Himalayan Tourism in India, today’s journey with sorrows and joys

The 03 day state mourning declared by the Uttarakhand Government came to an end day before yesterday. Several roads have opened and the Indian Forces, mainly ITBP is in the forefront of the entire rescue operations. The legendary Kedarnath Temple Complex, which had grown into a small town, along with the lower areas like Govindghat, Rudraprayag etc, has seen thousands stranded and hundreds missing. Every soul connected to the Indian Himalaya is heartbroken and many of them have reached the disaster areas to support rescue and relief.

Those who live in the East Himalaya will remember the Himalayan Earthquake in Sikkim on 18^th September, 2011, the disaster which has still to heal up. Official report says that pilgrims will not be able to pay their homage to Kedarnath for the next 03 years. All this is probably due to too much interference of human beings to capture the Indian Himalaya in the name of development. If we look closely, most of the disaster is based around the water bodies, lakes and rivers, the source for the entire country. Water is nature’s strongest factor; water has the capacity to cut rocks and create gorges or even flood large landscapes. Water is the life maker.

We in India have regarded all the Himalayan Landscape as the “Abode of the Gods” or the “Sangrila”. We prayed to every bit of nature as our providers for all we have to live and have never lived as “masters of nature”, a human culture which in greediness of economy has forgotten the necessity of social and environmental aspects of life for sustainability. We still have the time to go to the Himalaya, which is almost 16% of total India’s area with about 73% of the Himalaya being in India. A close survey will show that almost 100 districts in 12 states of India are under the Indian Himalaya. The states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

The idea of 06 states in the Indian Himalaya was considered for many years, till several scientific organizations like the ICIMOD, GB Pant Institute, Indian Mountain Initiative, GTZ etc concluded that the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) spread across 10 states fully and 02 states partially with a total area of 500,000 sq kms between latitudes 26^o20’ and 35^o40’ North, and between longitudes 74^o50’ and 95^o40’ East. Asia today holds the largest, highest and most populated mountain system, the Hindu Kush Himalayan system, which was formed because of the collision of India and Eurasia during the plate movement about 50 million years ago. This also became the first land based trade route to connect continents, popularly known as Silk Route. Along with trade, the culture of the people moved and religiously the Himalaya became the “Pavitra Bhumi”, the holy or the sacred land as the nearest meaning.

Both trade and religion brought thousands and millions of visitors to the Himalaya. Some made it a point of their transit, some settled down and many migrated across passes following the rivers. This millennium is dedicated to tourism, the philosophy of travel that binds the guest and host community. With the strong lobbying of the ATOAI (Adventure Tour Operators’ Association of India), headquartered at New Delhi, the Minister of State with Independent Charge of Tourism, Government of India, Dr.K.Cheeranjeevi has announced the campaign “777 days of the Indian Himalaya” on the 20^th of June, 2013. The mission as he explained is promoting ‘Incredible Indian Himalaya’ to attract International tourists during lean season and reminding the world that 73% of Himalaya is in India.

The regional tourism associations also have decided not to miss the bus, Travel Agents Association of Bengal (TAAB) with its headquarters in Calcutta and Eastern Himalayan Travel and Tour Operators Association (EHTTOA) with their headquarters at Siliguri have got together for the Himalaya 02 days ago. Based on the invitation of the Principal Secretary of West Bengal Tourism to ATOAI, to hold their annual convention in West Bengal, the 02 associations have decided to use the occasion to promote Siliguri as the Adventure Base Station for the East Himalaya Region, which includes the entire Northeast India and parts of South and Southeast Asia. Also, West Bengal being the largest source market for tourism in the Indian Himalaya, the 02 associations wishes to open a dedicated “Rescue and Relief” cell for visitors to the Himalaya.

Better places for people to live in and visit, can we not elaborate, Host to make a better home in the Himalaya and the Guest to make it better through visit. Here ‘better home’ is a perfectly conserved Himalayan Destination and the role of the visitor is through a missionary journey of how the same can be conserved for better. Yes, every person concerned to take up the responsibility. A process where we should know how to take responsibly from the Himalaya, as Himalaya is here to give and contribute. The eldest Pandava brother, Yudhistir in Mahabharata, after completing the post death ceremonies for all relatives and friends he had lost in the War of Kurukshetra, left his Kingdom, left all his joys and sorrows back and left for Mahaprasthan, the eternal journey to the Himalaya, accompanied by his brothers and wife. While on your journey to the Himalaya, leave all that you have which makes you feel like a king, as you should be prepared to receive more during your visit.

