Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya said that not just India but the whole world should be concerned about the environment of the Himalaya. Speaking at a programme on Himalaya Day in Rishikesh, she said that presently, human activities were posing a threat to the existence and wealth of the Himalaya. To address this, developmental activities will have to be according to the environment and necessary standards will have to be adopted for this. Scientific measures will have to be undertaken in a balanced manner to generate employment for the youth and women in mountainous regions of the State. The use of plastic products including polythene will also have to be stopped in the Himalayan regions, she stressed.
State Finance Minister Prakash Pant said that if conservation measures are not executed effectively, the threats faced by the Himalaya will assume disastrous proportions. The Government has prepared a roadmap for its conservation. He averred that the Government is undertaking efforts at its level for conservation in the Himalaya, adding that the public will also have to play its role in this.
Himalayan Environmental Students and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) founder Anil Prakash Joshi said, “Science often makes us materialistic, but when we add spirituality, we become more realistic. We cannot talk about the Himalayas without talking about its communities. Through each other, we can build a movement that brings together the people of the Himalayas to demand for the rights and the protection of this crucial land. This was the vision that helped us to launch Himalaya Day.”
Parmarth Niketan president Chidanand Saraswati said, “If we are to save the Himalaya and our planet, saints, scientists, samaj and sarkar must come together to inspire great and lasting change.”