Lecturer in 1976 and Dr. (Mrs.) Savitri G. Buraman
was appointed Reader in 1976 and professor in 1979. In addition, a conscious attempt was
made to introduce in Shaheed Bhagat (Evening) in 1973 under the charge of Mr. V.K. Tyagi
which was later taken over by Mr. Surendra Singh. Pass course level was also introduced in
Kamla Nehru College in 1974 under the charge of Miss Kamla Seshan followed by Miss Kiran
Oberoi (1975), Mrs. Nahid Ibrahim (1977) and Mrs. Geta Hooja (1978) and in Shvaji College
in 1977 under the charge of Mr. B.S. Dahiya. The Department has continued its efforts to
forge links with the colleges and this is evident in interaction maintained over the years. In
fact, this has helped in maintaining high standards of geography in the University. During
his time, a number of teachers were recruited in many colleges in the process of expansion
and diversification of the existing departments. Dr. R.S. Gangwar and Mr. P.K. Parohar joined
Dayal Singh College in 1975 followed by Dr. (Mrs.) Niranjana Dwivedi (1978) and Mrs. Rekha
Sharma in 1977. Mrs. Poonam Behari was appointed in Miranda House in 1976. Visiting
Lecturership at other Universities broadened horizons and generated new research interests
for a few faculty members. Dr. Saroj K. Pal visited the Department of Geography, University
of Wisconsin at Madison as visiting Fellow in the Fulbright Program during December, 1975
to August, 1976 and was attached with the Environmental Monitoring and Data Acquisition
Group of the University of Wisconsin. Processor R. Ramachandran was a visiting Profession
at Clark university in 1973 and at Massey University, New Zealand. During his tenure as
Head many students of the Department were awarded Ph.D. Degree. They were Abhulla. I.
Fannon (1973) on some Aspects of Water Resources and Development in Damodar Valley
Region; A study in Runoff; S.C. Thakur (1976) on Human Perception and Adjustment to
Flood Hazard in the Ganga Flood Plains; G.S. Yadav (1976) on Spatial Pattern of Residential
Land Use Structure in Urban Delhi; Krishan Prabha (1976) on Settlement Structure and
Hierarchy in Punjab; Bina Srivastava (1976) on Rural – Urban Fring of Delhi; Structural and
Functional Patterns all under Dr. Ramchandran; V.K. Tyagi (1976) on Urban Villages of Delhi;
Structural Pattern and Transformation and Childbed Ofia (1979) on Spatial Analysis of
Population growth and Family Planning in the Northern Region of rural Delhi were under Dr.
C.P. Singh.
It was during his period that the Association for Geographical Studies (AGS) was started in
1979 with the objective of promoting mutual academic contact among members, organizing
academic activities, such as seminars, workshop and field trips, improving teaching and
research at all levels and undertaking academic publications in geography. Since then the
AGS has had a steady growth.
In April of 1980, Professor Mrs. Savitri G. Buraman was named the fifth Chairperson of the
Department, a post she served till her retirement in November, 1981. She availed extension
for five years.
During her long stay in the Department she was a major forcing the
development of a few distinctive course, named ecology of the physical landscape, natural
resources, environmental issues and the regional study of the Himalayas. These courses are
singularly taught in the Department. Professor Burman specialized in land resource, ecology
and environmental geography. Her research works were mainly concerned with the impact
of the methodologies of economic development of Himalayan ecology. She was an active
field workers and she gave a lot of importance to field work. She had a remarkable
collection of slides illustrating Himalayan ecology and environment and she was especially
effective in bringing travel and research experiences into the classroom. She completed
three Himalayan studies sponsoure by the Committee on Studies for Co-operation and
development in Sought Asia (CSD) through its Secretariat, the Marga Institute, Colombo and
funded the UNDP. The first phase of study on the Development of Himalayan Resource
(1984) was undertaken by multi-disciplinary team in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh
in their respective parts of the Himalayas. The second phase was in depth study on the Kali
river watershed (1991) to explore the resource development problems and management.
And the third phase prepared a regional synthesis on integrated Resource Management and
development in Lower Hellu Watershed, Kali River Watershed and Lower Tista Basin
(1992). She was the Editor for the AGS since its inception (1979-1988) and has guided the A
Newsletter from a simple issue to a thick thirty page informative volume. It was during her
term as Head that Dr. Nafis Ahmad Siddiqui and Dr. Baleshwar Thakur joined as Readers in
1980. However, Dr. Siddiqui left the Department in 1982 to undertaken Principal ship at
Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (M) on the retirement of Dr. M.P. Thakore, Mrs. Rekha Sharma
joined as Lecturer in Kirori Mal College in 1981.
The Second Generation as Teachers:
Professor R. Ramachandran again assumed the Chair in November, 1981 and served in this
capacity for three years 1981-1984. During this period faculty size in the Department
remained stable but the period of processional stagnation of teachers have way to rapid
promotions. Dr. CP. Singh and Dr. Noor Mohammad was promoted to the rank of Readers.
However, a number of changes occurred in colleges Mr. N. Sharma retired in 1982 from
Kirori Mal College and was succeeded by Mrs. Manosi Lahiri in 1982 and Mr. Kaushal Kumar
Sharma in 1984.
Pass course teaching was introduced in 1983 in Sherubtse College,
Kanglung, Bhutan affiliated to the University of Delhi under the charge of Dr. V.K. Tyagi. He
had gone to Bhutan for three years under the Colombo Plan as a Senior Lecturer in
Geography. Mrs. Gayatri Raghawa was appointed to strengthen the staff in Shaheed Bhagat
Singh college in 1983, which she resigned in 1992 Dr. Mrs. Bandita Oak joined Dayal Singh
College in 1984. In addition, Mr. Suddhir Kumar Sinha was appointed Lecturer in Shaheed
Bhagat Singh College Evening in 1982. Taken as a whole, the faculty member’s efforts in
securing research funding were successful in the period Dr. Saroj K. Pal got ISRO grant to
work on “Sequential Satellite Imagery for Flood Zoning Analysis and Land Use Subsequent to
Flood in Ganga and Brahamputra basin in 1982 and on SEO - 77 TV Data for Study of 1982
Monsoon Season in 1983. He also received grant from the Government of India to work on
“Terrain Analysis Using Remote Sensing Data in Ladakh Region” in 1983. Dr. C.P. Singh
completed two of his research projects; one of on Spatial Analysis of March 1977 elections”
sponsored by U.G.C. and another on “A Geographical Analysis of Seventh Parliamentary
Election in India” supported by Indian Council of Social Science Research.
Dr. Noor
Mohammad got a project on Impact of Caste on Primary Occupation; A Geographical
Analysis. The doctoral degree was awarded inn 1984 to Mrs. Mumtamayee Sharma for a
dissertation entitled “Human Ecology of Khadar Tract in Meerut District” under the
supervisions of Professor Mrs. Savitri G. Burman. Dr. Mohammad published a five volume
series on Perspectives in Agricultural Geography in 1982. The AGS under the guidance of
Professor Ramachandran had a steady growth over the years. The number of life Members
increased to more than fifty by the end of 1984.
A New period of geography at the University began in November 1984 with the appointment
of Dr. Saroj K. Pal as Seventh Head of the Department due to introduction of the rotated
headship in the University on 3 years term (1984- 1987). He remained as Head until
November 1987. His three years in that position saw the increase of geography staff from
six to nine. Of the faculty member appointed during his tenure were Dr. Surinder Aggarwal
as Reader, and Dr. R.P. Singh and Dr. B. Khan as Lecturers. Due to their induction, the
Department become quite diversified in the sources of its staff. Each addition added vitality
to the department, existing course were complemented, and specialties were added. The
trend in the department’s emphasis evolved more and more towards the applied aspect of
the field dominated by systematic course related in one will applied aspects of the field
dominated by systematic courses related in one will or another resources and planning.
