Shimla, October 30
Union Minister for Forests and Environment Jairam Ramesh today announced that the Centre would grant a ‘green bonus’ to Himalayan states preserving forest cover on the eco-sensitive region but rejected the demand for setting up a separate ministry for development of hill areas. However, he also called for taking harsh measures for sustainable development of the hills and underlined the need to have a re-look on the policy regarding hydropower development and construction of roads.
Presiding over the concluding session of the conclave of the Himalayan Chief Ministers here today, he said Himalayan regions had come into sharp focus globally in the context of climate change and it was being referred to as the third pole. The government was serious about preserving the environment of the region and he had personally taken up the matter with the Prime Minister for granting some sort of compensation to these states. The Planning Commission had also considered the matter and made a positive recommendation to the 13th Finance Commission.
The recommendations of the commission will be finalised over the next month or so and the Himalayan states would start getting a special dispensation from the next financial year. The quantum could be small to begin with but build up gradually. However, he said the states had to review the hydropower policy and decide up to what altitude projects would be constructed as melting glaciers was a matter of grave concern. Further, the impact on the environment of the entire basin due to vanishing of rivers had to be studied before taking up projects. Similarly, road construction also had a fallout on environment and the four-laning projects also needed a fresh look.
The minister said there was no dearth of policy documents and action plans and asked the states to follow the document ‘Governance for Sustainable Himalayan Ecosystem,’ prepared by the GB Pant Institute. The main problem was in implementation and in the past there had been gross violation of plans and policies as evident from the multi-storey concrete buildings built all over the place. The disregard to policies became apparent as one drove from Kalka to Shimla.
He said a research institute to study glaciers would be set up in Dehradun. At preset there was no reliable data and the reason for retreat was also not needed.
