New Delhi: More than 50 social and environmental organisations mostly from India’s Himalayan states have signed the ‘People for Himalaya’ declaration, highlighting the vulnerability of the mountain range to climate disasters.Recent climate disasters are “political, economic and social and not just environmental” and cannot be called “natural disasters”, held the declaration, signed in late February by organisations, including the Affected Citizens of Teesta based in Sikkim, the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti in Uttarakhand and the Dibang Resistance in Arunachal Pradesh.The declaration condemned the “repression” and the tags of “anti-national” and “anti-development” being labeled on people who have questioned the dilution of existing environmental laws and the non-implementation of progressive laws such as the forest rights act.The signatories vowed to work towards the “well-being and sustenance” of the natural heritage of the Himalayas and support the sustainability-oriented decentralised governance — backed by science and indigenous knowledge — of the Himalayas.The declaration comes at a time when several states across the mountain range have witnessed numerous disasters in recent times (including, glacial lake outburst floods GLOF such as that of South Lhonak Lake in Sikkim in October last year), which have claimed peoples’ lives and caused much ecological and environmental destruction.Investigations into some of these incidents have revealed that authorities did not follow existing rules for developmental activities in the areas or ignored the fears and concerns raised by experts and local communities.For instance, studies including one in 2021 that mapped the impacts of a GLOF in South Lhonak lake predicted that settlements downstream were at high risk of flooding. But despite this, people downstream did not receive early warning systems, if they had, several lives could have been saved, experts have told The Wire.Also read: A Himalayan Tragedy ForetoldOn February 27 and 28, representatives of social, rights and environmental organisations across several Himalayan states came together to talk about the Himalayas, disasters and people. The event was also attended by climate scientists, as per a press release.The representatives of the organisations put together the ‘People for Himalaya’ campaign declaration.‘Climate disasters are not just environmental’According to the declaration, the disasters now seen in the natural environment are “systemic and policy-induced disasters”, and the “result of historical processes of exploitation and governance failure at various levels – from global to local”.“Thus these disasters are political, economic and social, not just environmental disasters. We refuse to call them ‘natural’ disasters. We understand that those who are the least responsible for these disasters are in fact the worst impacted by these disasters – and have been further rendered powerless and resource less in the process of disaster-making. These include marginal farmers, landless dalits, forest dwellers, adivasis, women, migrant workers, pastoralists, minorities, persons with disabilities and those living in conflict zones,” the declaration said.Those who are the most responsible for the climate disasters that the Himalaya are witnessing “are those in power and extracting resources for profiteering,” the declaration noted.It held several groups of people accountable for “the growing commodification of the Himalaya” – from financial institutions of the global north, to the national and state governments and governance institutions, corporates and contractors. In the last few decades, “capitalist greed in the name of development” – in the form of mega dams and four-lane highways, railway projects, commercial tourism and urbanisation – has been an issue, the declaration said.For sustainable development and climate justiceWhile these land use changes have damaged the rivers, forests, grasslands and mountains of the region, it has also destroyed local livelihoods and replaced them with “top-down, market dependent and techno-managerial solutions implemented through international loans,” the declaration said.The declaration also stated that over the last 15 years, several environmental laws and regulatory or protective policies have been “diluted or eliminated in the name of national security, national interest and ‘green’ growth endangering our ecology and putting under threat the very survival of our people.”“On the other hand, progressive laws for land allocation, housing rights, forest rights, rehabilitation and relocation of development/disaster affected people and labour laws stand non-implemented,” it said. “We condemn the repression of voices who have questioned this mindless destruction and the use of labels as anti-national and anti-development to create false narratives.”Also read: Human Failure One of Many Reasons for Sikkim Disaster; Lots of Work, Planning Ahead: Local ScientistAs per the declaration, the ‘People for Himalaya’ campaign will work for the “wellbeing and sustenance” of the Himalayan natural heritage, ranging from glaciers and rivers to alpine pastures, forests and the diverse inhabitants whose identity and survival depend on the Himalaya.“We stand in alliance with organisations that support and advocate for democratic and decentralised governance in the Himalaya based on the principles of sustainability guided by balancing science and indigenous knowledge; gender, caste, ethnic and intergenerational equity; and climate justice,” the declaration said.Organisations that are signatories to the declaration include Himachal Pradesh’s Himdhara Collective; National Alliance for People’s Movements, India; Sikkim’s Council for Civic Democratic Engagement; South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People and the Appiko-Chipko movement of Karnataka, to name a few. Uttarakhand’s Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti – which first raised the concerns regarding land subsidence in the town of Joshimath that drew national attention – is also a signatory.“During the two-day dialogue in Himachal the experience from all the Himalayan region was that in case of extreme events post-disaster support from the centre has been inadequate and restricted to relief with no attention to or support for prevention and rehabilitation,” noted the Climate Front Jammu, in a press statement released on March 7.In its press release, the Jammu-based organisation — which is also a signatory of the declaration — underlined how the union government ignored repeated requests from Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh to declare the disasters faced by their states in 2023 as ‘national disasters’.“There is little place for people – gram sabhas and municipal bodies – to participate in the post disaster governance planning and climate resilient policy making,” Climate Front Jammu mentioned. “We, the youth of the Climate Front Jammu, understand the need for a initiative like People for Himalaya as our entire culture, livelihood and life is dependent on the Himalayas.. from the water to weather, we will not let our Himalayas deplete or die at any cost.”