Thus looking at the increasing size of the teaching faculty and recent developments in
geography particularly since 1975 number of trust areas in terms of specialized optional
groups were identified significant curriculum development during Dr. Pal’s Chairmanship
was the offer of special group; urban and regional planning, environment and resources, and
social and political geography emerged as major trust areas of the Department Dr. Saroj K.
Pal was appointed Professor of Physical Geography in 1985, the branch of geography which
he continued to teach as a necessary support of Human Geography in Delhi School of
Economics. From being a single professor Department, the Department became three
professor department; and the number of Readers increased to four. Research in the field of
agricultural geographic environmental issues and problems, geomorphology, natural
resource management, political geography and urban and regional planning widened the
spectrum of specialization. The number of students enrolled at all levels from MA. to Ph.D.
showed upward trend. By 1987, with increased faculty and graduate students, the need for
specialized laboratory facilities and other space had become critical. The doctoral, degree
was awarded in 1985 to Mr. Surender Singh for dissertation entitled “some Aspects of House
Types and Housing Problems Rural Delhi” under the guidance of Dr. Nafis Ahmad Siddiqui.
During his time also, a number of teachers were recruited in many colleges in the process
expansion in teaching staff. Miss Kalpana Bhakuni joined as Lecturer in Kamla Nehru College
in 1985. Mr. Zamir Ahmad went to Bhutan for five years as a Senior Lecturer Geography at
Kanglung under Colombo Plan and joined back Dayal Singh College in 1990. During Dr
S.K.Pal’s tenure, a number of seminars and conference were held the Department and
Colleges. The Department of Geography, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College Evening organized a
conference on Resource Development Utilization Problems in India in November, 1984;
Geography Section of the 73rd Indian Science Congress Association was held in the
Department January, 1986; likewise, a seminar on Geography and Environment was
organized by the Department of Geography, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College in November
1987. Another phase of Geography at the University began in 1986-87 with the retirement
of Professor (Mrs.) Savitri Burman and the appointment of Professor R. P. Mishra, former
Vice Chancellor of the University of Allahabad, in the Department.
In November of 1987, Professor R.P. Misra was named the eighth head of Geography
Department (1987-1990). He served in this capacity until June 1990. With his research
interest ranging from agriculture, urban and regional planning and quantitative geography;
and vast experience in teaching and research at Mysore, and involvement in United Nations
Centre for Regional Development at Nagoya (Japan), Professor Misra generated new hopes
and aspirations for the elevation of the status of geography at Delhi. He served as President
of AGS for two years (1988-1989) during which he played significant role in expanding and
promoting the cause of geography. He was also Honorary Director of Gandhi Bhawan,
University of Delhi for six years (1988-93) where he established Centre of Peace Research
and gandhian Studies. It was during his tenure that a seminar on Urbanization in Developing
Countries in collaboration with the Common wealth Geographical Bureau was organized by
Dr. C.P. Singh in the Department in December, 1987 and another seminar on Environmental
Problems in the Himalayas was organized in the Department of Geography, Shaheed Bhagat
Singh College in October, 1988 followed by Indian Experience of Development with Special
Emphasis on Arid Zones in Miranda House in October, 1988. In 1989, the Department
organized and was host for meeting the 10th Annual Conference of Indian Institute of
Geographers and XI National Association of Geographers, India (NAGI). Professor Misra was
elected Secretary General of NAGI in Delhi, which he served successively for two terms
(1989-92 and 1992-95). He made meticulous efforts to expand the teaching staff in different
colleges. Mr. Dharam V. Chhikara joined Shivaji College in 1988 and Ms Lalita Rana in 1989;
Ms. Seema Mehra in Kirori Mal College in 1987; Ms. Ranjana Chugh in Mamla Nehru College
in 1989; and Ms. Bharati Wadehra in Kamla Nehru College in 1990. All were the products of
Delhi University. In 1988, Dr. H. Ramachandran joined the faculty as Reader, and introduced
new courses adapted from his experience in Centre for Regional Development, J.N.U. and
Institute of Economics Growth and Social Change, Bangalore. He added strength to the
Department in urban and regional planning and computer laboratory. Dr. Surinder Agarwal
was a Fulbright Visiting Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of
Akron, U.S.A. from August to December, 1989. In 1988, Dr. R.B. Singh was appointed
Research Scientist ‘B’ (Reader Grade) for five years to work on a project on Indian desert.
During the tenure of Professor Misra as Head, seven students were awarded doctorate
degrees. They were Manosi Lahiri (1988) on Climate and Comfort in Indian Cities” and
Premendra Kumar Parihar (1989) on “Ecological Aspects of Rural Housing in Punjab” under
Professor Ramachandran and
Vinod P. Shrestha (1988) on “resource Population
Relationships and Ecological Degradation is Tinau Watershed, Nepal” and Anu Kapur (1989)
on Ecological Implications Changing land Use Pattern in the Kashmir Valley under Professor
Buraman Anwar Ali Ansari (1989) on “The Kosi: A study of River Regime” and Nem Singh
(1989) on “Some Aspects of Geomorphology of Kumaun Himalayas Around Almora” under
Professor Pal; Rameshwar Thakur (1989) on Regional Imbalance in Agricultural
Productivity in South Bihar Plain under Dr. Mohammad. In 1988 the AGS published a
monograph entitled Dimensions of Geographical Research (DRG) edited by Dr. Baleshwar
Thakur. This monograph contained abstracts of M. Phil dissertations and Ph.D theses
submitted between 1959-1988 to the University of Delhi. The main objective of DRG was to
highlight the nature as trends of research done by the students in the Department since its
inception in trends of research done by the students in the Department since its inception in
1959. This gigantic task involved procuring research work, condensing of year of research
into a limited number involved procuring research work, condensing of year of research into
a limited number of words and ensuring a uniform pattern. The AGS also started publishing
VASUDHA, an occasional publication of sell contained article and the first issue entitled
“Relevance of sankalia not Cultural Geography in India’ by professor A.B. Mukerjee was
published in 1990 edited Dr. B. Thakur. This phase also saw many research projects funded
by differed governmental and non governmental institutions.
Professor Misra (1988)
started “Resource Atlas of India” with CSIR support, Professor Pal completed a Terral
Analysis Project Using Remote Sensing Data in Ladakh Region and Extend Forms and
Linkages of Common Property Land in the Kosi Embankment Area, both supported by
planning commission, Govt. of India. Dr. Noor Mohammad got an ICSSR project to work on
“Socio-Economic Implications for Technologic Change in Agriculture”. Dr. H. Ramachandran
worked on “Ecosystem in Carnal A Study in Resource Utilization” supported by Institute of
Economic Growth and Social Change; Impact of Educational Level on Some Dimensions
Development” by NIEPA; and Coastal Karnataka; Development Perspective Human
Settlements’ by Times Research Foundation, Mr. Kaushal K. Sharma a project on Impact
Evaluation under TRYSEM in Una District from the Department of Rural Development, Govt.
of Himachal Pradesh Dr. Mrs. Manusi Lahiri got a project on “Bihar Geographic Information
System” from International Development Research Centre. A number of publications came
by the teacher including professor R.P. Misra on Research Methodology; A Handbook .
Gandhian model of Development and world Peace, International Division of Labour and
Regional Development , and Conflict Resolution Through Non Violence, 1992 Professor R.
Ramachandran on Urbanization and Urban Systems in India (Oxford 1989); Dr. H.
Ramachandran on Environmental issues in Agricultural Development ; Dr. R.B. Singh on
Environmental Geography; Dr. Mamta Sharma on Rural Ecology ; Dr. Surendra Singh on
Some Aspects of Housing Problem in Rural Delhi ; and Dr. C.S. Yadav on Perspectives in
Urban Geography . Professor Misra initiated and restructured B.A. (Hons.) syllabi with a
view to maintain sharper disciplinary focus. Various new course were developed including
course in regional studies, development, environmental geography and remote sensing and
geographic information systems. A number of other course were dropped and greater
emphasis was placed on applied geography and the enhancement of analytical skills. The
programs and proposal of Special Assistance to UGC for geography faculty were forwarded
under his dynamic leadership but somehow the proposal was not paid due attention.
