Events of Nov2021 and STH activities

Raising awareness on extreme rainfall and environment thru social media
Nov2021 saw a number of storms develop in the Bay which resulted in extraordinary rains in Tamil Nadu

 

STH posts the above type of information in our What's App group 'Hazard Alerts' in a bid to raise awareness among readers and persons on social media about extreme rainfall and environment related issues👇

STH activity : Hosting the Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS X) in Darjeeling and Kalimpong as a part of DHI
The Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative (DHI) is the state chapter of West Bengal in IMI (Integrated Mountain Initiative) and STH is a part of DHI.
DHI hosted the 10th SMDS between 18-20Nov2021 and later on 11Dec2021 (International Mountain Day) in Darjeeling and Kalimpong and being a part of DHI, STH took active part in  the summit.

Please read further on IMI and SMDS X here

Rainfall in Nov2021
No rainfall in Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Kurseong. Heavy rain was reported near Sevoke and Kalijhora on 22Nov due to which there was a blockage of NH10.
Jaldhaka reported 14.9mm rain on 27Nov2021

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling Sikkim Himalaya

STH activities: IMI's Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS) IX and the Disaster Risk Reduction Session

The Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS) is one of the flagship programs of IMI and SMDS IX along with the Youth Summit kicked off from Uttarakhand on 08Dec and ended on 14Dec2020. The 6 day event went off smoothly without any major technical hiccups or internet outages because the whole program was held virtually due to the pandemic.
The Darjeeling HImalaya Initiative which is the W Bengal State chapter of IMI was responsible for organizing and conduct of Disaster Risk Reduction session on Day -2 of the summit and we had as our main speakers an amazing line up of resource persons:

The Facebook link of the event is here

Many thanks to the resource persons and speakers during our session.Thanks also to Roshan our incomparable compere and Shreya for helping out resolve the technical issues. Our thanks to the young and vibrant IMI people from the Secretariat and of course our gratitude to the audience.

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling - Kalimpong Himalaya

An event of Note : Call of the Mountains (on 30May2020 at 3.00pm IST)

The Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative (DHI) which is the W Bengal state chapter of Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) observes 30May each year as 'Call of the Mountains' day where we hold a day's event on an environmental issue of import for us living in the mountains.
This year we have invited Prof Dave Petley of Sheffield University, one of the foremost authorities on Landslide Hazards for a discourse on 'Landslide Risk in the Himalayas' 

Details
Date/time : 30May2020/ 3.00pm - 4.30pm IST
Platform : ZOOM
Link : https://bit.ly/36yBBJM

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The ZOOM workshop conducted beteen 3.00pm and 4.20pm went off wonderfully well with approx 74 people attending. Link is placed below:



Praful Rao,
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

STH Activities as a part of the Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative : International Mountain Day (11Dec2019) Celebration at Kalimpong

11Dec is International Mountain Day and DHI decided to celebrate the event with a 3 day training of peers session in Kalimpong to combat another scourge of the mountains which is solid waste. As tourists throng to the mountains, they leave behind mountains of garbage and if we are to have a healthy lifestyle where we live we must deal with the waste problem in the mountains without delay.
As mentioned 46 young men and women are currently undergoing intensive training in waste management at a hotel in Kalimpong.
Placed below is an image of the waste dumps of Darjeeling and Kalimpong towns which are still burning as I write this article.

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalaya

SaveTheHills activity 11Dec2018: Celebrating International Mountain Day at Town Hall, Kalimpong

International Mountain Day is an annual event of Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative (state chapter of IMI)
STH is an active member of DHI


Praful Rao,
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

SaveTheHills (STH) activities in Jun2018.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong district,
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

STH activities in May 2018 (Call of the Mountains -a DHI event in Darjeeling) -11May2018

Press coverage of the Seminar is here
Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative (DHI) is the West Bengal state chapter of IMI and 'Call of the Mountains' is an annual event of DHI.
SaveTheHills is a part of DHI along with several other NGOs of Darjeeling and Gangtok

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district,
Darjeeling -Sikkim Himalaya

STH Activities : At Gangtok for the IRADe Workshop (06Feb2018) and the DHI meet in Darjeeling (09Feb2018)

