Skip to main content

Annual 'Meet of the Mountain' States 2015 held

              
   PRESS RELEASE

The Integrated Mountain Initiative held its annual Meet of the Mountain States in New Delhi on 11 December 2015 celebrating International Mountain Day, at the Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, Chanakyapuri.  The meeting followed up on the successful conclusion of the 4th Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS IV)  held in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh in October 2015.  

The central theme of the Summit was Disaster Risk Reduction, which is particularly crucial for the mountains that face increasingly frequent large- and small-scale disasters such as earthquakes, flash floods, and landslides.  Natural disasters result in loss of lives and set back the economy of the region by destroying assets and interrupting school education and livelihoods. 

To follow up on the recommendations made during the Summit, the Meet of the Mountain States was held in the format of a workshop that discussed the implementation of these resolutions, by identifying the implementing bodies, liaison mechanism, resources required, and timelines.  

The meeting was attended by Lt Gen Marwah and Dr. Kamal Kishore, Members of the National Disaster Management Authority, as well as representatives from the National Disaster Response Force, the State, and Disaster Management Authorities from Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh.  Grassroots organizations working on disasters on the ground, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute, Delhi and Save the Hills, Kalimpong participated.

The Chief Guest, Mr. Kiren Rijiju, Hon’ble Minister of State for Home Affairs, recently declared the Champion of DRR for the Asia-Pacific region by the United Nations, gave a rousing address espousing his concern about disasters and offered his full support for mitigation and preparedness measures.  He also released the summit report from SMDS IV.

Mr. PD Rai Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Sikkim updated the gathering about his participation at the UNFCC COP 21 in Paris, particularly the keen interest in supporting measures for disaster risk reduction in mountain states shown by Margareta Walhstrom, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN for Disaster Risk Reduction.

IMI is a collective initiative of a wide range of stakeholders from across the Indian mountain states, who gather together to deliberate and advocate mountain-centric development policy. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Those early man tools found in Sikkim!

--> Display of Neolithic tools recovered from Sajyong, 2003 (Weekend Review) BY SHITAL PRADHAN Not only is the Himalayan land of Sikkim old but it is also considered ancient. The archeological findings of different Neolithic tools in this part of the Himalayas over the last three decades speak of its antiquity. It may be of little importance to many. However, findings of various Neolithic tools from the remote pockets in Sikkim over the past five decades have still collected vivid interest in people beyond this region. On three separate occasions, Neolithic tools had been dug out from Sikkim, and that unfolded the age of this Himalayan mountain land much against the period we were supposed to. “The term Neolithic Period, or New Stone Age, defines the second period, at the beginning of which ground and usually polished rock tools, notably axes, came into widespread use after the adoption of a new technique of stone working. The beginning of the Neolithic...

History on Easter Sunday and Padari Ganga Prasad Pradhan

By Seira Tamang As noted by various scholars, Hinduism, the Nepali language, the monarchy and a rastriya itihas (a chronicle of progress in which the dark era of Rana rule is contrasted with the enlightened, progressive and modern period of Panchayat rule) formed the core of the Panchayat regime’s national culture. The formation and consolidation of this national culture have required the expunging of uncomfortable facts and stories that might raise ambiguities and questions. While the selection of what and who is and is not acknowledged to exist (or at least exist in historically important ways) in official Nepali history is complex, social scientists have begun to provide more comprehensive historical accounts of the past through oral histories and re-readings of historical documents. Such accounts reveal how ordinary people lived in the past, and offer ways to think through how ‘history’ is crafted, shaped and managed in order to reflect ‘the reality’ best suited to the status quo, ...

Shapi of Sikkim: Our legacy -iii

A Sikkimese with a Shapi The two previous articles I wrote in my earlier edition on Shapi were wonderful to read for people around, and appreciation had been received from different corners of the state. I am thankful and find pleasure in people finding joy in my findings and research work. It was a bit surprising that very few had heard about Shapi, our rare legacy.  Nevertheless, I am happy to be part of history for re-introducing Shapi to those sections of my readers who had never heard about this old and sacred mountain mammal, a native of Sikkim. I dedicate my writing on Shapi to Ongden Daju (RO), who has been very supportive of me ever since I first published its first part a few months back. It was he who wanted me to continue with the third part of Shapi since more findings were evolving after my two writings. I shall always remain grateful to JR Subba, Jt Director from the Forest Department, for providing me with a valuable census report of Shapi done by the Department...