Professor Misra decided for personal reasons to give up the Headship before the completion
of his full term. As a result, Professor Ramachandran was again appointed Head with effect
from 1st July, 1990 for a full term of three years.
The ninth Chairman Professor Ramchandran (1990-1993) added many new dimensions to
the Department. A major accomplishment spearheaded by him was the securing of suitable
physical space on the ground floor of Teaching Block with more than 400 square feet. It
provided space to technical staff and support facilities. Now, all the teachers and technical
staff in the Department had independent office space. The Department had an up-to-date
cartographic laboratory, an extensive map library, geomorphology laboratory and a
statistical laboratory.
However, research scholars and research students did not have
working space; nor the Department was in tune with latest developments in the field of
geography, that is, geographic laboratory focusing on remote sensing research, computer
assisted cartography, and geographic information systems.
Professor Ramchandran
decentralized the key sectors of departmental administration in view of bringing more
efficiency and involvement of teachers making Dr. Noor Mohammad in charge of M.Phil and
Ph.D. program, Dr. S.K. Aggarwal of M.A. Program, Dr. Baleshwar Thakur of undergraduate
program. Dr. H. Ramachandran of office and administration, and Dr. Barkatullah Khan of
technical work and equipments. The doctoral degree was awarded to Ali Akbar Pirazizy in
1992 for a dissertation entitled “Anthropogenic Impact on Environmental Change in
Temperate Zone of Himalaya and to Lakhvinder Singh in 1993 for his dissertation on
“Integrated Block Level Planning in Agriculturally Developed Region” both under Dr. R.B.
Singh. Professor Ramachandran was also Dean of Social Science for a year (1992-93). Dr.
Baleshwar Thakur was appointed Professor under the U.G.C. promotion scheme in July, 1990
raising the number of professors to four in the department. He was also a Fulbright Visiting
Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Akron, U.S.A. from June to August,
1992. Dr. V.K. Tyagi spent two months in German Academic Exchange Program. Mr. Kaushal
K. Sharma went to Bhutan for two and a half year (1990-93) as a Lecturer in Geography at
Kanglung under Colombo Plaza.
The teaching of geography at B.A. (Hon.) level was
introduced in Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Evening) in 1991 under the charge of Mr.
Sudhir K. Sinha; and Pass Course level was introduced in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar College in 1992
under the charge of Dr. R.N. Dubey. During this phase also a number of teachers were
recruited in many colleges in the process of expansion of the existing college department.
Mrs. Bharati Dave joined Kamla Nehru College and Ms. Anshu Sonak K.M. College in 1990.
Mr. Tejbir Singh , Ms. Meera Chatterjee and Ms. Preeti Joshi joined Shivaji College in 1990 as
Lecturers. Mrs. Vineeta Mathur and miss Pratibha Vasudev joined as Lecturers in Dayal
Singh and Kamla Nehru College, respectively in 1991. A number of teachers published books
including Dr. Noor Mohammad on Dimensions in Agricultural Geography (editor, Concept, 8
volumes, 1992); Dr. H. Ramachandran on Schooling and Rural Transformation (co-author,
Vikas, 1990 and Integrated Rural Development in Asia (Co-editor, Concept 1991); Dr. R.B.
Singh on Environmental Monitoring; Application of Remote Sensing and GIS (Hong Kong,
1991) and Dynamics on Mountain Ecosystems (editor, Ashish, 1991) Dr. R.Thakur on
Imbalance in Agricultural Productivity (Northern, 1992); Dr. R.N. Dubey on Population,
Environment and Regional Planning (Chugh, 1992);
Dr. Manoshi Lahiri on the Bihar
Geographic Information System, (Popular, 1992); and Mr. S.L. Gupta on Bhu-Akriti Vigyan,
Delhi university, 1992).
This phase also saw using for organization of international
conference on World Political map in November, 1990; Dr. S.K. Aggarwal Organized Third
International Conference on Asian Urbanization in January, 1991; and Dr. R.B. Singh
organized International Seminar on Monitoring Geosystems; Perspectives for the 21st
Century in December, 1991. The Department made changes in the existing scheme of M.A.
examinations and detailed courses of reading were introduced to be implemented from July,
1993. It was done because the existing scheme of examination was introduced from July,
1987 and M.A. syllabi in changed once in five years. In the meanwhile, the B.A. (Hons.)
syllabi were thoroughly revised in 1990 incorporating a number of themes and topics which
were part of the existing M.A. Course in geography, of the 30 courses listed, 9 were entirely
new courses while the remaining 21 courses were thoroughly revised and updated in terms
of contents and reference. The new courses reflected recent concerns on environmental and
ecological problems as well as emphasis on the new methodologies involving remote sensing
and geographical information systems. This syllabus was quite unique and innovative in the
sense that; first, it provided free choice to students to select specified course of liking; and
second, teachers framed the courses based on their developing specialization in the subject
rather than contents were pre-determined and thrust on them. Such free choice for students
and independent framing of syllabi is not available in other departments of Delhi University
nor in any other university in the country. Another significant achievement of this phase has
been the introduction of Research Forum under the incharge of Dr. Noor Mohammad in
which M. Phil and Ph.D proposals and findings were presented and discussed.
The tenth Chairman Professor S.K. Pal (1993-1996) administered the department for the
second time with equal devotion and dedication. During this tenure as Head many students
of the department were awarded Ph.D. degrees. They were: U.P. Kohir (1994) on Spatial
Aspects of Muslim Population in India under Dr. N.A. Siddiqui; Sudeshna Bhattacharya
(1994) Relief Representation in India under Professor S.K. Pal ; Anshu Sonak (1995)
Urbanization and Tourism in India under Dr. B. Khan; and Romila Prasad (1996) Monitoring
and Forecasting of Hydrological Parameters in Mahandi River Basin under Dr. R.B. Singh.
Professor R.P. Misra, serving the department of nine years, retired in September, 1995.
Professor B. Thakur was on sabbatical leave, while Dr. H. Ramachandran joined Lal Bahadur
Shastri Academy at Mussoorie. Dr. Surinder Aggarwal was a senior Fellow in Housing and
Urban Development Corporation (1995-96). Dr. R.B. Singh was appointed U.G.C Research
Scientist ‘C’ in 1996. The Department of Geography, Miranda House began the academic
year with a new composition of staff. Dr. (Mrs.) Sudeshna Bhattacharya and Dr. (Ms.) Anu
Kapur both joined as Lecturers in permanent capacity, while Mr. S.K. Bandooni, Mr. V.S. Negi,
Mr. Ravi Shekhar and Mrs. Vineeta Chandna joined as Lecturers in Shaheed Bhagat Singh
College (Evening) Ms. Renu Bali and Ms. Nitasha Malhotra joined in Kamla Nehru College in
1995; and Mr. R.Prasad joined Dr. B.R. Ambedkar College in 1995. Dr. R.B. Singh was elected
South Asian Representative of Commonwealth Geographical Bureau (1992-2000) and
Member I.G.U. Commission and Mountain Geocology and Resource Management (1992-96).
This phase also saw a few research projects including Perspective Plan of Land Resources in
Northern Zone of the Country by Dr. R.B. Singh funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of
India (1995), and Sustainable Development of Mountain Environment in India and Canada,
CIDA-SICI Partnership Project (1996) again by Dr. R.B. Singh Dr. R.B. Singh organized
international seminar on Disaster, Environment and Development on December 9-12, 1994
and on Sustainable Reconstruction of Highland and Headwater Regions on October, 68,1995.
Another International Conference Environment, Development and Peace was
organized by Professor C.P. Singh under the umbrella of I.G.U. during the first week of
December, 1995.
