Water shortage in the Third Pole: Bhalukhop Village, Kalimpong

STH has blogged about water scarcity in the rural areas earlier (kindly read 1) and we have a reference to Spring Shed rejuvenation program which was tried out in Kalimpong.

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling -Sikkim Himalaya

Raising awareness on impact of landslides on rural communities

Landslides are a cunning disaster form.
They mostly nibble and therefore their impact is not openly evident and it is often under-valued by governments and disaster management professionals alike.
Landslides are also very localized so one hill maybe totally stable and its people ignorant of the devastation being caused by landslides on an adjacent hill or mountain.
Add to this the fact that remote mountain communities seldom speak out and suffer in silence.
In an effort to raise awareness about this disaster form, SaveTheHills along with Junkeri Studio (Kalimpong) has produced two documentaries on the impact of the landslide at Pathing, a village about which we have blogged  a few days earlier.
The links are placed below:

• Gaguney Landslide (Part I) : Pathing (South Sikkim, India), a village on the edge
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9uxcI3NRXE&t=173s
  
  
• Gaguney landslide (Part II) : Pathing (South Sikkim, India), a village on the move
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6vlwdjLEB0&t=8s
  
  
  STH would like to thank the people of Pathing village and Yangyang and also all those who helped us make these documentaries.
  
  

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalaya
savethehills@gmail.com
9475033744

STH activities (11Dec2017) : As a part of DHI (Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative), in a program on International Mountain Day at Darjeeling.

As a follow up to what was written here, Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative (of which STH is a member) conducted a one day discussion on the theme : 'Mountains under Pressure'

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

STH activities (28Mar2014) : Talk on ' Major Environmental Challenges in the Himalayas' in NSS Orientation program at Kalimpong

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling