Industrial Impact on Floristic Diversity in Himachal Pradesh, India

Biodiversity is the variety and variability of plants and animal species on our planet. In the biodiversity rich state like Himachal Pradesh many development activities have been started which resulted, the loss of biodiversity. Therefore, present effort is made to know the impact of cement factory, ACC Ltd., Barmana, District Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, Inida. Total 217 species of vascular plants belonging to 68 families and 160 genera were recorded from the area indicating richness of the area in term of flora. Since, there is no base line information on the flora of the region affected by the factory to compare the present situation of flora with the earlier. Present study is focused to gather information about the Cement Factory, its impact on local inhabitants; to understand the concept of biodiversity in reference to the study area and; to inventories and analyze the flora of the region. The scientific information generated in this monograph is the first insight in the present status of vegetation of the area and help in developing adequate strategies and action plan for the management of the areas affected by developmental activities worldwide.