Many a campaigns are undertaken, but for the tourism campaign to the Indian Himalaya should be more inclusive. Several extraordinary campaigns like the UN campaign on water etc have to be included in the initiative through institutionalization. Ending here with a proposal of an immediate need to form a ‘Himalayan Tourism Resource Foundation’ with the initiative of ATOAI and India Tourism. The same to be partnered by as many organizations as possible. TAAB and EHTTOA to start with the Bengal chapter of the same. The Foundation to support research for right tourism products for the Himalaya, promote the same, support capacity building, support responsible destination campaigns, develop a rescue and relief cell, develop opportunities of International Cross-Border tourism and be the guiding force for the right kind of tourism in the Indian Himalayan Region. 

Everest Day & India the home for adventure in Himalaya

Lieutenant Colonel William Lambton was the Superintendent of the Trigonometric Survey of India which he started in 1806. Much later he was succeeded by Colonel Sir George Everest, who was the Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843, who continued the work and extended the same from South of India to Nepal in the North, following the Meridian Arch, covering a distance of 2400 kms. He was immediately succeeded by Major General Sir Andrew Scott Wagh, who had in his office Babu Radhanath Sikdar, a Derozian who was known for his knowledge in mathematics was picked up by Sir George Everest himself, when Radhanath was only 19. In 1852, Radhanath had pointed out to Andrew that ‘Peak XV’ behind Mt.Khangchendzonga was the highest peak of the world. It was only in 1856, Andrew Wagh decided to announce the finding and proposed it to be named after his Boss, George Everest.

Everest himself had a lot of objections against naming the peak after him, as he himself had passed an order that the peaks to be named after the local names available. Radhanath’s work was never recognized the way it should have been. The politics of the highest peak continues even today. After 60 years of the first climb on Everest on this date by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, people still discuss about who climbed first and not about the fact the great feat of the Tenzing Hillary, his nurture and respect in Darjeeling in India, even being born to a Sherpa family in the Thengbuche, Khumbu in Nepal. A comment of Tashi Tenzing, the Grandson of the Great Mountaineer, as published in The Telegraph from UK shows

Mr Tenzing, 49, said: “I think my grandfather should have been knighted. He was a member of the expedition, not just a Sherpa.

“They just gave him a bloody medal.”

Today’s anniversary would provide a good opportunity for "a gesture from the Queen and the people of England to recognise that my grandfather was the man who took their flag to the summit," he argued.

The lack of official recognition that Tenzing allegedly suffered has been attributed to prejudices in the British establishment at the time.

How could he be knighted as a citizen of India, which was then an independent country. Talking about his citizenship then, when he was asked to which country did he belong, the simple man but the Great Climber replied that Nepal is my mother who gave me birth, but India is my mother who looked after me. Regarding the flag to the summit, he took a few things to the summit, one is a blue and red pencil, which a small girl Nima from the Sherpa Busty in Darjeeling had given her and the other was the ice axe with four flags: UN, Britain, Nepal and India, the last given to him by his friend Rabindranath Mitra, the owner of a printing press in Darjeeling. (Ref: the column by Gautam Chakraborty published in ABP today).

My close friend, Tsering Wange was the first person to promote Adventure Tourism from Arunachal Pradesh in India’s Northeast, this I think was about 15 to 18 years ago. On May 18^th, 2013, Anshu Jamshenpa, his wife reached the summit for the third time. Anshu, mother of 02 daughters had climbed the Everest twice in 10 days, 12^th and 21^st of May, 2011, the only of its kind World Record. She was awarded the ‘Adventurer of the Year 2011’ by the ATOAI (Adventure Tour Operators’ Association of India) at their 9^th Annual Convention held in Srinagar, Jammu &Kashmir, India. 16 year old Nameirakpam Chingkheinganba from Manipur is the youngest Indian to be at the top of the summit was with Anshu this year. Tarun Saikia of Assam, David Zomanghaiha from Mizoram and Wangsuk Myrthong from Meghalaya were also the first from their respective states to climb the Everest with Anshu.