A number of publications came by the faculty members including
Professor R.P. Misra on “Environment, Education and Development: Cultural, Ethical and
Spiritum Perspectives (Heritage Publishers, 1994, Co-editor); S.K. Pal on Communication
Mathematical Techniques in Geography (B.R. Publications, 1995); C.P. Singh (Editor) on
Readings in Political Geography (Heritage Publisher, 1994); S.K. Aggarwal et.al. (eds.) on The
Asian City: Process of Development, Characterization and Planning (Kluwer, 1994); R.B.
Singh on Space Technology for Disaster Monitoring and Mitigation (INCEDE, 1994); Global
Environmental Change (Oxford and I.B.H. 1995), Sustainable Reconstruction of Highland and
Headwater Regional (Oxford and IBH, 1995), Research in Geography, Vol.I & II (Ashish,
1996), Disaster Environment and Development (Oxford, IBH, 1996) and Development Issues
in Marginal Regions (Oxford & IBH, 1996) and Environmental Law; Issues and Responses
(editor, Concept, 1996); Dr. Anu Kapur authored on Paradise in Peril An Ecological Profile of
the Kashmir Valley (Allied, 1995), A geography department was opened at Pass course level
in Kalandi College under the charge of Ms. Punatoya Patra in 1994. The latest development
in the expansion of geographal took place in 1996 when three college – Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee College for Women, Aditi Women’s College and Swami Shardhana College opened
their geography departments at various levels. Geography in Shayama Prasad Mukherjee
College was opened under the charge of Ms. Seema Khera in Pass Course level, whereas in
Aditi Women’s College initially under the charge of B.W. Pandey and Ms. Navneet Hanspal,
geography was introduced in Pass Course as well as Bachelor of Elementary Education. In
Swamy Shardhanand College geography started at Honours level under the charge of Dr.
Daljeet Singh and became a full fledged department. Thus till 1996, in all twelve colleges
were offering geography at the undergraduate level.
The eleventh Chairman of the department was Professor B. Thakur (1996-99) who initiated
many programs for the development of geography both in Post Graduate as well as College
departments. Professor Thakur was elected secretary Central of National Association of
Geographers of India for a two years term (1996-1999) and 1999-2002) and President of
AGS for two terms 1994-96 and 1996-98. He was also elected Vice President of the Institute
of Indian Geographers (Pune, 1995-97), Indian Regional Science Association (Calcutta, 199798 and Indian Institute of Geomorphologies (Allahabad, 1998-99 and 1999-2000) Professor
S.K. Aggarwal became Member of International Board of Journal on applied Geography
Studies (Wiley) and Professional Associate, USAID for East. West Centre. Dr. R.B. Singh was
elected member of I.G.U. Study Group on Land Use and Land Cover Change (1996-2000) and
Recorder of Earth System Science, Representative in Managing Board of Commonwealth
Geographical Bureau (1996-2000). Professor R. Ramachandran retired in November, 1996,
while Professor S.K. Pal and Professor N. Mohammad were on sabbatical leave. Dr. R.B.
Singh was promoted from U.G.C. Research Scientist ‘B’ to U.G.C. Research Scientist ‘C’. He
was awarded a CIDA –SICI Project from Shastri Indo-Candian Institute to work on Urban
Development and Environmental Impacts in Mountain Context with Professor J.S. Gardner
(1998-2001). Dr. S.K. Aggarwal became Professor in March, 1997.
During Professor
Thakur’s tenure as Head, 7 students were awarded Ph.D. of Standard Urban Areas in India
under Professor R. Ramachandran; Lalita Rana (1998) on Land and Land Use Structure and
policy in Metropolitan Delhi and Inderjeet (1999) on Ground water Depletion and Its
Management in Eastern Haryana under Professor B. Thakur; Daljit Singh (1998) on Inter City
Variations in Patterns and Linkage of Home Based Economic Activities in Bangalore and Raj
Kumar (1998) on Changing Patterns and Determinations of Employment in Household
Manufacturing in India (1968-81), both under Dr. H.Ramachandran; Sarita Ghai (1998) on
Man Forest Interactions in the Himalayan Yumana Basin; Geocological Perspectives and
Bhuwan Kumar (1998) on Atmospheric Quality in Metropolitan Cities of India under Dr. R.B.
Singh. During this phase, a number of seminars were organized in the department, like
professor B. Thakur organized 29th Annual International Regional Science Conference on
“Regional Development and New Economic Policy of January 31-February 2, 1997. He also
organized 9th Conference of Indian Institute of Geomorphologies with a focus on
Geomorphology and Environmental Management on January-30-February 1, 1998, and also
organized a session of Earth System Science of 84th Indian Science Congress Association
during January 3-8, 1997. In the same year, Professor S.K. Aggarwal organized I.G.U. seminar
on Environmentally sound and Health Cities on March 12-14, 1997. Dr. R.B. Singh edited and
published a number of books including space informatics for sustainable Development
(Oxford & IBH, 1998), Dr. Anu Kapur edited Professor S.G. Burman’s unfinished book on
Resource use and Environmental Degradation in the Himalayas:
The Kali Watershed
(Mudrit, 1999) and authored Indian Geography’ A Future with a difference (allied, 1998).
Professor S.K. Pal published three books in 1998 including statistics for Geoscientists
(concept, 1998), Physical Geography in India : An earth Systems Science Approach (Orient
Longman, 1998), Drought Profile in India (BR Publications, 1998). Professor R.P. Misra
edited and published two volume book on Million Cities of India: Growth Dyamic,
International Structure, Quality of Life and Planning Perspectives (Sustainable Development
Foundation, 1998). Dr. N.A. Siddiqui published Geography of the World (in urdu medium)
(Foundation for Educational Development, 1997). About 14 teachers joined as Lecturers in
permanent capacity in different colleges of the University. They were Mrs. Sarita Ghai in
Kamla Nehru College in 1996; Mrs. Seema Sahdev in Kalindi College in 1996; Mr. V.A.V.
Raman and Ms. Poonam Sharma in Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Morning) in 1997; Dr.
Rameshwar Thakur, Dr. R.N. Dubey and Mr. G. Singh in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar College in 1997;
Mr. Daljit Singh in Swami Shardhanand College in 1997; Mr. B.W. Pandey in Shaheed Bhagat
Singh (Evening) in 1998; Ms. Rachna Dua in S.P.M. College in 1998; Ms. Ritu Ahlawat in
Miranda House in 1998; and Mr. Subhash Anand, Mr. Jagbir Singh and Mr. Anand Malik in
Swami Shardhanand College in 1998. During this time, Professor Noor Mohammad was
appointed Editor of AGS in 1996 and published Volume 2 of Dimensions of Geographical
Research in 1997. This volume was an extension of earlier volume 1 incorporating the
abstracts of M.Phil. Dissertations and Ph..D. Theses of of the period 1988-96. He also edited
and published number 2 of VASUDHAN on Professor Mrs. S.G. Burman; Unfinished Words
and Untold Works of an Indian Geographer (1996) by Dr. Anu Kapur and on Water:
Sustainable Management of a Vital Resource (2000) by Professor S.L. Kayastha.
Professor C.P. Singh became the 12th head of the department of the Geographsy who
assumed the responsibility in July, 1999 and continued till December, 2000.
He
unfortunately died in his office chamber on 5th December, 2000. He wanted to build modern
infrastructure and provide facilities for the benefit of students, especially in the field of
information technology. It was a Golden Jubilee year for DSE in which the Department of
Geography being its constituent part, actively co-operated and participated. A function of
Alumni Meet consisting of exhibition, get together for all the former students and teachers
was organized on 14th November, 1999 in which almost 250 geographers from all over the
country participated. K.K. Sharma was awarded Project on “Impact of Government Scheme
on the Welfare of Women in HP” sponsored by Women Commission, HP, Anshu Sonak was
awarded UGC Project on “Trends and Patterns of Climate Change in Shimla and Its Impact on
Tourism.” Professor B. Thakur was on Sabbatical leave from July, 99 till February, 2000 to
write a book on water Resources Development and Management in India. He was a Visiting
Professor of Geography at the University of Akron during July-August, 2000. He was also
elected President of Earth System Sciences, 88th Session of ISCA (2000-01) and delivered
Presidential Address on “Environmental Security Through Sustainable water Management in
India” on 3rd January, 2001 at Water Technology Centre, I.A.R.I., New Delhi. Professor Noor
Mohammad was awarded a UGC project on “Socio-Economic Transformation of Scheduled
Castes in U.P.: A Geographical Analysis”. Professor S.K. Aggarwal was a Visiting Professor of
Geography at the University of Bonn, Germany from September to December, 2000. Dr. R.B.
