SP Sharma
Another World Environment Day has come and gone, but the Himalayan States in praticular seem to have forgotten the declaration that their Chief Ministers adopted six years ago for taking steps to tackle with the serious threat posed by climate change.
The declaration on sustainable Himalayan development was adopted in a conclave of Chief Ministers of Himalayan states at Shimla on October 30, 2009 wherein they decided to meet every year to take stock of the situation. However, 2009 was the beginning and end of the conclave as no concrete steps seem to have been taken thereafter.
The declaration seems to have remained only on paper as not even a single follow-up high level meeting is reported to have been held. Non-seriousness of the Himalayan states on the issue was visible right from the beginning when chief ministers of only two of the five states participated in the vital conclave. The CM of the host Himachal Pradesh and that of Uttrakhand participated in the meeting, while the forest and environment minister of J&K and officers of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh attended the meeting. The then union minister for environment and forests also participated in the meeting.
Much water has flown after the conclave and J&K and Uttrakhand in particular have witnessed disaster resulting in huge loss of lives and property due to natural calamities triggered because of further degradation of ecology and environment.
Over the years, the issue of environment and ecology has become a hot topic of discussion but hardly anything was being done on the ground in the states where much damage has been caused to the green cover and water resources.
The conclave took serious note of the shrinking glaciers and climate change that was affecting livelihood of people in the Himalayan states and also deliberated on various other burning issues pertaining to the impact that the climate change has made on livelihood of people of these states.
The Conclave reaffirmed its commitment to adhere to the basic principles enshrined in the National Action Plan for Climate Change 2008 and deliberated on finalization of the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem.
The Conclave recognized the seriousness of the threat posed by climate change to the country in general and to the Himalayan States in particular, being primarily agrarian economies and the repository of rich biological diversity.
The Conclave had also recognized that the Himalayas shape the climate, hydrology and soil fertility of much of South Asia and therefore preserving the ecological and environmental sanctity of the mountains is not only of paramount importance to mountain inhabitants but also for the region as a whole.
However, contrary to these observations none of the participant state seems to have taken serious steps in this direction.
Despite these danger signals emanating from time to time, degradation of eco-system was continuing in these states and the issue has been given political colour particularly in J&K where least interest was being taken in checking the menace and preserving the forest cover and water bodies. While the world famous Dal Lake and other water bodies in Kashmir were dying slow death due to encroachments, certain elements allegedly with motives best known to them were putting the blame only on the Amarnath pilgrimage. Most flood channels in and around Srinagar have been encroached upon resulting in the floods last year. Green hills have been denuded due to quarrying.
Similarly, planned rehabilitation of the areas that were washed away due to the devastating floods in Uttrakhand in 2013 was not being undertaken.
Himachal Pradesh has done a bit towards preservation of ecology by banning diesel driven vehicles towards Rohtang Pass and the state high Court has also passed directions for checking unbridled increase of vehicular traffic in Shimla.
Several major decisions were taken in the conclave towards preservation of the eco-system and one of these included establishment of a Himalayan Development Forum with a view to foster cooperation on sustainable development. The Chief Ministers agreed to meet annually so that this agenda could be furthered and actions implemented. They also suggested that the dialogue will continue at different levels and agreed that their officials will convene a bi-annual, preferably at the Chief Secretary level to discuss the status of implementation of the actions proposed. They agreed that the Forum would be hosted by partner states on a rotational basis and the G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development, Uttarakhand will provide the technical secretariat for this forum.
It was also decided that state level councils on climate change will be set up with representatives of different segments of the society including, civil society, industry, farmers and academia.
These Councils were to be assigned the role of playing catalyst in tracking research being conducted by different departments and institutions. The Council were supposed to work as an information and knowledge pool to foster exchange of data related to climate change, good practices and policy initiatives across the Himalayan states.
The Conclave had agreed to pursue the common agenda to protect, conserve and enhance forests and other natural resources of the state. It was decided that they shall work to ensure that financial incentives were provided for natural resources, which capture the cost of ecosystem services, carbon sequestration as well as land and livelihood opportunities. They prioritised the need for the 13th Finance Commission to enunciate the principle of payment to Himalayan states for the protection, preservation and enhancement of forests and other natural resources and desired that the Commission should provide adequate and ample resources for sustainable development.
Expressing concern over the impact of climate change on glaciers, the Conclave noted that the Himalayas are the nation’s watershed. They noted that hydroelectric power provides renewable sources of power. But equally this energy development is faced with new challenges, and noted the importance of maintaining ecological flows in rivers. They also voiced concern about the impact of climate change on glaciers, which could lead to changes in hydrology of the critical and life-giving rivers of the States and the need for evolving methods for comprehensive impacts of projects at a basin-level. They agreed to set up a joint working group to look into these urgent issues and to recommend actions.
The conclave also discussed in depth the challenges of urbanisation, green transportation, decentralised energy security, managing growth of eco-friendly tourism and pilgrimage, green industry and jobs therein.
It observed that in the mountain regions major anthropogenic factors leading to climate change are industrialization, road construction and transport, urban waste, unscientific mining, deforestation, forest fires, mass tourism and changing land use patterns. It stressed that the traditionally mountain people were custodians of biodiversity, therefore, it was recommended that proper socio-cultural and religious linkages may be forged with bio-diversity conservation and utilization.
Will these states pledge on this World Environment Day to work on the important agenda set by them during the vital conclave that they have virtually forgotten?
(The writer is a senior journalist and has worked in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana)
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