Himalayi Jan Goshnapatra: Himalayi Niti Ka Prarup – A report in Hindi by the Gandhi Peace Foundation

This document in Hindi prepared by the Gandhi Peace Foundation, is a blueprint of the Himalayan People's Manifesto. The manifesto has been brought out with the help of various documents prepared by various people and organisations at different times. It will be finalised by the next Himalayan Day on September 9, 2011.

This draft report on ‘Himalayan Declaration’ was released during Himalayan Day event, which was observed on September 9, 2010 organized at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi. This is the rough draft of the Himalayan Declaration known as ‘The Himalayan People’s Manifesto’ which demands the government to frame a policy to protect the region.

Some of the specific demands include –

• The numerous dams planned across the Himalayas are a cause of concern as they will destroy the ecology of the area and displace the local people in order to transfer water and energy to big cities and industries.
• The melting of glaciers which feed the Ganga, Yamuna, Indus and Satluj rivers is also a cause of concern. The rainfall and snowfall in the areas are showing a decline posing a threat to the groundwater storage in the area.
• The Himalayas should be freed from the threat of destruction of land, water and forests owing to hydel power development, commercial mining activities and other industries.
• The infrastructure development projects should take into consideration the regional landforms and ecology and use appropriate technologies suited to them such as construction of green roads using the principles of bio-engineering.

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