India wants joint effort to save Himalayas

India had sought urgent attention of all countries sharing Himalayan ecology to initiate collective and appropriate actions to sustain its ecosystem.

India had sought urgent attention of all countries sharing Himalayan ecology to initiate collective and appropriate actions to sustain its ecosystem.

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Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan made the appeal while saying that the Himalayan ecosystem was highly vulnerable both due to geological reasons and on account of the stress imposed by increased pressure of population, exploitation of natural resources and other related challenges.

"This would not only affect the very sustenance of communities in uplands but also the wellbeing of downstream dwellers across the region and beyond," the minister said at conference jointly organised by the environment ministry and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Natarajan said India was committed to promote trans-boundary cooperation with countries which share Himalayan ecology towards building a strong information sharing mechanism to address the challenges of climate change.