Chanda Gayen from West Bengal made to the summit on the same date and is third woman from the state of India to make it after Kunga Bhutia from Darjeeling in 1994 and Shipra mazumdar from Murshidabad in 2004. Her team mates Ujjal Ray, Debdas Nandy and Tushi Das also made to the summit. Tushi sells eggs in the local market to run the family and nurture the passion of mountaineering. All four from very middle class families or so to say poor families could make to the top because of their dedication and hard work, but above all the adventure culture in India. The adventure clubs and associations spread across the small and big towns and cities of India are the motivating house for young Indians.

The trend in India was always there, but not as western mountaineering, but the great pilgrimages to the Himalaya, known for hundreds of years in India. The facts, myths and stories of the sacred footfalls in the Himalaya are never ending...

Mango Festival at Siliguri on 7th, 8th & 9th June

Dear all,

We are back. Forced to take a breather in 2012 due to unavoidable circumstances, we are back on track to present you the MCCS Gitanjali Mango Festival 2013, the one of its kind event held annually since 2010 in these parts of the country.

If relentless inquiries from participants and patrons on the 2012 hiatus stimulated us into re-organising the festival this year, the opportunity to uphold the cultural heritage mankind has woven over the years along with the scope to showcase hidden talents is incentive enough for us to decide, the show must go on..

And so, here we are additionally offering you the juicy prospect to slurp, sample and sink your teeth into that mother of all pulps – the mango fruit.  

GENESIS

The festival is being organized by Modella Caretaker Centre and School (MCCS) using mango, the National Fruit as a medium for inheritance of heritage by the Generation Next. In 2010 the festival was dedicated to the 150^th birth anniversary of the 1^st Noble Laureate of India, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

Poet, painter, social worker all rolled in one, Gurudev confirmed conservation of the rich Indian heritage for the future generation, hence the nomenclature, ‘Gitanjali’ Mango Festival’ linking the event with his namesake collection of works.

Tagore’s association with mango is legendary. His philosophy, which was institutionalized into education form through the International University, Viswa Bharati at Shantiniketan was set up by his father, Maharshri Debendranath Tagore in 1863. The fledgling centre took off in two rooms in a mango orchard. Shantiniketan inmates often referred to Gurudev’s love for mango, which also reflects in his works ‘Gardener’, ‘Kabuliwala’, etc.

Mango has lured even the sages and kings of this great country. Legend has it that Lord Gautama Buddha, the first known person to have spread Indian heritage globally, had a taste for the fruit so much so that famous dancer Amrapali had offered him a mango orchard at Vaishali, during his travels. Mughal emperor Akbar also was a mango connoisseur. No wonder, mango these days is a sought after gift in diplomatic circles. Just goes to show the fruit is irresistible.

The mention of Mango in India goes back to 2000 BC in the Upanishads. Mango grows uniformly across the tropics of Asia, but the fruit’s association with this country is linked with its cultural heritage. It is argued that the fruit originated from India’s Northeast and the wild variety is said to have been found in Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.

PRECEDENT

What began in 2010, flourished in 2011. Fresh ideas were incorporated and the Association for Conservation & Tourism (ACT) organized a Rural Tourism Bazaar, the first of its kind of activity, highlighting conservation of the rich rural heritage to a special kind of livelihood process called tourism. This event organized by ACT received much appreciation from neighbouring states and countries.

The Festival saw mango growers from across West Bengal flock in with their most possessed and prized products. The Mango Bazaar with commercial varieties from across India and events like Mango Eating and Recipe Competitions proved heavy crowd pullers. Students participated in Sit & Draw, Ethnic Dress, Face of the Day, Live Radio Quiz, cultural programmess etc and the evenings were a blend of cultural soirees, workshops, seminars and lectures on several heritage mediums.

The 2011 Festival and its venue were complimentary to each other. The name of the venue also sourced from the works of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Uttarayon believes on the principles of conservation of Indian heritage. At the micro level, it was The Orchid Restaurant at Uttarayon which hosted the festival in 2010 and 2011. In the process, a mango orchard ‘Amrakunja’ dedicated to mango has developed at the site. Since then, the venue has developed into one of the most impressive centres in North Bengal and Sikkim.

