Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], March 21 (ANI): A three-day climate meeting to address climate change in the Himalayan region started in Shimla on March 20.
Learning from the floods and disasters in the state, over 200 stakeholders, including environmentalists, scientists, experts, students, officials and panchayat representatives from four states and Union Territories, have gathered to discuss climate change action for sustainable development in the mountains.
The stakeholders are making a roadmap for sustainable development in the Himalayan region. The experts from Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh are participating to develop strategies, reviewing and plan to study the impact of climate change and they are looking forward to making a future action plan.
"This climate change meeting is important for hill regions here, as we have done two in the past on a geographic basis. We have experts from every walk of life and representatives from all parts of the country," said Tanveer Kazi, organizer.
"It is the third meeting. We are trying to find out the causes of the disaster and what action plan can be made," he added.
Environmentalist and former deputy mayor of Shimla, Tikender Singh Panwar, said, "This is a small step and its exclusive agenda is: What is the impact of climate change in the Himalayan region and what needs to be done?"
"We shall have to re-coordinate the developmental goals, the recent floods of last year have warned us again. Now it is a question of survival: do we need a survival council and what is going to be the governing format," he said.
Arunava Dasgupta, Professor, Department of Urban Design, School of Planning and Architecture (New Delhi), said that people are learning from the changing climate.
"This is a timely development and the exchange of ideas from various societies is important. People are learning from the changing climate, flooding and disasters as these incidents are increasing. With the melting of snow and the impacts of climate change and its consequences, there should be a roadmap," he said.
Parul Sharma, a student, said that sustainable development is the need of the time.
"I think this climate change meeting is very important, not only to the students but to all the citizens of Shimla. We need to study the impact and causes we are creating on the environment. We have seen floods and devastating impacts in the past year. Sustainable development is the need of the time and we shall have to work on it," Sharma said. (ANI)
