Uttarakhand has made an important contribution in the conservation of global environment with many of the State’s prominent personalities playing a vital role in environmental conservation.
Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay said this on the occasion of the World Environment Day on Friday.
Upadhyay said that noted environmentalists of Uttarakhand like Sunderlal Bahuguna, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Gaura Devi, Anil Prakash Joshi and others have played a leading role in environmental conservation efforts. He said, “The middle Himalayas have an important role in protecting India while the Ganga river originating in Uttarakhand sustains the lives of about 600 lakh people while also protecting the environment. Considering the importance of Uttarakhand in environmental conservation, people should come forward at the international level for conservation of the Himalayan region,” he added.
He exhorted all Himalayan States stressing on the need for a separate policy for development in the Himalayan region. If a separate policy is not made for the Himalayan region, the interests of the youth and women here will not be protected which in turn will prove detrimental to the protection of the Himalayas. The whole world will have to face the consequences of such degeneration, he said. The PCC chief stressed on the need for collective thought on environmental conservation and protection of the Himalayas from a fresh perspective.
He said that the accelerated change in global climatic conditions was also affecting the glaciers in the Himalayas. With about 67 per cent of its area under forest cover, Uttarakhand is the place of origin of the Ganga and many other rivers which play an important role in environmental conservation and need to be protected, he added.