Urgently review Uttarakhand's environment policy: Karan Singh

Talking of the "extensive deforestation" in the Himalayas, Rajya Sabha member Karan Singh said Friday that a review of Uttarakhand's environment policy was immediately needed.

The former maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir also donated Rs.55 lakh for the rehabilitation of victims in the Himalayan state, ravaged by rain and landslides over the weekend of June 15.

"For decades, I have lent my voice to the anxiety felt by committed environmentalists regarding the extensive deforestation in the Himalayas, and also the building of massive dams on the Ganga and its tributaries," said Singh, who serves also as the president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

"I would urge that there should be an agonising reappraisal of our whole environmental policy in the Himalayas," he said.

"I am donating Rs.50 lakh from my MPLADS fund and Rs.5 lakh on behalf of the Dharmarth Trust, Jammu and Kashmir," he said.