NOW

The Mango Festival slipped up in 2012 due to unavoidable circumstances. But, if the organizers believed people had forgotten the festival dedicated to mango, they were horribly wrong. The first shout came from the mango growers. The cry grew louder as people and organizations related to heritage conservation, members of the student community and conservation crusaders picked it up. The appeal was strong enough for the organizers MCCS and hosts Uttarayon to yield to the demand. The die is now cast and we are back to organizing the third MCCS Gitanjali Mango Festival, 2013 at City Centre, Uttarayon, Siliguri on 7^th, 8^th and 9^th of June.

The Festival this year would be dedicated to Swami Vivekananda to commemorate his 150^th birth anniversary. Vivekananda re-introduced Indian heritage to the modern world.

Now comes the best part. Since the mango growers have discovered that the MCCS Gitanjali Mango Festival is more of their baby, they have decided to bring plenty of the fruit with them for the Festival visitors to take away.

This year, participants of the Mango Eating event will compete in 03 categories: Male, Female and Couple. Since there is a great rush for enquiries, the organizers have decided to accept names registered IN ADVANCE ONLY. Three additional prizes 1) Best Female Mango Fashion, 2) Best Male Mango Fashion and 3) Best Couple Mango Fashion; would be introduced to the Festival this year.

‘’Best Mango Friends Group’’ award to a group of minimum 10 friends with Mango Fashion would be awarded on each day of the Festival. Mango Recipe Competition and classes for Mango Cookery would be held on all three days of the Festival at The Orchid Restaurant.

Interested participants have to register IN ADVANCE. The participants have to send sms in the following order:

1)    Mango Eat - name in full to 9733005437.

2)    Mango Cook - name in full, date interested (7^th, 8^th or 9^th) to 8420146585.

3)    Mango Grow - name in full, name of place of residence (like Malda or Murshidabad or Uttar Dinajpur etc) to 9733005437.

4)    Mango Fashion - name in full to 9007168540.

5)  Those interested in Mango Dinner on 7^th, 8^th or 9^th June, 2013 please book through sms ‘Mango Meal Date (7^th, 8^th or 9^th)’and send to 8420146585.

6)    Any organization or individual interested in any activity or event with theme Mango can call 9733005439.

7)   Anyone interested in ACT Rural Tourism Bazaar can call 9733000444.

The ACT Rural Tourism Bazaar will offer to demonstrate models, provide counselling sessions for setting up Rural Tourism projects and provide information to interested travellers on the various Rural Tourism Destinations of East and Northeast India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Take away travel books by popular authors from North Bengal and Sikkim would be available at the event. Rural Tourism Festivals would be highlighted and the ‘’ACT Teesta Awards’’ will be declared for the Best Initiatives in the Teesta Landscape. Proposals are requested to be sent to act.easthimalaya@gmail.com by the 29^th of May, 2013.

    

Several people and organizations are committed towards preservation of society, environment and culture. The Festival will showcase many such works including animal welfare, people welfare, livelihood options, cultural conservation, weaving & crafts, heritage, sky watching, climate change etc.

A special event on the ‘’2013 UN Year for Water Cooperation’’, a complete musical seminar  and documentary, based on the theme ‘Teesta Parer Katha’ would be presented at the Festival in addition to the regular cultural shows promoting folk culture.

Let us mango!!

Brajbhumi Manipur

We are all very attached to the full moon nights across India, but look at this ‘Full Moon’ which is very special, across the country, and this is known as ‘Dol Purnima’ or ‘Holi’, the famous festival of colours. There is a call for celebration with a one day National holiday to a month long celebration in some states of India. Special food, drinks, colours and sometimes religious celebrations by mainly the followers of the Vaishnovite sect of the Hindu religion are the major ways of being involved. In India, the celebrations of colours go beyond religions and stand as an event of National Integration.

There is one place where the celebration pattern has not changed for ages, even in the people who are involved find peace in the traditional way which was being followed by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and this is in the valley of Manipur. The valleys and hills of Manipur, an extension of the East Himalaya, separate the Brahmaputra River from Chindwin River in Myanmar. The Manipur River and the Barak River, though originate from the Northern limits of the Manipur Hills, they follow 02 different alignments, with the Manipur River flowing with all her tributaries to create the largest fresh water lake, the Loktak Lake.