Singh was nominated Full Member of IGU Study Group on Land Use and Land Cover Change
(2000-2004); was nominated Editor, AGS, Delhi University for a three years term. Professor
B. Thakur co-edited a book on Geographic and Planning Research Themes for the New
Millennium (Vikas, 2000). Dr. R.B. Singh edited a book on Disaster Management (Oxford &
IBH, 2000) and Dr. B.Khan authored a book on Iran; Ethono-History, Space and Economic
Structure (Indian Bibliographies Bureau, Delhi, 2000). Dr. Lalita Rana published book on
Dynamics of Urban Land use and Planning; A study of Metropolitan Delhi (Manisha
Publications, 2000). Under the 16 month duration of Headship of Professor C.P. Singh, four
new faculty members, Jitender Saroha and Mahindra Singh Kadyan, were appointed
Lecturers on permanent basis at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar College increasing the total staff
members to six and Ms. Punyatoya Patra in Aditi Mahvidyalaya in 1999 and Ms. Rakhi
Parjijat in Miranda House in 2000. Ms. Ritu Ahlawat was awarded Young Geographers
Award-2000 by NAGI organized at Nagpur for her paper on “Hydrological Regions in the
Bundelkhand Catchments of Betwa and Ken Revers”. A number of scholars were awarded
Ph.D. degree during this period. They were Meera Chatterjee (1999) on the Damodar Basin:
A Study in the Dynamics of River Regime and Ramashray Prasad (2000) on Dynamics of
River Environment: A Case study of Kosi Embankment under Professor S.K. Pal; Tejbir Singh
Rana (1999) on Environmental Implications of Farm Land Diversification in Rural – Urban
Fringe of Delhi , B.W. Pandey (2000) on Hazard Risk Assessment and Sustainable Land
Development in Upper Beas Basin; and Ravi Shekhar (2000) on Squatter Settlements in
Delhi Metropolis: A Human Ecological Study all three under Dr. R.B. Singh, Kalpana Bhakuni
(2000) on Identification and Development of Potential Scenic Resources in Kumaun
Himalaya and Seema Parihar (2000) on Natural Resource Management in the Bhagirathi
Basin under Professor B. Thakur; Rachna Dua (2000) on Spatio-Temporal Variation in the
Levels of Agricultural Productivity in Sonipat District; K.K. Sharma (20000) on Agricultural
Transformation of Rural Development; A Study of Horticulture in Himachal Pradesh; S.K.
Bandooni (2000) on Land Resource Potential and Development in Alaknanda Basin and Jai
Prakash (2000) on Energy use in Agriculture in Sonepat District all four under Professor N.
Mohammad; and Surendra Jenamani (2000) on Poverty and Under development in
Kalahandi: A Geographical Analysis under Professor S.K. Aggarwal.
A new period for geography at the University began in December, 2000 with the
appointment of Professor Noor Mohammad as 13th Head of the Department of Geography
who served in this capacity for three years (December, 2000- December, 2003). During his
period of office, the Department not only maintained the academic progress that were made
in the early years but also developed infrastructural facilities including remote sensing and
GIS lab under the Special Assistance Program (SAP) granted by the UGC for 5 years (April
2002 – March, 2007). The Department was able to get an initial grant of about Rs.35 Lakhs
to carry out his program. On the basis of research work carried out by faculty members of
the department, natural resource management and urban and regional planning were
identified as thrust areas for this program. The Department building was renovated and a
fully air conditioned computer laboratory has been established with 22 PCs, Server and UPS
and market – oriented software (Erdas) -8.6 PCs ArcInfo 3.2 Arc View GIS 3.2a, Autocad Map
2000). Professor Noor Mohammad has been the Coordinator of SAP since the beginning. He
was elected President of AGS on 31 March, 2001 and re-elected in April, 2003. The M.Phil
Syllabi was thoroughly revised with main emphasis on research techniques and methods.
New emerging areas of research investigation has been added in M.Phill program. The
Department was honoured in 2001 when Professor B. Thakur was appointed Vice Chancellor
at Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Dabhanga and was also elected President of the National
Association of Geographers of India for 2002-03. The Department has continued its effort to
forge links with the community. Professor S.K. Aggarwal keeps giving device and has acted
as consultant to government agencies like ADB funded project on widening of National
Highway from Porbander to Palampur. He was also elected Member IGU Study Group on
Mega cities for four years (2000-04). Dr. R.B. Singh was also nominated Full Member of IGU
Study Group on Land Use and Land Cover Change (2000-04) and was elected Secretary –
General of NAGI for a term (2002-04) Dr. R.B. Singh was also awarded CIDA SICI Project
from Shastri Indo Candian Institute to work on Role of Public Private and Civil Sectors in
Sustainable Mountain Development : A search for Balance with Professor J. Sinclair (200305). In addition, he was also made Editor of AGS for a term (2001-04) Dr. Nafis A. Siddiqui
retired as Principal from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (M) in December, 2000 and he still
keeps busy in academic publication.
The Department organized 1st UGC-SAP National
Seminar on Spatial Information System for Natural Resource Management on February 2122, 2003 under the Convener ship of Professor Noor Mohammad. Abut 40 papers were
presented. Dr. G.S. Chauhan organized and National Seminar on Management of water
Resource during May, 2003 at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar College were more than 50 papers were
presented. The Department of organized a Refresher Course on Theories in Geography and
Post Modernism under the governorship of Dr. B. Khan in December 2003 in which about 25
teachers participated from different parts of the country. The 2nd UGC SAP National Seminar
were organized in the Department on Resource and Regional planning.
Issues and
Challenges on December 4-5, 2003 under the Governorship of Prof. Noor Mohammad in
which 41 papers were presented Dr. Anu Kapur was conferred upon Dr. R.N. Dubey
Memorial Award at the International Conference in Sustainable Development and
Sustainable Life Styles organized by Bhoovigyan Vikas Foundation in April, 2001 for her
contributions to geography. Dr. Seema M. Parihar joined Netherlands Institute of Remote
Sensing for six months in 2002 for resigning and development were based course on web
revision. Dr. B.W. Pandey received Young Geographer Award for the year 2000 from NAGI at
the Karnatak University, Dharward. Dr. R.B. Singh and Dr. Anu Kapur were appointed
Readers in substantive post and Dr. B. Kahn was promoted to the post of Reader under Merit
Promotions Scheme in 2003. Dr. Anindita Dutta with previous teaching experience at
Chandigarh and with deep interest in social geography, gender issues and health policy
joined as Lecturer in the Department in November, 2002/ Dr. Anu Kapur went on leave to
join as Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla for two years (2003-05)
Professor B. Thakur after completing two years as Vice Chancellor at L.N. Mithila University
joined back the Department of Geography on March 31st, 2003. Dr. V.K. Tyagi completed his
project on Regional Patterns of Fertility in India funded by German Science Foundation. The
faculty were active during this period in publishing book.
Dr. B.W. Pandey on
Geoenvironmental Hazards in the Himalaya: Assessment and Mapping (Mittal) 2002); Dr.
R.B. Singh authored Climatic Variability, Extreme Events and Agricultural Productivity in the
Mountain Region (Oxford and IBH, 2002) and Practical work in Geography – Part1 (NCERT,
2000) and edited Human Dimensions of Sustainable Development (Rawat, 2003); Professor
Noor Mohammad authored on India: Physical Environment (NCERT, 2003); Professor B.
