The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) inaugurated an Extreme Altitude Research Centre at Chang La in Jammu and Kashmir at 17,600 ft above mean sea level.
It is the world’s highest terrestrial R&D centre. It is situated 75 km off Leh town towards Pangong Lake.
The centre has been established by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh, a constituent establishment of DRDO.
What is the purpose of the centre?
- The centre will serve as a natural cold storage for preserving rare and endangered medicinal plants for generations.
- The centre will be highly useful for Research & Development work in anterior areas of food and agriculture and bio-medical sciences for safety of the soldiers deployed in high-altitude cold desert.
- Besides, many life sciences activities are planned to be undertaken at the centre including:
- Human physiological work
- Long term conservation of plant genetic resources
- Designing, testing, validation and demonstration of mobile greenhouses
- Soil-less micro-farming technologies for fresh food in far-flung landlocked posts
About Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR)
- Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) was formerly known as Field Research Laboratory
- It is one of the laboratories of DRDO.
- It was established in 1962.
- The lab is the brainchild of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru.
- DIHAR is situated in Leh at an altitude of 3500 meter above mean sea level.
- The lab specialises in cold arid agro-animal technology in the world.
