Action plan soon for promotion of eco-tourism: RS Bali

An action plan will be prepared for the promotion of eco-tourism in the Himalayan region from the point of view of environment protection. For this, coordination will be established with environmentalists and geography experts so that the Himalayan region can be protected in a better way, said RS Bali, Chairman of the Tourism Corporation, while inaugurating a two-day national seminar at Government College, Dharamsala.

The Geography Department of the college in collaboration with the Geographical Society of Himachal Pradesh is organising the seminar, which has the theme of ‘Geography, Disaster Management and Sustainability in the Himalayas’. “Many glaciers are melting and lakes are being formed, which are at the risk of bursting and flooding downstream areas. Traditional sources have dried up, thus limiting water supply,” he said.

Bali emphasised the need to deal with these challenges. He said that researchers in geography would have to work with promptness and it was important to make the general public aware of environment protection. He added that Himachal Pradesh had been selected under the collaboration of the GIZ, a German development agency, for the implementation of the second phase of climate adaptation and finance projects in rural India. “The state government is moving towards providing leadership at the national level in the field of environment protection,” he added.