The weather of Dec 2021 and the closing ceremony of SMDS X (Kalimpong chapter)

December began with a low pressure area in the Andaman sea which ultimately intensified into Cyclone 'JAWAD' - which curved towards Bangladesh and gave some rain over Kolkata on Sun05 Dec2021

Western disturbances were very active towards the latter part of Dec 2021 and affected our region a lot.

 

Hail storms in this region were reported at

1. Rishyap (Kalimpong district) - 22Dec
2. Shillong - 22Dec

Intermittent rain/drizzle was reported at

1. Kurseong
24/25/26Dec (21.6mm reported on 26Dec)
27Dec (2.2mm)                                            
29Dec (1mm)
3. Jaldhaka
25Dec (9mm)
4. Darjeeling
25Dec
29Dec (13.2mm)
5. Kalimpong
29Dec (5.3mm)
6. Jaldhaka
24Dec (9mm)
29Dec (2.6mm)
7. Gangtok (East Skm)
24Dec
28Dec (12.2mm)
29Dec (14.6mm)
8. Damthang (South Skm)
24Dec (3.2mm)
28Dec (13.4mm)
9. Dentam (West Skm)
25Dec (1mm)
28Dec (6.5mm)
29Dec (7.5mm)
10. Mangan (North Skm)
27Dec (4.2mm)
28Dec (19.2mm)
29Dec (19.2mm)

Snowfall reported at

1. Jalpahar (Darjeeling)
25Dec
2. Ghoom (Darjeeling)
29Dec
3. Dhotrey (Darjeeling)                

Drawing the curtains down on SMDS X at Kalimpong on 11 Dec2021 (International Mountain Day)

 

Ending 2021 with a piece of Good News

Praful Rao
SaveTheHills
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling Sikkim Himalaya

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 in the Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative (DHI) : Earth Day (22Apr2021) Workshop on 'Women and Disasters'

The Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS) is an annual event of the Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) which is a pan Himalayan body comprising of Civil Society organizations and individuals from across the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). The SMDS is also a flagship program of the IMI and is held in different states of the IHR each year.

The summit in 2021 will be held in the Darjeeling/ Kalimpong districts of W Bengal and Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative (DHI) will be hosting the event. SaveTheHills, is a part of DHI.
On 25Feb2021, IMI President, Mr PD Rai was with us in a brief ceremony (followed by a press release and lunch) held at Aapas Residency, Kalimpong where he formally handed over the SMDS Baton from Uttarakhand (2020 host of the event) to Darjeeling/Kalimpong. I accepted the baton as President of the Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative (DHI), which is the state chapter for West Bengal.

DHI, as a run up to the final program (SMDS -X) will be hosting a few smaller programs in the course of the year and the first such one we hosted was on Earth Day (22Apr2021)
Earth Day (22April2021)
We decided to hold an in person meeting on Earth Day at the Rotary Centre, Kalimpong and Ms R Vimala (IAS) District Magistrate of Kalimpong was our Chief Guest. Our theme was 'Women and Disasters'

What was specially apt was that all our speakers for the program were women and from our own region and not surprisingly most of the audience were also women.

In addtion to the above, we featured Ms Ahana Gurung's 15 min video on mainly landslide disasters and their impact on women and Ms Jyotsna Sitling (IFS)  - CPCCF, Uttarakhand and Mr PD Rai (President, IMI) spoke to the audience via video taped messages.

The entire almost 3 hour event was live streamed on the Kalimpong TV Face Book channel and was seen by a large audience.

DHI thanks Rotary Club of Kalimpong, KaNGON (Kalimpong NGO Network) and KTv for their support and help

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Kalimpong HImalaya