SOME ZEST AND A PUNCH

INDIA IS SAID TO BE THE CENTRE OF ORIGIN FOR CITRUS FRUITS LIKE GALGAL, BUT DISASTERS SUCH AS THE RECENT FLASH FLOODS IN CHAMOLI THREATEN THEIR NATURAL HABITAT

- VIBHA VARSHNEY

EVERY WINTER, I eagerly wait for a piece of the Himalayas, right here in Delhi. Vegetable markets in the city sport a large citrus fruit, galgal (Citrus pseudolimon or hill lemon) during the first two months of the year. This thick skinned, acidic lemon is used with green chillies in a pickle that, for a week or two, becomes an indispensable part of my meals. The sourness of the pulp and the bitterness of the rind work together in the pickle, which tastes best with rice and lentils.

This year, my pickle was still not ready when Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district was hit by a massive flash flood triggered by an avalanche. Gushing water destroyed everything in its path, including dams.

Chamoli is among the few places in the country which has a high genetic diversity of citrus fruits, as per National Research Centre for Citrus in Nagpur. Some 27 species of citrus grow in India, 23 of which are found in the Northeast. But galgal is more commonly found in northwestern foothills of the Himalayas, including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In fact, citrus is among the top three horticultural crops grown in Uttarakhand, along with mango and apple. Various fruits like malta, lemon, lime, galgal and citron grow in the state, but the production figures for each of them is not known.

The loss of galgal trees during the Chamoli flood is not likely to be mentioned while taking stock of the damage. The fruit is little studied and did not even find mention in the Environmental Impact Assessment reports made before the dams were built. Often, wild trees such as