HOW SAFE ARE OUR MOUNTAIN HABITATS? : WORKSHOP AT KALIMPONG

By Nisha Chettri (TNI Kalimpong) ~ Edited By Pradiptamay Saha (TNI Siliguri)

Webdesk, TNI Kalimpong, 18th August, 2015: A national workshop themed on ‘How safe are our mountain habitats?’ was held in Park hotel here on Monday which was attended by eminent personalities like P.D Rai-Member of the Parliament, Sikkim, and Trilok Dewan-MLA Darjeeling. The outputs of the workshop as discussed by the panel of experts who turned up from Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi and Shillong were briefed by Bishnu Chettri, the member of Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) in a press conference held in Kalimpong Krishak Kalyan Sangathan, today. ‘The main discussion was about the rehabilitation of the natural calamity victim’s which is now in a relief centric system’ said Chettri adding that the final decision of the cause will be discussed in another workshop which will be held in Arunachal Pradesh in October this year. The relief is not always equivalent to the loss of victim’s properties, believes the team who now want to focus more on prevention and risk reduction pathways. Other outputs drawn from the workshop are, the importance and the necessity of implanting ‘early warning system’ for advance preparedness in the mountains in case of any disasters; more research and work on earthquakes as Himalayan states are vulnerable to high-intensity tremors; detailed maps for landslides to make it available to decision makers in different government sectors so that planning in a disaster sensitive way is ensured etc. The workshop organized by Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) and hosted by the Darjeeling chapter. Darjeeling Mountain Initiative (DMI) witnessed people from Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura representing their own places on Monday. However, the proceedings of the meeting will feed into a DRR paper and will be finalized in the ‘Sustainable Mountain Development Summit’ which will be held in Arunachal (Itanagar) in October this year. Meanwhile Bishnu Chettri who is also the general secretary of Kalimpong Krishak Kalyan Sangathan (KKKS) gave weight on implementing ‘early warning system’ which was approved by the Indian government few days ago, appreciating the Indian Government’s take, Chettri under the banner of KKKS wrote a letter of appreciation to Harsh Vardhan-the Union Minister for Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Science. Believing the old saying ‘prevention is better than a cure’ Chettri apparently feels that the present weather pattern has been destroying the agricultural properties of the farmers which can be restrained if ‘early warning system’ is implanted, ‘I firmly believe that we will encounter relatively lesser destruction after the system is implanted’ said the general secretary of KKKS.

Photo: Nisha Chettri (TNI)