The exit from the lake continues through many rivers and rivulets which finally flow into the Chindwin River. The Meitei, Shan and Ava people traditionally collected GOLD from the floors and beaches of Chindwin River. A large area around the Chindwin River was often ruled by the Manipuri kings. There is one thing that is found common in Manipur and Myanmar, the religious roots and traditions of the people and the way they have not changed with time when it comes to religious practices and celebrations, nor there are any symptoms of changing their cultures in the recent future. The religion can be Vaishnovite Hinduism or Theravada Buddhism, the trend in the people remains the same.

Being a part of this celebration, we felt like living the days which are lost in Brajbhumi (also sometimes refers to Nandgaon-Barsana) and Nabadwip. From the villages of Loktak to the town of Imphal, men and women, old and young, all alike celebrated the Festival in a wonderful inherited discipline. The schools celebrated with annual sports, cymbals-drums-songs in community rhythm, burning the huts and dancing in the streets are some lifetime experiences. The major experience was the Manipuri food of the valleys, which are very elaborate, the main meal called ‘Chak-Lu’, where the staple food rice is called ‘Chak’ and the rest of the ‘Lu’ consists mainly of Nathomba (Fish Curry), Sinju (Salad),  Haithomba (Olive Chutney), Eronba (Banana Stem inside vegetable), Maroithomba (Groundnut curry) and many more items.

We did not want to miss our old Myanmar experience of Tamu food, which we had while we visited Tamu from Mandalay via Kaley Myo last year. The Pork curry, rice, lettuce salad, chilly pickle etc, all seemed to remain the same. We did not stop ourselves from buying the famous Bamboo woven caps and baskets again. The continuity of the hearts of people, the land based connectivity, the geographical continuity, the search for gold... all have been there through generations, but separated by the capitals at New Delhi and Yangom. For more than 20 years now that we have been hearing that our Moreh-Tamu, Indo-Myanmar border will be opened, simplified with visa at borders, and with the present New Delhi-Yangon good relations and India’s Look East Policy, the promise continues, but only restricted to a few car rallies.

The western world has declared ‘Myanmar Open’ and hoards of tourist are visiting Myanmar. Still not a budget destination, Myanmar is prepared with tourism infrastructure and services with value for money. The quality tourist flow to Myanmar will supersede India in the next 05 years. Here is an opportunity for New Delhi to act on her ‘Look East Policy’, to open the border for tourism with visa on arrival at the border and make India’s Northeast the Gateway for India from Southeast Asia. This is the need of time when ASSOCHAM, the oldest trade and industry body of India has declared that ‘Foreign Tourist flow to India has significantly dropped by 25% in the last 03 months alone’. The land is the same and so are her people living along the borders, a Indo-Myanmar Friendship Road can only benefit with better people to people relations and not by closed border, restricted trade and symbolic rallies.      

Lost Days

Finding Nemo is a wonderful animation film that has always thrilled me. It is always the mind that wants the eyes to see what’s beyond, and then you travel to explore. Not far away from Siliguri are the forests of Lohagarh. As a boy, I had the opportunity to visit the Bamonpokhari Forest Bungalow with my grandfather, who often came to meet the Elephant man, Lalji (the Raja of Gouripur). The place was so famous for his elephant camp ‘DHURA’ that the name of the forest was lost and came to be named as Garidhura. It is at his camp that I heard the stories of the elephant residences at Lohagarh, legend says that this was the fort of ‘LOHA-ASURA’. Kharibari, Naxalbari etc were much bigger names then, and then through Lohagarh, the traders would take their loaded horses to Antu and beyond.