Thakur co-edited Recent Advances in Geomorphology, Quaternary Geology and
Environmental Geosciences (Manisha, 2002), Dimensions of Society and Culture of Bihar
Academy Press, 2003) and edited Perspectives in Resource Management in Developing
Countries, Vol.I: Resource Management Theory and Techniques Concept, New Delhi, 2003);
Dr. G.S. Chauhan And Dr. R.N. Dubey edited Seminar Proceedings on Water Resource
Management (2003) and Dr. Anu Kapur on Indian Geography: Voice of Concern (Concept,
2002) and Dr. Tejbir Singh on Environmental Implications of Farmland Diversification (Rajat
2001). During the tenure of Professor Mohammad as Head five students were awarded
Ph.D. degrees. They were: Dharam Vir Singh Chikara (2003) on Agricultural Development
and Environmental Problems in Karnal District and Yohannes Aberra (2002( on Problems of
Irrigation in the Drought Prone Region of Northern Ethiopia: A case Study of the Mekele
Plateau under Professor N. Mohammad, G.S. Chauhan (2001 of Changing Land use and Land
Degradation Problems in India Desert Regional Nawal Prasad Singh (2001 on Environmental
Degiradation and Development the Metropolitan Fringe of Delhi and Dushyant Kumar
Mishra (2002) on Impact of Land Use change on the Biophysical and Socio-Economics
System of Upper Bean Basin under Dr. R.B. Singh Under his headship four faculty members
were appointed in permanent capacity. Ms. Harleen Kaur and Ms. Deeksha Bajpai joined
Dyal Singh College in 2001; Monia Ahlawat in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar College in 2003 and Ms.
Anjana Mathur Jagmohan joined Dyal Singh College in 2003.
Professor S.K. Aggarwal became the 14th Head of the Department who assumed the Chair on
December, 6 2003 and has also been appointed Coordination of SAP in March, 2004,
Followed by Professor B. Thakur as Deputy Coordinator. The its various activates. A
Documentation centre has been opened to facilities students to consult rare materials like
atlases, these, dissertations and Monographed stored in the Department. Under one and a
half year duration of his Headship seven students have been awarded Ph.D. Degree. They
were Ms. Nitasha Malhotra Professor S.K. Aggarwal Mr. V.A.V. Raman (2004) on
Photogeomorpholigies Analysis of Fluviatile Department surfaces: A Study in Ganga and
Brahmaputra Alluvial Plains under Professor S.K. Pal;’ Mr. Barun Kumar 2004) on Changing
Urban Economic Base: A Study of Workforce Structure of NCR (1971-1991) Mrs. Preeti
Sachar (2004) on sustainable water management for irrigated Agriculturist Dimension of
Common Land Resources in Santha Pargabs Region under Dr. R.B. Singh Ms. Monica Vij
(2004) on Dynamic of Land Use and Socio-Economics Transformation in Rural – Urban
Fringe of Bhop under Professor N. Mohammad; Ms. Vineeta Mathur (2004 on the Political
Ecology Degradation, Regeneration ad Development Potential in the Northern Highland of
Orissa under Professor B. Thakur and Satya Prakash (2005) on Growth of Farm Houses in
National Capital Territory and its impact on the Socio Economic and Professor b. Thakur was
awarded Shastri Indo Candian Faculty Research Fellowship Through Shastri Indo –
Candadian Institute, Department of Foreign Affairs, Government of Canada to work on “Mega
Cities Fringe Dynamic in India and Canada;
A Study of Patterns, Trends and Policy
Implications in Delhi and Toronto: at your university, Toronto during May-June, 2004. The
most notable were has been the re-employment of Professor Noor Mohammad in the
Department or anther three years after his superannuation in March, 2004. Prof. B. Thakur
co-edited a book on Urban and Regional Development in India Essays in Honour of Professor
L.N. Ram in two volumes (Concept, 2004) and also edited Perspective and Development in
two volumes (concept 2005), Vol3: Ecological Degradation 2005). Professor B. Thakur has
also been awarded 2005 Distinguished Scholarship award by the Association of American
Geographers for his outstanding Reference to India. Dr. Anindiya Datta has been promoted
to the rank of Senior Lecturer in the Department.
An equally significant curriculum
development during professor Aggarwal’s Chairmanship was the B.A. Syllabi, which resulted
from recommendations of Professor Mohanty Committee. The staffs in different colleges are
becoming more active in organizing seminars, conference, workshops and says seminar of
Mega Cities Fringe Dynamism at Aditi Mahavidyala, Bawana says seminar of Mega Cities
Fringe Dynamism at Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Bawana in January, 2004 were 13 research papers
were presented followed by five special lectures and a penal discussion Dr. K. K. Sharma
organized Workshop on Environmental Geohazards; Management and Mitigation in
Himachal Pradesh on Seema Parihar organized Preparatory Workshop on “Developing Geo
Spatial information system for Micro Level Planning in North India”. DISNIC PLAN PROJECT
of the planning commission in September, 2004 in Department of Geography, K.M. College.
This Workshop has been, therefore, a step towards developing a database for micro level
planning for formulating sub-regional and regional policies. Two of our college teachers,
namely, Dr. K. K. Sharma and Dr. S.K. Bandooni got two research projects on Development
Gap and Spatial Patterns; Poverty and inequality in Himachal Pradesh financed by UGC, and
on Database for Mitigation and Management of Earthquake and Landslides (Geo Hazards) on
GIs Platform using space Technology for Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur and Una districts of
Himachal Pradesh funded by DST in 2005. The Department of Geography, Dyal Singh
College, organized two days seminar on Contemporary Geography: Issues and Challenges on
March 11-12, 2005. The seminar was attended by a large number of students and teachers
of different colleges and J.N.U and Jamia Millia Islamia and deliberated upon challenges
facing the growth of India Geography. The Department organized 3rd UGC/SAP seminar on
“Vulnerable Cities: Hazards, Risks and Preparedness” during March 18-19, 2005. The above
them was chosen considering the emerging threats from various types of hazards (viz.
floods, landslides, heat stress, fires, environmental pollution) to cities in India and elsewhere
with the rapid pace of urbanization, metropolitization, globalization and other driving forces.
More than hundred participants from various parts of the country, including twenty from
Germany, contributed to the deliberations of the conference. The proceedings volume is
under preparation. The seminar was financially supported by the University of Delhi and
National Informatics Centre (NIC) and remained a great success with this generous support.
During the Headship period of Professor Aggarwal, six new faculty members have been
appointed in the Department. They are Dr. H. Ramachandran and Professor Dr. S.C. Rai as
Reader, Dr. Anjan Sen, Dr. Aparajita De, Mr. Kiran Bhairannavar and Dr. Ashis K. Saha as
Lecturers.
The Department has been fortunate to have added six permanent faculty
members. With these new appointments, the current strength of the faculty has swelled to
thirteen and this has certainly added the variety of specialties to be offered in the
department Diversity in research and courses will become an added strength and hallmark
on the department. The department in the process of revising the M.A. Syllabi and with the
inclusion of teaching and research interests of thirteen faculty, the students will have
tremendous choice in selection of their courses and research areas. The department can
now feel proud to be one of the leading departments in the country not only in strength but
also in contributing to the advancement in geographic research and teaching.
The Department is in the process of constructing a Seminar hall with attached faculty space
on the Second Floor of the existing site. This is being made possible by the generous
endowment promised by Mrs. Kamla Nath in the memory of the Late husband, Dr. V. Nath.
The Seminar hall will be dedicated in the name of Dr. V. Nath, a distinguished administrator,
development geographer and an urban expend. The chronic scarcity of space which the
department faced for the last fewer decade shall be overcome in the coming years and the
department in indebted to Mrs. Kamla Nath in making this dream realized.
Department of Geography has established itself as one of the most leading departments in
the country in terms of teaching and research output. The staff of both the Department and
colleges, past and present, have come from all major states in India, from south to north and
from east to west. Similarly, the Department proudly claims to have nourished students
from Gujarat to Nagaland and from Kashmir to Kerla. This rather unique and enviable mix of
teachers and students has added new vitality and vigour to this Department.
