Historical Geography

Historical geography has never been a priority area in Indian geography, though its importance can hardly be overemphasized. Most of the studies cited in the review do not come from geographers, nor can they strictly be considered as historical-geographicalresearches. Nevertheless, acceptance and emergence of new notions, ways, perspectives, subaltern views, oral history, biographical resources, heritage ecology, etc. are some ofthe recent concerns enriching the field of historical geography of India. All such studiescan provide essential raw material for a meaningful historical-geographical interpretation.

Population Change and Migration

Regarded as a special area of interest within population geography, studiesundertaken in this area are a mix of both general and contemporary-specific population issues relating to population growth/change and migration. There is little change in thefocus of research during the period under review. It is necessary that studies pertaining to the impact of rapid population growth, migration, population pressure, ageing and globalization etc. need to be taken up with urgency for their important role in population change.

Settlement Geography
This is a traditionally important area of research that has attracted good number ofresearches. Moving away from the conventional analysis of size, form and location ofsettlements, Indian geographers have made important contribution to studies on functional aspects and locational characteristics of human activities as well as spatiofunctional organization of economic landscape. Issue pertaining to the impacts emanatingfrom hyper-urbanization and diversified urban systems are recommended as importantareas for future research.

Agricultural Geography

Agriculture continues to be the backbone of Indian economy and rightly remains amajor thrust area in geography. Agricultural geographers in India have diversified theirinterests and have ventured into significant areas of analysis such as land capabilityclassification, agro-ecological concerns, crop diversification and diffusion, problems offood security and vulnerability, dairy farming apart from social and institutional  framework of agriculture.
Industrial Geography
In spite of tremendous potential in this field of research, particularly in the postliberalization phase, not much work appears to have been made. Very few papers havebeen published in this branch of geography in leading journals of India. As industry alongwith agriculture is the backbone of the nation’s economy, the geographers can neglectthis field of inquiry only at their own peril. This is particularly true in the context of avibrant trend of research in this field during the eighties and nineties.

Geomorphology

With growing awareness towards environmental problems the role of the geomorphologists is increasingly recognized as pre-eminently necessary. Geomorphologyis being considered as a science contributing towards the natural resource and environmental management. Problems like stability of coastal structures, desertification, land resource appraisal etc. are emerging as major topics of research being handled orexpected to be handled by the geomorphologists. As a result micro studies are gainingimportance. “Use of remote sensing technique and GIS” appears as a favoured suffix in many titles. The techniques and tools of research gain importance in such attempts and attimes one wonders if the original topic of research is getting camouflaged in the
description of these tools and techniques.

Resource and Environment

Environmental issues now occupy a significant place in academic discourse and activism alike. Situation of India with regard to environmental crisis and resource depletion is deepening in the wake of rapid changes brought about by the new regime ofeconomic liberalization and penetration of transnationals. However, few geographershave been able to take a holistic view of environment. Vulnerability is the key to ourunderstanding that attempts to break from all-too technocratic agenda that have characterised relationship between human societies and their environments over previouscenturies. There is a serious lack of integrated techniques and approaches to studyvulnerable environment. There is a need to identify challenges and opportunities forimproving human well-being through vulnerability analysis of different ecosystems and community groups. While application of GIS and remotely sensed data can make a world of difference, few seem to have undertaken meaningful research using this important tool. There is a dearth of empirical studies evaluating the impact of the current phase ofliberalization and globalization on the environment and resources both at national and local levels.

progress in Indian Geography

This report on progress in Indian Geography is a modest attempt at projecting the state ofthe art as perceived by a group of scholars who have collaborated with me in this venture.
Needless to mention, opinions tend to vary, depending upon who is writing the report on the stateof affairs in a particular branch of study. Some have been quite happy and optimistic about theefforts made in a particular branch of study in geography; others feel disappointed and lookforward to more concerted efforts to be made by geographers in India to bring the branch of studyto a desired level of international standard. No attempt however has been made in this report to raise controversial issues or project the image of a certain school of thought. The report wasdesigned to focus on the most productive areas of research in different branches of geography and to find out emerging areas of research in the light of the changes taking place in global as well as in Indian physical, economic, social and political space. Effort was made to be as comprehensiveas possible, but despite best efforts some areas could not be covered due to lack of response.
The various sections of the report have been authored by professional colleagues who were extremely kind to spare their valuable time in writing the essays in spite of paucity of timeand other nagging responsibilities. These contributions are given below:

The Report has been organized into nine broad themes apart from an introductory section
on Geographical Mosaic of India: The Lithosphere, Hydrosphere and the Atmosphere; Interpretation of Economic Phenomena; Interpretation of Demographic Phenomena;
Urbanisation; Regional Development and Planning; Historical Geography; Interpretation of
Social Phenomena; Interpretation of Political Phenomena and Methodological Issues. Reviews ofresearch may occasionally reflect individual viewpoints or likes and dislikes. These were
unavoidable. These aberrations however do not in any manner undermine the basic thrust ofgetting an overall impression about the progress that Indian Geography has made during the pastfour years.

ABSTRACT OF THE REPORT
This overview of research in Indian Geography covers the period between the 30th and 31st Congresses of the International Geographical Union. The Indian contribution to geography has been broadly reviewed by grouping it into the following clusters of research: The Lithosphere, Hydrosphere and Atmosphere; Interpretation of Economic Phenomena; Interpretation of Demographic Phenomena; Urbanization; Regional Development and Planning; Historical Geography; Interpretation of Socio cultural Phenomena; Interpretation of Political Phenomena and Methodological

Issues.
Each cluster has been further divided into sections depending upon the multiplicity of issues inherent. The classical division of the discipline between physical and human was not considered meaningful while presenting this overview. The reportbegins with an opening section on A Geographical Mosaic of Incredible India introducingthe natural and cultural heritage of India. The section is aimed at providing an overviewof the baffling geographical diversity that India represents both in its physical setting and in its cultural make up.
Most if not all, sections indicate gaps in research, recommendations and futureresearch agenda. All references to bibliography have been placed at the end, according tothe sections. Broadly, the following important areas of concern may be identified which appear to be significant from the overview of research in Indian Geography presented in detail in subsequent sections:

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