The members of ‘ACT Salamander Circuit’ from Mirik have explored the entire area and during the Asian Rural Tourism Festival (ARTF) 2013 at Bahundangi, Jhapa, Nepal, the Mechi Headwater Trek Route for Indo-Nepal Friendship was inaugurated by none other than Subhas Niraula of Nepal Tourism Board, a man who has worked for more than 12 years for Sustainable Tourism in Nepal. He expressed “here when the world was thinking tourism in Nepal has been fully explored, I had no idea of this hidden treasure in the Eastern part of Nepal. I am sure the light of meaningful tourism will spread from the rising dedication of the NCS members in Nepal’s East”. It was during the first year of the festival in 2012, we had announced our friend’s wish. He was looking for his lost mother, Sharda ji. The only information he could provide was that she had returned to her house at ‘Okhaldhunga’ in the mid eighties.

Sharda ji was in Kunal’s house since 1961, when Kunal was still a child and since then Kunal was loved, cared and attached to her. When Kunal heard that Help Tourism was working in Eastern Nepal, his emotions gave way and he wanted to find his caring mother. Wonders happen, one of the policemen posted at Bahundangi during the festival in 2012 was from Okhaldhunga, and when the details of Sharda ji and Kunal was announced, he started relating his memories of his village. Gradually, it was found out that Sharda ji, who was once a while visited by her much younger brothers at Kunal’s house, they returned home and for a few months talked about their experience in Delhi or Dehradun to the village friends, who inturn told their families.

Shardaji with her brothers and their families had shifted to Jhumka. The areas of Solagumba, where the Sherpas treated the Rais and Chettri Bahuns as Rongbu. With the political equations changing, the pressure of growing families and lack of employment forced them to shift their generation of settlement to the present area at Dumraha Gabi, with much better opportunities of agriculture, the area being fed by the Koshi canal. The members of NCS (Nepal Conservation Society), the organizers of the ARTF were instrumental in finding out the family. Koshi Tappu and this area was divided by the mythological Ramdhuni Forests, the last of the surviving ‘sacred groves’ of Nepal.

Old Sharda ji was sitting at the corner of the house, not at all well physically, hardly with any company of the younger generation, whose presence calms down the mental and physical anxieties of old age. Her nephews and nieces come to the village once in a while, between their studies, work and families. People today are moving far away from their peaceful, sustainable and simple village lives. Her brothers, Khagan and Magan were overwhelmed to see Kunal. They could not believe, that two people who do not have any blood relations, and a small child who was brought up by their eldest sister as her son, could come back looking for the lost mother, that too after so many years. It probably happens in movies. Neither Kunal, nor Sharda ji could stop their tears, the local Nepali expression was wonderful, ‘duhi janako akha rasaiyo’, all of us who witnessed could not hold our tears too. We miss our old days.

Kunal, today in his fifties is a proud father of two daughters and lives in Gurgaon (Delhi for me). His wife Dipti and he have produced many wildlife films and have authored 09 interesting books, mainly on Indian Defence Forces. His mother and father lives in Kullu. He is happy with everything, but happier now after meeting Sharda ji. Kunal can be contacted at email address shivkunalverma@gmail.com.

Mach Pora, Chilika Lake, Orissa

An extraordinary recipe, reach Puri, take an excursion to Chilika Lake, reach any of the fishermen villages and take retreat under the tree for the day at any of the local fishing camps. Request 02 very experienced fishermen for fulfilling your wish to taste the best fish recipe of the world. Fresh fishes will be brought to you and you can choose your fish. A small fire is made with dry twigs and grasses collected from the area. The fishes are thrown in the fire and maneuvered with a stick till the fishes are burnt uniformly. Banana leaves collected locally and you are served this fishes directly with a paste (chutney/sauce) made of green chilly, ginger and salt. All you need for a wholesome and healthy lunch. There is only one man who can organize this for you and he is Bubu Babu. Ask any rickshaw puller in Puri with the 'Green Rider' sign and he will take you to him. The leader of the 'barefoot' service providers, who recently won a 'Responsible Tourism' award from India Tourism.

Fishes are found in abundance in the lakes and rivers of Asia. The water has been a source for life in the rice fields to be joined with fishes for meals, all complete, the starch, the protein, the minerals etc, enough to sustain human life. this was the biggest discovery of mankind to move towards greater civilizations. Day after day man became more and more greedy and today they try to rule the waters which gave then food, clothing, shelter one day. It is time who will decided the winner. No guesses permitted, but any one who wishes to enjoy the fish and rice in the most diverse form, must visit the Dihing River Camp. Discover life in a modest and simple way.

