Himalayas can be saved only by involving people: Rawat

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said the mission to save the Himalayas can achieve its objective only when people who depend on the mountains for their livelihood are involved in the exercise.
"When we talk about saving the Himalayas, by implication we also talk about saving ourselves. If we have to save the Himalayas, we will have to associate people who depend on the Himalayas for their livelihood with our endeavours. We have to awaken a collective consciousness for Himalayan conservation," Rawat said addressing a programme at the Doon University to mark Himalaya Day.
"We have to consciously conserve the environment. We have to involve people in general in the endeavour. We are the first state to give a bonus for tree plantation. Only government efforts are not enough," Rawat said.

Tree plantation has been connected with popular festival like Harela in a bid to involve more and more people in environment conservation efforts, he said.