The
Department and many Colleges have earned good name among different universities and
research institutions, because its standards are high.
Its achievements have brought
international acclaim for the university as well as the individuals involved. To symbolize
faculty achievements, reference can be made to awards to professor R.P. Misra, Dr. Anu
Kapur and Professor B. Thakur. Professor Misra is now retired, was awarded in 2001 by
Bhoovigyan Vikas Foundation and Dr. Kapur, Dr. R.N. Dubey Memorial Award in the same
year and professor B. Thakur AAG Award in 2005. Ms. Ritu Ahlawat, Dr. B.W. Pandey and
Mr. Narendra Kumar Ran were awarded Nagi Young Geographers Award in 1999, 2000 and
2001, respectively. These awards testify the Department’s commitment to both teaching and
research. Each Member of the Department and Colleges has carved out a special niche of
his/her specialization and they fit into any three of the main foci of emphasis; urban and
regional planning, resources and environmental management and social, medical and
political geography.
The Department has had research interests in urban and regional planning since its
inception and considerable work has been done in this field. Research and teaching reflects
a strong interest in the structure and function of urbanization polices. Studies on the
structure and function of urbanization and urban systems include those on settlement
structure and urban systems include those on settlement structure and hierarchy, urban
agglomerations, SUA, structure and change in levels of urbanization, climate and comforts,
and analysis of the characteristics of mini, fort, and hill towns. Some other aspects taken up
for research are identification of settlement hierarchies in the South East Resource Region
and making suggestions for future development, changing pattern of urban settlements in
Eastern and Northeastern India and an analysis of rank-size relationship of Bihar urban
settlements in the same period. A fruitful attempt at marrying inter-relationship of microlevel studies and macro-level generalization to the study of urbanization and structure of
urban system has been made by r. Ramachandran. His substantive contribution focuses on
the process of urbanization and the nature of interdependence among urban centers and
between urban centers and their hinterlands. His historical analysis of urbanization is novel
and the book urbanization and Systems in India (1989) is a seminal contribution to India
urban geography. The internal structure of individual cities has been another area of
research.
Residential land use, location of elite residential colonies and commercial
activities and consumer’s perception of informal commercial sector in urban residential
areas have been studied. The rapidly growing cities are triggering of several changes in the
rural urban fringe and the dynamic zone of Delhi and Bhopal have been studied in
considerable detail. The study of regional variations in the growth and distribution of socioeconomic characteristics and policies for their removal has also generated considerable
interest. The role central places in regional development, its spatial patterns and consumer’s
mobile the concept of growth poles and suitability of Indian conditions, strategy of balanced
regional development, particularly by providing access to infrastructure and diffusion of
economic activities in backward areas, tribal areas and hinter land also emerged when the
growth centre approach to regional development was mooted by Professor R.P. Misra and
Professor Parkas Rao. The evaluation several schemes implemented as part of the overall
policy for regional development has also been undertaken at various levels. Research on
agriculture, a base of regional planning began in the Department in 1965, and since then a
number of studies has been conducted reflecting a close relationship between agriculture
and the physical techno-economic and socio-institutional environments by Dr. S.S. Bhatia, Dr.
E. Dayal and Professor Noor Mohammad and their students. Among the various issues tale
up, patterns of agricultural growth, land use, utilization of agricultural land, analysis of
spatio temporal variations in agricultural productivity, technological change a diffusion of
agricultural innovations, energy use in agriculture, socio-economic transformation, land use
planning, identification and reclamation of wasteland encroachment on agricultural land,
ecological implications of mechanized and chemicalised agriculture, caste and primary
occupations and formulations of strategy and policies for their development are the
prominent ones.
Rapid population growth and indiscriminant application of technology especially in recent
decades have had far reaching impact on the ecological balance. In their hurry to catch up
with the more developed countries, less develop countries have placed undue emphasis on
economic growth. Numerious scheme have been hastily executed for short term gain with
little regard to the irreverisbile damage has been caused to the environment at a scale large
encourage to set alarm bells ringing. Owing to the fragile character of their eclology, the
impact of such activity has been especially severe in the Himalayas. Professor Burman and
her students have evinced keen interest on methodologies of economics development and
their impact on their ecology in the Himalayan region. Among the issues taken up were
environmental impact of transportation and road construction, the growth of highland
tourism, eutrophication of Dal Lake and result of changing land use patterns in Kashmir,
urbanization and land subsidemed in Shimla and the inadvertent impact of human activities
on climate. Another fruitful area of research has been the assessment of occurrence of
natural hazarded and problem of disaster preparedness and mitigation and their
management. Research into the flood, drought, cyclone and landslide hazards for focused
upon the interaction between the human use system and physical process operating in
reverie, coastal, desert and mountainous environments by Professor S.K. Pal and Dr. R.B.
Singh and their students. Questions dealing with how human adjust to the floor hazard have
also been the research proprieties of many faculty members. Dr. Anu Kapur and her
students have been emphasizing on patterns and processes of perception and responses of
community with respect to earthquake, drought and diverse urban hazards. They have also
focused on the physical characteristics of hazards, such as magnitude, duration and
frequency and have enhanced our understanding of the physical, social, technical and
economic forces inherent in extreme geophysical events. Owing to the crucial importance of
water for diverse purposes, water management has demanded a great deal of academic
interest by Professor B. Thakur, Dr. R.B. Singh, Professor S.K. Aggarwal, Dr. S.C. Rai and their
students. Studies on water resource development in the Kosi, Beas, Kali, Damodar, Betwa,
Ken, Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Bagmati, yamuna and Mamlay are notable. An appraisal of Tehri
Dam Project and its effect on the surrounding region is also significant. Currently, there is
considerable interest in problems of water demand and supply in the hill towns,
metropolitan and mega cities and the Himalayan region; and the determination of water
scarcity and its coping strategies. Resource and environmental management is a popular
and rapidly growing sub0field encompassing a wide array of research themes like pollution,
deforestation, soil erosion, land degradation, water logging, flood hazard, watershed
management, society and natural resources, scenic resources, village common land,
monitoring and forecasting of hydrological parameters, ecotourism and conservation and
carbon dynamic and anthropogenic impact on environmental change. Studies by Professor
S.K. Pal and his students have shown concern in trying to understand the relationship
between landforms and geographic process, taking the drainage basin as a unit of study. In
this field research encompasses terrain analysis in the Kumaun and the Ladakh region,
morphometry, rever regime, channel configuration, relationship between geomorphology
and land use, drainage morphometry in relation to climatic geomorphology, flood mapping
and depositional features in floodplains of Ganga-Brahmaputra basins with special reference
to the Kosi basin by the help of satellite imageries and aerial photographs.
A few faculty members have turned their attention to social and medical geography and
rapid progress has been observed in this field because of social concern in national planning
on caste, tribes, nutrition, housing, poverty, education., crime, and healthcare and gender
issues. Dr. N.A. Siddiqui has looked into historical factors in understanding the pattern of
concentration of Muslims in India. Professor S.K. Aggarwal’s major thrust areas of research
and teaching remained in the field of sustainable health, social enquiry and urban
management. In the field of sustainable health, issues in different settings with human
ecological approach considering the multidimensional nature of health have been examined.
Most recently, he has contributed in the policy domain of health issues particularly will
respect to strengthening and evaluation of healthy cities projects of WHO, a policy
recommendations to integrate HIV/AIDS spread and related trafficked issues in National
Highways Development projects of the Government of India funded by Asian Development
bank. He has contributed to understand the head impacts of such global changes (climate
change, land use/land cover chance biodiversity change etc.) in the urbanizing world
through a risk assessment at vulnerability analysis approach. Further, his proactive/applied
research approval has led him to develop procedures and methodologies to assess the social
impact of development projects (particularly highways) and contributed towards
rehabilitation and resettlement polices. He is of the view that most urban issues must also
be examined from urban management and urban government perspective. Professor C.P.