I just got access to 02 write-ups which I think was appropriate on this World Water Day

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2013/03/21/oped/one-on-water/246682.html

MAR 21 - It is a common knowledge that water is the basis of life—a vital resource for human wellbeing and healthy ecosystems. But water is also limited while being needed for many purposes. This can be a source of conflict but also offers endless opportunities for cooperation. Climate change is affecting patterns of water availability while water consumption patterns are also changing with urbanisation, industrialisation and rising living standards—all leading to increased requirements. In the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, cooperation is essential to ensure that sufficient water is available to support social, economic and environmental development. 
Cooperation can take place at different levels, between different stakeholder groups and across sectors. Good management of water resources will only be possible if there is active participation at all levels of government, civil society, the private sector and academia. There have been many efforts at the global level to bring water issues to centre stage. Since the 1800s, more than 450 international water cooperation agreements have been made to support the management of water across borders. The 1992 Rio Earth Summit on sustainable development brought global attention to the growing water scarcity and the need for proper management. The Summit’s Agenda 21 Chapter 13 drew attention to mountains as fragile ecosystems and providers of essential services such as water and energy, while Chapter 18 emphasised the need for integrated approaches in the development, management and use of water resources. Twenty years later, in 2012, the Rio+20 meeting took stock of the progress made and the outcome document recognised that ‘mountain ecosystems play a crucial role in providing water resources to a large portion of the world’s population and fragile mountain ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of  climate change’. It called for specific actions and renewed commitment to protect our fragile mountain ecosystems and the services they provide, highlighting water as a core requirement for sustainable development. The meeting called upon states to strengthen cooperative action and ensure effective involvement and sharing of experience by all relevant stakeholders. 
The United Nations declared 2005-2015 as the International Decade for Action-’Water for Life’—and 2013 as the International Year for Water Cooperation. This Year aims to raise awareness of the need for water cooperation at all levels and encourage countries to work together to ensure that water is well-managed, fairly distributed and available to 
all. Today we are celebrating World Water Day with the theme ‘Water Cooperation’ to raise awareness of the potential and benefits of cooperation in the sustainable management of our freshwater resources.
The Hindu Kush Himalayan region has 10 major rivers that provide freshwater and other environmental services to more than 1.3 billion people living in the mountains and downstream plains—the Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Salween, Tarim, Yangtze, and Yellow. Across the mountains, more than 60,000 square kilometres of glaciers act as storehouses for water, regulating runoff for downstream use. But these glaciers are now at risk due to climate change while various socioeconomic factors are exacerbating problems of lack of water, particularly during the dry season when the rivers have low flow. Our understanding of climate change and its impacts on water resources is still poor and much uncertainty remains about water availability in the future. 
Water is not limited by national boundaries; most of the rivers of the Himalayan region flow through more than one country. Water originating in one country may be essential for hydropower and irrigation in another. Floods in the plains result from rainfall in the mountains. The upstream mountains offer opportunities to store monsoon water to use in the dry season downstream. Transboundary cooperation in water management is essential if we are to maximise the benefits and reduce the risks. 
There are many examples in the region of treaties and agreements between countries on water resources management. The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 between India and Pakistan is an example of successful cooperation at the basin level on shared water resources. It shows that cooperation can promote efficient techniques for water storage and distribution and expand irrigation schemes in each country. The Koshi and Gandak treaty between Nepal and India for flood management and irrigation has also been in place for more than 50 years. Such successful examples of bilateral cooperation highlight the need for a regional mechanism to share data, information and knowledge related to water management for the benefit of the region.
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is working with regional partners in a programme on river basin management that is helping to generate knowledge and understanding of changes in water dynamics due to climate change—and what this means for people’s livelihoods and adaptation strategies. The activities help foster regional cooperation on the sustainable management of water. A comprehensive monitoring programme on the cryosphere has been started in partnership with regional and global institutions and a regional initiative is working towards developing an information system to help reduce flood risk. 
The shared dependence on water resources, vulnerability to floods and drought and benefits from water development all suggest cooperation in water resources management as a win-win scenario for countries in the region. Harnessing these opportunities will help build trust and confidence, support peace and security, ensure provision of water for food and energy, help disaster prevention and protect our ecosystems as a basis for sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.

