Friday, 18 November 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
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 related to glaciers, earthquakes, rivers, floods, landslides, ropeways and other environmental concerns for about 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 Uttarakhand’s cultural, political and economic aspects along with the lifestyle. Three important rivers originate from the Himalayas- Ganga, Brahmaputra and Sutlej which constitute about 33 per cent water basin in India.
Speaking on the occasion the scientist from the Wildlife Institute of India, Ruchi Badola informed that there is a four-fold increase in floods while droughts have increased by two-fold 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 AC Joshi said that Uttarakhand is highly susceptible to both natural and manmade disasters.
The dean of student welfare, H C Purohit, said that the articles 41 and 42 in the Indian Constitution speak 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 of Social Development for Communities (SDC) foundation, Anoop Nautiyal. He opined that forms of communication and cultural practices from the students can help in mitigating disasters in the State.
