| News Details |
| Sustainable Mountain Development Summit held in Leh, Ladakh | | 
Leh,September 24, (Scoop News)-The Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS) which began on September 20 at Sindhu Sanskriti Kendra, Leh came to a close on September 22, 2016. Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) has been organizing the SMDS annually for the last 5 years. This year, the fifth annual Summit is being held in Leh, Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir in association with Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council and Snow Leopard Conservancy. IMI is a civil society organisation of 11 Himalayan States including Darjeeling in West Bengal, two hill districts of Assam and Ladakh in J&K. Its vision is “Making people of India proud of our mountains”.
Deputy CM of Jammu & Kashmir, Dr. Nirmal Kumar Singh inaugurated the opening session and Jual Oram, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs was the Chief Guest at the valedictory session. The Summit was attended by Parliamentarians; Ministers and MLAs from various Mountain States, the Council Members of the Leh Hill Council, Central and State Government officials, policy makers from region, civil society participants and a host of delegates from bilateral and multilateral organizations like the UNDP, SDC, WWF, ICIMOD amongst others. Having a vision based in holistic and sustainable development, the effort would be to draw upon reliable praxis and scholarly inputs, meaningful experiences with the involvement of leaders so that the summit will add actionable value to mountain states in their development efforts.
Jual Oram, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs assured support of the Government of India to initiatives of the Integrated Mountain Initiative. Mr Oram also emphasized that the Government is committed to the development of the mountains and supports the local initiatives of craft, agriculture, eco-tourism and renewable energy amongst others of the Mountain States. He also urged all participants to take back learnings from the Summit to far flung mountain regions which are home to some of the most backward tribes of India, to help develop the region economically and socially.
CEC, LAHDC and also the patron of SMDS-V, Dr. Sonam Dawa Lonpo said that the successful conduct of IMI SMDS-V in Leh, Ladakh with active participation of speakers from all parts of country is a testimony to the commitment that all mountain states have to ensure sustainability. He expressed great hope that the knowledge gained from this summit will be taken back to all our homes, villages, town and cities to make a mark change in effective utilization of water and to work towards development of regional skill all together.
The Summit discussed the themes of Water Security and Skills for Development in the Mountains. Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Dr. Amita Prasad addressed the delegates of the Summit on various aspects on the Union Government’s policies and efforts in the area. Ms. Jyotsna Sitling, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship informed the participants about the continuous focus of the Government on skilling for employability and the relevant schemes and programs run by the government. Various issues on these themes in mountain areas and the Ladakh specifically were discussed by glaciologists, specialists, researchers and officials from across country including local speakers.
The themes were also discussed as a part of Legislators’ and Policy Makers’ Meet held as a parallel event as a part of the Summit. The Meet was chaired by Chairman LAHDC, Dr. Sonam Dawa Lonpo and Co-Chaired and Moderated by P.D.Rai, Member of Parliament- Lok Sabha, Sikkim. The legislators and bureaucrats agreed that Water should remain a State subject as the issue of water security is fragile and varies from State to State. Ladakh is a region of extreme water stress and the delegates expressed interest in conducting research on glaciers, groundwater levels in the area and running pilot projects on subjects like traditional practices of irrigation and water conservation techniques.
This summit provided a platform to mountain states to exchange ideas, share knowledge and learn from success and failures of tried and tested models. Such a platform also provides the voice of the Indian Himalayan region to be heard by the relevant government and non-governmental bodies. The 6th edition of the Summit was announced to be held in Aizawl, Mizoram in 2017.
... |
| |
|
|
Share this Story |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|