Excerpt of Press Release
Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe) in collaboration with G B Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development (GBPNIHESD) and North-Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), with support from Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEFCC) under National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) has taken up a project to develop disaster resilience action plans for Gangtok city. To achieve the desired outcome of vulnerability assessments of the city, along with the development of disaster resilience plans and capacity building on disaster resilience, a “Multi-stakeholder consultation workshop” was organized on 06th February, 2018 at Summit Denzong, Renaissance Hotel, Gangtok.
This one-day event was attended by officials from various national as well as international organizations associated with disaster resilience such as Geological Survey of India (GSI)-Sikkim Unit; Land Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Government of Sikkim; State Remote Sensing Applications Centre, Sikkim State Climate Change Cell; Urban Development and Housing Department, Government of Sikkim; Water Security & Public Health Department, Government of Sikkim; Transport Department, Government of Sikkim; Gangtok Municipal Corporation; Department of Geography, Sikkim University; Department of Geology, Sikkim University; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Central Water Commission (CWC); Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and local NGOs such as SaveTheHills and Helping Hands.
Shri Alok Kumar Srivasatav, Chief Secretary, Government of Sikkim was the Chief Guest of the event. In his address, Shri Srivasatav expressed the need to shift from previous response oriented approach to disaster management to mitigation focussed efforts. He was glad to know that this was the first stakeholders’ workshop related to disaster management of Gangtok taking place in the city. He emphasized the need to adopt new technologies such as remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) for developing disaster resilience policies. He assured full co-operation from the state Government for the project.
Dr Ajit Tyagi, Former Director General of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and presently Senior Advisor, IRADe in his welcome address emphasized the need to shift from reactive approach to disaster management to proactive one. He praised the efforts of Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) in this direction. He stressed that engagement of civil society, Govt. officials and other stakeholders is necessary right from the very beginning so that the outcomes of the project are successfully implemented. The present workshop is an effort in this direction.
Dr Jyoti Parikh, Executive Director (ED), IRADe, highlighted the contributions by IRADe over the years in the Indian Himalayan cities. She presented the various reports published by IRADe documenting the rapid vulnerability assessment done for various Indian cities.
Shri Shakti Singh Choudhary, Mayor of Gangtok city, in his opening remarks, thanked IRADe, GBPNIHESD and NESAC for organizing the event. He added that the city has learned a lot since the 2011 earthquake and now there are more efforts being taken by various organizations for developing disaster resilience in the city. He welcomed the project and asserted that the organizations involved should also support in developing other city level plans for overall development of the city.
You can read about IRADe here

You can read about IMI here

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

Event's of Note : International Mountain Day (11Dec2017) events at Darjeeling and Dehradun.

2017's theme for International Mountain Day on 11Dec2017 could not be more apt for the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). It is :-

Mountains under pressure : Climate, Hunger and Migration

Having worked on DRR issues of this region for the past 10yrs I am acutely aware just how much stress is building up in these mountains - rainfall patterns have become oscillations between excessive rain during a few months to almost drought like conditions for the remaining parts of the year; this and huge human interference in the mountains must  surely be at least partly responsible for the immense shortage of water all along the IHR. Consequently,  agriculture is no longer a profitable vocation in the mountains which in turn impacts food production to the extent that many parts of the IHR are today totally dependent on food supply from the plains. This sets into motion the humongous migration of especially the young from rural areas to the urban landscape and from our urban centers to the metropolis and abroad in search of better futures.

As such I am extremely glad to be part of the organization team which is holding a one day talk session at my old college ie St Joseph's College North Point, Darjeeling to exchange views on this most urgent topic.

On 11Dec again, the Sustainable Development Forum of Uttaranchal (SDFU) and the GBPNIHESD are organizing the annual 'Dr RS Tolia Memorial Lecture' on the first anniversary of Dr Tolia's death. This will be held at the Regional Science Centre in Dehradun with Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Padma Bhushan delivering the keynote address
Dr RS Tolia, was of course a visionary and a mountain of a man who was one of the founding fathers of the IMI.
I was fortunate to have known him, being a part of IMI.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong District,
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

Nominations open for the IMI's Dr RS Tolia Award 2017 for 'Outstanding work in the Mountains'

