Integrated planning important for Himalayan region: Summit (With Picture)

Integrated planning and regional cooperation will be key to promoting and preserving the economy and ecology of mountain states, a high-level meet on Himalayan region concluded Thursday.

The findings on ways to promote mountain states came out of a two-day meet held here.

The "Meet of the Mountain States" event was attended by major stake-holders of the mountainous regions of India.

Member of Parliament from Sikkim P.D. Rai, in his address during the second day's proceedings, emphasised: "Going forward, it is important to join hands and energise every stake holder -- policy-makers, executive and NGOs -- to achieve the vision of making every Indian proud of our mountains."

The meet also focused on the tremendous bio-diversity of the Himalayan states and the importance of mountain-specific policies to conserve it.

Participants said they would like to collaborate with the Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) for filling in the knowledge, data gaps and for trans-boundary cooperation.

Major themes such as "Connect of Science - Policy - Practice" were also discussed regarding planning for the Himalayan region.

Arunachal Pradesh Agriculture Minister Chowna Mein spoke about the nascent stage of farming in the state and suggested measures to scale up the process in such states including planning framework, market linkages, green budgeting and state-farmer communications.

He also urged the government to have a separate planning process and a specific body for mountain states regarding agriculture.

The causes of growing incidence of natural disasters in the Himalayan region were also discussed including impact of climate change like impact on crops like apple in Himachal Pradesh and large cardamom in Sikkim and the measures taken by the respective governments.