Renowned environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt has said that conservation of Himalayas is necessary for conservation of the World. He was speaking in a programme ‘ Policy, Practice and People: Uttarakhand’s Pathway Towards Sustainable Development’ organised by the Centre for Public Policy, Doon University on Thursday. Elaborating on Uttarakhand’s problems in glaciers, earthquakes, rivers, floods, landslides, ropeways, and other environmental concerns since 50 years, he said that these concerns need collective efforts from all, irrespective of their age, occupation and economic strata. Bhatt said that the environmental degradation issues in the young middle Himalayas are affecting our state’s cultural, political, economic, lifestyle. Three important rivers originate from the Himalayas, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Sutlej which constitute about 33 per cent water basin in India.
Speaking on the occasion the Scientist- G and Registrar, Wildlife Institute of India Ruchi Badola informed that there is a four time increase in floods while droughts have increased by two times since 1970. “We cannot afford to lose the fight over our rivers for sustainability. We need to start looking at our Himalayan strength, rather than our weaknesses,’’ she said.
The Vice-Chancellor of Doon University, Surekha Dangwal said “We are the trustees of the future economy. One cannot hold land on this earth, but a continuous collective and individual contribution toward nature conservation is what we need to discuss.’’
The programme Coordinator and NTPC Chair Professor, A C Joshi said that Uttarakhand is highly susceptible to both natural and manmade disasters.
The dean student welfare, H C Purohit, said that the article 41 and 42 in the Indian Constitution speaks about the spiritual and nature bounty of our nation. He said that the University is striving hard to provide training to all the students for people’s welfare through environment sensitivity, and other related programmes.
The session was moderated by the founder, Social Development for Communication (SDC) Foundation, Anoop Nautiyal. He opined that ritual forms of communication and cultural practices from the students can help in mitigating disasters in the state.