Uttarakhand’s Dharali Disaster still Looms in Public Memory.
Dehradun, Sept 25 – With the fragile Himalayan region reeling under water crises, flash floods, cloudbursts and the slow death of its traditional farming systems, a powerful call has been made to shift from revenue-driven growth to science-based, people-centric development.
This is the focus of the 12th Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS-XII) being hosted by the Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) at Doon University on September 26–27.
“Enough lives have been lost in the name of reckless development. The Himalayas can’t afford more.
The new trajectory must be built on science and people’s safety, not just revenue figures,” stressed Sh. Ramesh Negi (Ex, CS Arunachal Pradesh), President of IMI, ahead of the summit.
The two-day meet will see over 200 delegates, including scientists, policymakers, legislators from across Himalayan states, farmers, and civil society groups, brainstorm ways to make the region climate-resilient.
The Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal will inaugurate the summit on Sept 26, while Speaker Ritu Khanduri will chair the valedictory on Sept 27. Former CM and MP Trivendra Singh Rawat will join as a special guest.
Major themes on the table include:
Agroecological conservation and resilience
Food and nutrition security in a changing climate
Water security and water-triggered disasters
Climate change adaptation and financing resilience
Experiences of carbon credits in the Himalayan region
A Mountain Legislators’ Meet with lawmakers from Uttarakhand, Himachal, Arunachal, Nagaland and Sikkim will add political weight to the exercise, ensuring that the outcomes move beyond talk.
The policy recommendations drawn from the technical sessions will be forwarded to the 16th Finance Commission and NITI Aayog, pushing for resources to strengthen the Himalayan agroecological system.
Organised in partnership with MoEF&CC, Doon University, UCOST, GBPNHE, SDFU, ICIMOD and others, the summit builds on IMI’s decade-long effort to give voice to India’s 11 Himalayan states, 2 UTs, and hill districts of Assam and West Bengal.
As cloudbursts and floods batter the mountains year after year, the message from Dehradun is clear: development in the Himalayas can no longer be blind—it must be rooted in science, resilience, and above all, people’s safety.
#ScienceBasedDevelopment #HimalayanResilience #ClimateAction #PeopleFirst
