Creat new ministry to save Himalayas: panel

The task force on mountains tells the government that the ‘sectoral approach’ has not being of much use for developing mountain environment, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Jun 29, 2007, 10:44:46 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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There should be a new ministry for Himalayan states and research institute for climate change impact and mitigation to save the world’s best ‘bio-diversity hotspot’ from further degradation, a Task Force on mountains has recommended to the government.

The task force has told the government that the ‘sectoral approach’ has not being of much use for developing mountain environment. The Task Force is of the view that the multi-faceted requirements of Indian mountain ecosystems cannot be addressed sectorally but only through a holistic manner.

Instead, an integrated approach by creating a separate ministry of mountain development for states of Uttranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir with North-Eastern Region would be a logical step, said RS Tolia, chairperson of the Task Force.

The task force also said the concept of one ministry for Himalayan states should not appear unusual as similar approach has delivered intended results in 1960-1970s.

The task force had identified number of loopholes in the ecosystem development of the Himalayas. The floral and faunal surveys cover only higher species and lower groups are left out, thereby not having complete knowledge about Himalayan bio-diversity. Similarly, ecosystem functioning and valuation of ecosystem services have been paid little attention, the report said.

At the community level, the report said, there are few wise resource practices and new initiatives are lacking, while recommending better resource management mechanisms. Also, the region has witnessed a huge ecological degradation because of unplanned development.

The mountain ecosystems covers nearly 18 % of the country’s geographical area, which include 11 Indian states and two hill districts of West Bengal. The area is spread over four biogeographic zones, the Indian Trans-Himalaya, the Greater Himalaya, North-east India and parts of Upper Gangetic and entire Brahmaputra flood plains.

The report says the region plays an important role in shaping the regional climate, carbon sequestration and provides numerous ecosystem services to the mankind. Yet, the mountain people suffer from socio-economic marginality, inaccessibility and lack of livelihood opportunities, Tolia said.

To analyze possible impact of climate change on mountain ecosystem, the task force, wants government to establish meteorological stations and adequate infrastructure for integrated climatological research.

It has also suggested revamping of the Clean Development Mechanism across Indian Himalayan Region for earning carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol, enabling developing countries to sell credits to developed world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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