Ooty: “Managed voyages are the need of the hour to tackle problems associated with mountain conservation to ensure that such conservation is economically and environmentally sustainable” said Dr Saumitra Chaudhuri, Member, Planning Commission, New Delhi, who inaugurated the three day all India workshop on sustainable and inclusive mountain development on Sunday evening here; this was organised by the Nilgiri Documentation Centre(NDC), an NGO here along with the Hill Area Development Programme, Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, and the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).
“There is talk about a water crisis. What is to be done is to look for improved ways to use water. In the hills, haphazard and unplanned constructions have become a problem. The need is to evolve technologies suitable to suit local problems and fix norms for constructions in the hills,” he added.
Stressing that modern horticulture technology is a viable option for the hill farming mode as shade-houses in farms account for better yields and soil conservation, he said that when dealing with afforestation, the focus should be on developing indigenous flora to conserve bio-diversity.
When dealing with sustainable and inclusive mountain development, one should take care of the livelihood rights of hill communities, he advocated.
Dr K.C.Chakrabarty, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in his address, said that bankers should take the green banking mode to reduce the dependence on paper.
This would go a long way in saving trees and thereby maintaining green cover to combat climate change and global warming. Dr.M.Narendra, CMD of IOB said that sustainable development in the hills should be in such way that it does not affect the culture and tradition of native hill communities.
On the occasion, the NDC presented the Nilgiris conservation award 2013 to Dr.Chakrabarty and Dr Narendra for their role in financial inclusion of primitive tribes in the Nilgiris.
D.Venugopal, director NDC also spoke on the occasion.