DR R.S. TOLIA AWARD 2017

Call for Nominations
The Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) community suffered a great loss in 2016 with the passing away of its esteemed and visionary leader, elder, and guiding light- Dr RS Tolia. Dr RS Tolia conceptualized the idea of IMI, got the like-minded people on board and led it from the front as its founding President. His passion and commitment towards improving the lives of mountain communities is what drove him. There are few people who have had such a profound impact on the future direction of mountain development as Dr Tolia. His vision and commitment for the formation of a pan-Indian mountain movement not only unified diverse mountain states of India but also inspired others. His deep understanding of the links among people, cultures, livelihoods and mountain environment undoubtedly influenced a generation of researchers, organizations and policymakers.
While his passionate determination will continue to inspire people, IMI community aims to encourage passionate individuals to carry forward the cause of integrated mountain development to commemorate the memory of Dr. Tolia and in gratitude to its founding President. Therefore, in the 10th General council (GC) Meeting held on 10th February, 2017 at Delhi, the GC of IMI resolved to institute ‘Dr RS Tolia Award’ to recognize individual efforts that have made impact in integrating and addressing the issues of mountain communities.
Purpose & Rationale
The purpose of the award is to recognize and reward the exemplary work of individuals whose work has created an impact / has the potential to impact sustainable prosperity and well-being of the people of the Mountain states in India. In exceptional cases organizations can will also be considered. However, the preference will be to reward individuals.
Eligibility Criteria & Profile of the Suitable Candidate
1. Individuals whose work has created an impact or has the potential to impact the lives and sustainability of Mountain areas positively are eligible to apply for the Award
2. In rare cases, we may recognize institutions where such institutions are systematically responsible for driving action that meets the purpose of this award.
3. The award will not be restricted to any particular sectors or fields of action.
4. Innovation at grass root levels with widespread application/ impact as well as policy advocacy aimed at addressing issues and challenges of mountain states in India, are eligible for consideration for award
5. Academic research that informs policy formulation and action research with similar impact is also eligible.
6. The award is aimed at celebrating the contribution of mountain people working to improve the lives of mountain people and sustainable prosperity of IMI member states, but eligibility for nomination for the award is not restricted to people from mountains only. If some individuals’ / organizations’ work has made a huge positive difference to people of the member states of IMI, they will be recognized irrespective of where they come from
Value of the Award
The value of the Award is Rs. 1 lakh cash, citation and a medallion. In addition, IMI will cover all related expenses such as travel expenses of final nominees and the award winner as appropriate.
Deadline
Nominations for the award are now open and will be accepted till 30 June 2017 (midnight). Interested individuals/organisations must download the nomination form and send in their application along with a recent CV by this date to pd.imi@inmi.in. Late applications will not be considered.
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Read more here

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong district,
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya,
9475033744

STH Activities: Attending two excellent seminars in Delhi (9/10/11Feb2017)

Event 1 : Mountain and the City at India International Center (Delhi, 09/10Feb2017)

You can read more about the seminar here
Event 2 : IMI's 'Meet of the Mountain States (MoMS IV) at WWF (Delhi, 10/11Feb2017)

 Brief writeup on Event 2

Fourth Edition of Meet of the Mountain States held in New Delhi

10 February 2017, New Delhi : The fifth edition of the Meet of the Mountain States organized by the Integrated Mountain Initiative was held today at WWF India Secretariat in New Delhi. The Meet deliberated on subjects of water security, skill development and disaster risk reduction in the mountains. The Meet was inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju. Members of Parliament, Dr. Thokchom Meinya (Manipur), Shri Vincent Pala (Meghalaya), Shri Jitendra Chaudhury (Tripura), Shri. P.D. Rai (Sikkim) and former Member of Parliament Shri Tarun Vijay were also in attendance.

The Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) is a civil society organisation formed in 2011, aimed at redefining the architecture of sustainable development across the 12 mountain states in the Indian Himalayan Region, comprising  10 states of Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir  and the hill districts of West Bengal and Assam. It is a collective initiative for recognizing the value of mountain regions and enabling people to realise its potential by integrating the knowledge and experiences of multiple stakeholders. IMI operationalizes this platform through its annual Sustainable Development Summits (SMDS) and Meet of Mountain States (MoMS) by engaging different stakeholders to come together and engage in informed debates on themes relevant to the mountain regions.

Shri Rijiju released the proceedings of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit V held in September 2016 in Leh.

Shri Rijiju stressed on the need to work in convergence to ensure sustainable development in the mountain regions of India. He also highlighted the dilemmas of livelihoods in the development context and environmental consequences of development facing the mountain cities which has led to severe damage in valleys of Kullu and Manali and hill cities of Mussoorie, Nainital amongst others.

As a part of the Meet, a legislators’ dialogue was also held. All Members of Parliament insisted on the need to focus on research in mountain subjects such as glaciology, hydrology, renewable energy, human-wildlife conflict and biodiversity.

Shri P.D. Rai also shared the path followed by Sikkim towards sustainable development. He also mentioned that the state is moving to build a legislation to mainstream the subject in all departments and amongst the citizens.

The Meet was convened by Shri Alemtemshi Jamir, President of IMI and former Chief Secretary of Nagaland. Several eminent leaders of the development sector from organisations such as FAO (UN), NECTAR, UNDP, NSDC, ICIMOD, SDC, WWF and senior officials from ministries and government departments were in attendance. There was rich sharing of ideas by the officials and the development agencies with respect to building collaborative action plan for mountain. They emphasized the need for stronger mountain partnerships and integration of sustainable development goals into mountain development. Skill development emerged as one of the areas where a lot can be done.

Dr Divya Nambiar from Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship spoke about theneed to prepare a ‘Sustainable Skill Development Plan for Mountain States’. It was pointed out that skill building needs to factor in the socio-cultural and geographical features of mountains and focus on self-employment and entrepreneurship. Therefore a Sustainable Skill Development Plan for Mountain States will come up with innovative new ideas to scale up skill training initiatives in the region in a manner that is responsive to local requirements and at the same time sustainable, over time. Importantly, it must also align with theaspirations of young citizens in the region.

Mr Shyam Khadka, Country Representative, FAO pointed out that Information on the mountain systems is very limited and hence establishingMountain Partnership could help generate this knowledge base which is limited tothe mountain communities at the moment. He also highlighted the need to fill knowledge gaps and community based solutions to problems in the mountain states, and that IMI must work on this aspect.

Mr Ravi Singh, CEO, WWF India also emphasized that to find solutions to the problems, communities must be integrated within the systems aimed at finding solutions and that their voices must be integrated into policymaking processes.  

Dr Sanjiv Nair, NECTAR, pointed out that Disaster risk reduction measures need to be community based and managed with micro insurance at community level

Mr Brij Mohan Rathore, Country Focal Person, ICIMOD spoke about creation of value chains for sustainable employment opportunities and entrepreneurship through network of entrepreneursin mountain states and trans boundary landscape programmes.

The need to focus on sustainable mountain cities and climate change was also a recurrent theme. IMI announced that the next Sustainable Mountain Development Summit which will be held in Sep, 2017 in Aizawl, Mizoram will take up these issues for further deliberation.

Members’ Conclave

First IMI Members’ Conclave was held on 11 February following the Meet of the Mountain States.

Members’ Conclave was a powerful congregation of individuals and institutions who are members of the State Forums or Chapters. It included deliberations of issues raised by members from different states, presentations by the state chapters where they highlighted the status of and the activities being carried out by the chapters.  IMI’s ongoing projects were discussed with all the members and strategy for the coming years was also discussed.

Sustainable Mountain Development Summit VI to be held in Aizawl, Mizoram was discussed with all the members. Dr. Lalbiak Ngente presented the concept of SMDS VI on behalf of Mizoram Sustainable Development Forum. All members made suggestions and committed to the organisation of the Summit. 

Visit IMI website here

Praful Rao,

Kalimpong,

Kalimpong District

PS: Kalimpong has become a district w.e.f 14Feb2017

 

STH Activities - Dec2015 and Jan2016

Prof Subrat Kar of IIT Delhi who is a part of the Ulster University team visiting Kalimpong in early Mar2016 was with us for 3 days to reccee landslide areas of Darjeeling district in advance and to report back to the team. We showed him most of the landslide areas around Kalimpong town and also Balasun landslides in Kurseong.

I attended the Meeting of the Mountain states (MoMs) in New Delhi on 11Dec2015, representing the Darjeeling Mountain Initiative which is a part of the IMI. Placed below is the press release from the MoMs meet :-

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 VishwaYuvak Kendra, Chanakyapuri. The Meet followed up on the successful conclusion of the 4th Sustainable Mountain Development Summit 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 which 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, interrupting school education and livelihoods.

To follow up the recommendations made during the Summit, the Meet of the Mountain States was held in the format of a workshop which discussed the implementation of these resolutions, by identifying the implementing bodies, liaison mechanism, resources required, and timelines. The Meet was attended by Lt Gen Marwah and Dr Kamal Kishore, Members of the NDMA, as well as representatives from the NDRF, 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 SaveTheHills, Kalimpong participated.

The Chief Guest, Mr KirenRijiu, Hon’ble Minister of State for Home Affairs, recently declared the Champion of DRR for the Asia-Pacific region by the United Nations, gave rousing address espousing his concern about disasters and offering his full support for mitigation and preparedness measures. 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.

Prof Sarah Besky, an anthropologist and author from Brown University and her husband Al (also an anthropologist) were in Kalimpong for a day to learn more about STH activities and also to do field work on landslides.
Spent much of the day discussing impact of landslides in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya and also went out for field work on the western and easterns faces of the Kalimpong ridge.

3 Gap students from Colby College (USA) were with us for 3 days on environmental /landslide hazard studies. While they were here the horrible fatal landslide occurred at Rangpo. We were able to see first hand the impact on the unfortunate victims and the community at large.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling