The majestic Himalaya, a life-support system for millions of people in uplands and much more in lowland
areas of the country, acts as climate regulator for much of Asia. The ecosystem services emanating from
this massive and diversified mountain chain contribute significantly for sustenance of most of the Indian
sub-continent. All this, accompanied by the richness and uniqueness of bio-physical and socio-cultural
diversity, has earned a global recognition to the region. However, this system being complex and young,
the region remains geotectonically active and inherently unstable, fragile, and prone to natural disasters,
such as earthquakes, landslides, and flash floods, which are being exacerbated by the impacts of climate
change. Incidences such as in Leh in 2010, Kedarnath in 2013, Kashmir in September 2014, and Nepal
and neighbouring parts of India in April 2015 are some recent examples of such disasters.
Given the complexity accompanied by inherent fragility and intense vulnerability, the Himalayan
ecosystem requires a different approach for conservation and development interventions. It has now
been well recognized that the interventions that ignore the imperatives of mountain specificities would
invariably result in resource misuse and accelerated environmental degradation. This calls for evolving
new paradigms of long-term conservation and sustainable development, which helps restoring intricate
balance between economic interests and ecological imperatives in the region in particular and country in
general.
However, considering various factors which would be important while thinking of new paradigms, following
observations on prevailing conditions need to be mentioned w.r.t. IHR: (i) Low investment per unit of
area, (ii) Introduction of a technology (and after-effects) without assessing local needs and priorities, (iii)
Isolated developmental efforts and absence of integrated management of natural resources, (iv) Absence
of synergies and linkages to maximize the benefits of several ongoing schemes and programmes of the
Government, (v) Limited extension education programmes appropriate to local needs, (vi) Inadequate
long-term studies to support ecological imperatives and economical interests in the region.
Recognizing the above and realizing that the Himalaya is important for Ecological Security of the country,
the Government of India attaches the highest priority to protect unique but highly fragile Himalayan
ecosystem. The National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS), a Central Sector (CS) Grant-in-Aid
Scheme, therefore, targets to provide much needed focus, through holistic understanding of systems
components and their linkages, in addressing the key issues relating to conservation and sustainable
management of natural resources so as to improve quality of life and maintain ecosystem health in the
region. The NMHS is expected to support the 13 monitorable targets towards environment, forests, wildlife
and climate change under the Twelfth Plan national priorities, specifically in the context of the IHR. It is
envisioned that the NMHS will contribute for achieving the Twelfth Plan goals covering Environment;
Forests and Livelihood; Wildlife, Ecotourism and Animal Welfare; and Ecosystem and Biodiversity. Further,
the Scheme will help to understand and improve the implementation and effectiveness of various national
laws and policies in IHR. In other words, as the Scheme unfolds and robust and integrated information/ datasets begin to flow in, the Government will be in a better position to respond to the need for developing
laws and policies focused on the specific issues of the region. Furthermore, the NMHS will also serve
to complement and supplement the outcomes of National Mission on Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem
(NMSHE) anchored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under National Action Plan on
Climate Change (NAPCC).
|