Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Don't disturb flow of Himalayan rivers: Bahuguna

G
UWAHATI: At a time when questions are being raised on whether India and China will speak in one voice at the Copenhagen Climate summit in
December, Gandhian and Chipko movement leader Sunderlal Bahuguna feels countries sharing water resources of the Himalayas should rise above their differences in saving the mountain chain and not disturb the flow of rivers originating from it.

Speaking at the launch of "Save Himalaya, Save Water, Save Life" campaign in the North-East here on Monday, Bahuguna said water crisis in the countries that largely depend on the Himalayas was his worst fear.

"Saving the Himalayas should be the focal point of discussion. And all the Himalayan countries should come together to save the mountain chain. In December, we are likely to visit Pakistan and later China. There has to be an international agenda on the matter," said convener of the campaign Kishore Upadhyay.

Activists will proceed to Shillong on Tuesday where they will interact with NGOs, social organizations and stakeholders on problems related to water and ecology. Then, they will go to Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Gangtok. Mizoram will be visited in the next leg.

The campaign will be carried out in three phases. The first phase, which kicked off in Jammu and Kashmir on September 30, will cover all the Himalayan states in the country up to Arunachal Pradesh, added Upadhyay. He said the second one will cover water-consuming states from Punjab to West Bengal. In the last leg, Himalayan countries will be visited.

"Consumerist culture is destroying nature which has become a commodity. Hills, rivers and trees are in danger. The Himalayas have to be saved from the rising temperature. Let us not disturb the flow of rivers," said Bahuguna.

The main objective of this campaign under the leadership of Padma Vibhushan Sunderlal Bahuguna was to sensitize people on the imminent threats and advocate ecologically sustainable plans for the Himalayan region, added Upadhyay.

The Chipko Movement launched by Bahuguna in the 1970s greatly helped save trees from being mowed down for development activities. The Gandhian helped in popularizing the movement in the 5,000-km trans-Himalayan march from 1981 to 1982. He remains the main force behind the anti-Tehri dam movement through his peaceful methods of protests.