Shimla: Meet on climate change challenges in Northwest

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 21

The ActionAid Association India and the Simla Collective will organise the Shimla Climate Meet on the theme, “Himalayan towns in the Northwest: Climate Change, Impacts and Challenges,” from March 19 to 21. The meet is being organised to draw strategies to deal with challenges in the northwestern region owing to climate change and its impact on vulnerable communities and groups.

NPS Bhullar, chairman of Simla Collective, while addressing mediapersons here today, said that the meet was being organised against the backdrop of frequent disasters taking place in the Himalayan region, particularly in view of flashfloods in Himachal Pradesh last year.

He said, “The meet is not limited to Shimla city and delegates representing different social, environment and other groups, peoples’ movement and experts in the field of science, environment, architects, planners and pastoralists will also participate in it. Delegates from northwestern states such as Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand and the union territory of Ladakh will also participate in the meet.”

Bhullar said that as per the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)-IV, the two most vulnerable zones in the Indian subcontinent were coastal Indian and Himalayan regions.

He said, “The Indian Himalayan region (IHR) comprises 11 states and two union territories. The IPCC report says that in the years to come, because of climate change and owing to anthropogenic reasons, there is going to be a massive change in weather patterns. There will be less snow, more rainfall in a shorter time period. The frequency of extreme weather events and worst forms of disasters like the one experienced once in a century will increase phenomenally.”

Bhullar said, “Farmers, marginalised workers and informal sector workers are among the people who had been worst affected due to climate change. Pastoralists and wool production are other vulnerable areas. Likewise, dairy and animal husbandry is another important sector.”

He said that specific demands and issues would be raised in a collaborative effort. Experts and representatives of different communities would talk to each other and create a framework for policy shifts required for adapting to climate change.

He added, “What is important in this region is that adaptive measures should be strengthened to minimise the loss of human lives and livelihoods, socio cultural systems and geographies where they inhabit. Towns in the Himalayan region face a major risk and the planning process needs to be revisited.”

Bhullar said, “Building typologies and land use change all need to be discussed. Separate sessions will be held to create mountain typology discourses in the policy framework. The meet will also discuss lessons to be learnt from disasters in the Himalayan region, DRR measures and mitigation and adaptive strategies.”

He said that the Simla Collective would launch a series of campaigns ahead of the meet to inform and involve the Shimla community for a wider, participatory response.

He added, “The Simla Collective will launch the campaign through street plays. The first street play will be held at Naaz on February 22 to be followed by many more performance in the city.”

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