Singh and his students have worked on election geography, analyzing the spatial character of
election results reflecting the combination of sociao-economic and political processes of an
read. The delimitate of parliamentary constituencies, analysis of parliamentary, assembly
and metropolitan election results and voting behavior has been one of the important fields of
research. Research has also been addressed to several counterpoint political problems like
inter state river water disputes, the Sino Indian board disputes, and quest for new capital for
Haryana and Uttaranchal, political aspect of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Region and
the Middle East by Dr. B.Khan and his students and Mr. K.K. Majumdar. The spatial analysis
of population growth and family planning change in migration patterns and regional
patterns fertility has been undertaken by Dr. V.K. Tyagi.
Many faculty members frequently trance to other university for Selection Committee
or Board of Studies meetings. Professor B. Thakur, Professor Mohammad, Professor S.K.
Aggarwal and Dr. R.B. Singh have been active and editorial boards of prestigious Indian and
foreign journals. Visiting lectureshime at other university have broadened horizons and
have generated new research interests for faculty members. The Department always remain
understisfied view of unfilled position. Particularly, sabbatical leaves, visiting assignment
study leaves exacerbate the pressure. With 70% of the staff appointed in land 1980’s and
1990s, the college teachers are characterized by youthful aggressivement and enthusiasm.
Their love of teaching is complemented by well established courses, programs and student
interest.
Faculty members within four decades have been active in publications articles in
professional journals, publication of book chapters as well as authorize and edited books.
They have published their research papers in many prestigious journals like Economic
Geography. The Canadian Geographer, Geo Journal, Tijdschrift Noor Economicheen Sociate
Geographie, Asian Profile, Asian Geographer, Mountain Research and Development, Political
Geography, Land Use Policy, hydrological Processes. Habitat International, Ekistics. Africa
Quarterly, Lund Studies in Geography, Agro systems and Environment, Indonesian Jr. of
Geography, Gender, Technology and development, Peterman’s Geographyische Mitteilungen,
International Human Dimension Program Pedobiologia, Journal of hydrology, International
Peat Journal, Asian Folklore Studies, Journal of Environmental Management, Environmental
Conservation, Catena, Ambia, Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, Agroforestry Systems,
international journal of Sustainable Agriculture, Agroforesty Systems, International Journal
of Ecology and Environmental Science.
Philippine Geographical Journal.
The
Environmentalist, and national journals like National Geographical Journal of India,
Geographical Review of India.
Indian Geographical Journal, Annals
of the National
Association of Geographers of India. Transaction of the Institute of India Geographers.
Indian Journal of Gender Studies. Indian Journal of Regional Science, Indian Journal of
Traditional Knowledge, Current Science. The India Forester, Indian Journal of Landscape
System and Ecological
Geographer.
Studies.
The Geographer, The Indian Geographer, The Deccan
Population Geographer, the Indian Geographer, The Deccan Geographer,
Population Geography and Economic and Political weekly.
Department has now entered a new phase with the introduction of Remote Sensing and GIS
and has acquired some basic equipments such as computers, printers, photocopying
machine, scanner, plotter, software (Auto Cad –Arc View 3.2a Arc GIS, ERDAS, Autodesk6,
image analysis etc. The new GIS lab is additional bonus with 21 computers. This labotratory
has become an important asset for faculty and student research. The department has also
acquired film coverage of satellite imagery which is helpful for research purpose.
The focus of any discipline and department are its students. The Department and Colleges
have been attracting students from different parts of the country and abroad.
The
undergraduate and graduate records are impressive. From the beginning to 2004, the Delhi
University geography faculty awarded, 188 M. Phil. Degrees and 63 Ph.D. Degrees (Table
1.2). A large number of our graduate students have received overseas fellowships to go
abroad to pursue their higher studies. About two third of 63 doctoral graduates have
entered academia, with the remainder divided between private enterprises and public
agency positions. Thus, our products can be found in Universities, Govts. And Planning
Officers across the country. There are students who have been selected to the IAS and IPS
who now hold senior positions. Thus, our products can be found in Universities, Govts and
Planning Offices across the country. There are students who have been selected to the IAS
and IPS who now hold senior positions in Govt. The students have also been doing well in
NET examination and quite a few have cleared state NET and the UGC-JRF examination. The
syllabi are kept in the with modern trends in research as well as UGC/CSIR National Test.
Teaching and research have seen much change during the last four decade. The
rapidity with which both department and colleges have adapted to net developments in the
fields in visualized from the frequent change in the B.A., M.A. and M.Phil syllabi as well as
digital information technology. Taken as a whole, the College and Departments in securing
research funding have been very successful and rewarding.
Both the college and
Department teachers have, from time to time taken up research projects from the UGC,
ICSSR, Ministry of Defence, Planning Commission, CSIR, Indian Space Research Organization,
Times Research Foundation, DST and CIDA-SICI.
The University of Delhi should continue to play an important role in understanding the
nature society interaction and human use of the earth and help resolve the complex
problems associated with it. With its strong tradition studies on cities, regional planning and
society, the Delhi University hopes the make a positive contribution to academia, knowledge
and society. Geography has gone a good chance to prove its utility to the society and our
society is looking forward in geographical analysis.
Thus, there is a need for greater
emphasis on improving the status and future of geography both in College and university,
and both should talk a leading role in guiding the destiny of geography in India. The
following suggestion and prognoses are made about its fitness in the years to come.
First, during the last four and a half decades, one distinct trend which has emerged is the
increasing dominance of human geography over physical both the teaching and research.
Therefore, the most obvious direction of factum development is to maintain a balance
between the two branches in the development of the subject. Equal emphasis should be
given to branches like climatology hydrology, biogeography, penology and geomorphology.
Second, since much of the research on environmental processes and pattern is completed on
various in atmospheric pollution, water quality, solid erosion and land degradation, a strong
need exists to establish well equipped physical laboratory for testing and analyzing field data
to arrive at sound conclusions. Some appropriate person from non teaching staff may be
sent on deputation for training to a suitable laboratory or research training centre.
Third, social geography is another relevant subject which needs attention from the faculty
members. The Delhi University has a number of faculty member with interest in social
problems facing the country. In this context, crime, health poverty, ageing, nutrition, gender
and deprivation, employment, ethnicity, social service allocation and housing are some
important areas requiring research attention.
Fourth, field work is an integral part of our discipline which has become weak over the
years. This is, of course, a traditional means of data collection which is directly apprehended
through observation and which is generally used to establish cause and effect relationships
in order to predict the future. Rigorous field work based on appropriate sampling methods
and questionnaire surveys of people’s attributers, attitudes, actions, aspirations and
motivations is recommended.
It can be considered an important component of the
theoretical course as well, wherein M.A. students are exposed to real world issues in the
adjacent areas of Delhi and beyond.
Fifth, courses on GIS and Remote Sensing techniques in the Department and colleges have
advanced in a big way in the last few years with the development of laboratory facilities and
consistent inputs by the faculty. M.Phil and Ph.D. students are now using threes techniques
in their research work. There is a strong students are now using these techniques in their
research work. There is a strong need now to develop and advanced certificate or diploma
course in Remote Sensing and GIS to facilitate the placement of students in the IT sector. If
such facilities are developed, many students may not opt for M.Phil and Ph.D. route for
getting a suitable job. Collaboration with institutions who are directly involved with GIS
applications and provide job opportunities should be promoted.
Sixth, attempt should be made to open Department of Geography in different colleges on
campus as well as in different part of the city, because our discipline is becoming popular
day by day and is in great demand by the students both at graduate and post graduate level.
In this context, initiatives would have to be taken by the Principal of the respective colleges
as well as the Dean of the Colleges of the University.
Seventh, in view of the occurrence of natural hazards and respective disasters in the
surrounding region and the country at large and with the growing academic interest among
the faculty members, it is highly imperative to establish a Centre for Disaster Research and
Management (CDRM) for research and training in the Department.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Note: The contents of this write up have been largely taken from the narration by Dr
Baleshwar Thakur, Ex HOD.