Shrestha is Senior Water Resources Specialist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

mshrestha@icimod.org

Posted on: 2013-03-22 09:03

http://www.arunachaltimes.in/#A

A treasured region showcases the importance of water

Sunderbans

Dean R. Thompson

“Here, life depends on the changing of the tides…”  I heard that refrain echoed several times during a recent excursion to the magnificent Sunderbans, my first visit to this region, which invoked a sense of wonder and appreciation for the power of nature.  Looking out from a boat traveling through one of the many waterways, I gained a deep respect for the populations that inhabit the area—both human and wildlife—who adapt their lives to the rise and fall of the tide, and who are faced with significant environmental challenges that affect their homes and livelihoods.  

I cannot think of a more apt place to recognize the importance of water, and to celebrate protection and conservations efforts.  On this occasion of World Water Day 2013, I think we can all reflect on the role water plays in our lives and consider what might happen if we, as humans around the globe, do not act to conserve our environment.  Water is fundamental to maintaining peace, security, and prosperity.  Water sustains life, and when managed well, it allows our economies to thrive, our children to grow up healthy, and can build peace and cooperation among neighbors.  Climate change will have a profound impact on the availability, distribution, and quality of water.  It will tax infrastructure and natural systems for managing water resources.  Floods, droughts, and other extreme weather events are projected to become more frequent and severe—in other words, wet areas will become wetter and dry areas will become dryer.  

The Sunderbans has already witnessed these effects.  The devastation Cyclone Alia brought to the region in 2009 is still being felt today, particularly in the most vulnerable of areas along the thousands of kilometers of embankments that line the area’s waterways.  I had the opportunity to speak with an inspiring community of women in Moukhali Village, Amtoli Island, who told me that agriculture production in the region is just now resuming; it has been poor or impossible since the storm surge pushed salt water into the fields and crops could not grow in the salinated soil.  Most of the women’s husbands had become “climate refugees,” forced to leave the village to seek work either in Kolkata or other large cities, and the women were left to take care of their home and family, while finding alternative livelihoods.  It is here that we can champion the work of local groups creating solutions for communities such as the Moukhali Village that help to both mitigate the effects of climate change and provide economic opportunities.  Groups such as the Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS), which has trained over 280 women to raise and plant mangrove saplings along the embankments, essential to hold mud in place and prevent flooding and erosion.  300,000 saplings have been planted just in the past several months, an impressive feat and one that will go a long way to protecting the most vulnerable land in the project’s area.  I know there are many organizations conducting noteworthy ventures throughout the region.  

Rebuilding and protecting the region’s natural ecosystem through projects like this is critical.  Healthy ecosystems provide a variety of services and benefits that would cost far more to provide through man-made infrastructure.  Degradation of natural ecosystems reduces the ability of the environment to provide natural filtration, aquifer replenishment, and flood and drought mitigation.  

The impact of conservation efforts can be seen in the famous Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, home to some of the world’s most beautiful and mysterious creatures.  The forest there, preserved as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, acts as the areas “lungs” and “kidneys,” by absorbing carbon from the air and providing natural filtration and cleansing of the surrounding water.  I was equally impressed with wildlife conservation efforts there, and commend the efforts against tiger poaching in the Reserve over the last decade, a reflection of cooperation between the government and NGOs with the local community to promote awareness.   

It is easy to feel small when traveling through the vast expanse of the Sunderbans.  I was only able to see a tiny portion of the region, but gained an immense understanding of the way of life here, including the challenges and benefits of living in a serene, but vulnerable environment.  Heading back to shore, the sunset reflecting in the water and the breeze cooling off the heat of the day, I thought of ways we can all be active in ensuring water security in the coming years—raising awareness being perhaps the most accessible and productive across all communities.  It is not just about coastal areas like the Sunderbans, but also places to closer to home.  For example, I have seen firsthand the ongoing work to protect the East Kolkata Wetlands, vital to sustaining the city and its surrounding area.  The United States is committed to promoting water security around the world, to ensure the development and sustainability of treasured regions like the Sunderbans, and our cities alike, for generations to come.   (The writer is U.S. Consul General Kolkata. Readers may  follow him on twitter: @deanthompson)