Dharamsala: A panel discussion, held on the 5th of June, was chaired by Mr. Shyam Khosla, Director of the Indian Media centre. The topic was "Testing Himalayan Environment and Threats to India's Security"
The keynote speakers for the seminar included the Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh; Mr. Sudripta Roy, Health Minister; Dr. Rajeev Bindal, noted journalist and photographer; Mr. Vijay Kranti and Mr. Tenzin Norbu, Director of the Environment and Development Desk of the Central Tibetan Administration.
The event was attended by more than 100 participants comprising of Himachal state government diplomats, intellectuals, lecturers from HP University, settlement officer Mr. Tsering Tashi and his colleagues, representatives of the Tibetan freedom movement in Shimla and the media.
Prof. Chamman Lal Gupta, convener of Panchnad Research Institute (HP) and former Director of the Himachal Education Board, introduced all the speakers and gave his views on the importance of the Himalayan environment.
Mr. Vijay Kranti spoke about his personal experiences and views from his last visit to Tibet and stressed on how Chinese have destroyed the land. He also touched on topics related to environment and development issues inside Tibet and how it could jeopardize the security of India.
Mr. Tenzin Norbu spoke about the ongoing environmental destructions inside Tibet and how it could impact India and the rest of the Asian countries. In his speech, he also talked about the water diversion and the pace at which Chinese are constructing dams on major trans-boundary rivers that originates from Tibet. He also mentioned about the impacts of Climate change on the Hindu-Kush region focusing on the glacial meltdown, permafrost degradation and mining in Tibet.
Mr Sudripta Roy and, talked about the geology of the Himalayan region and the upliftment of the Tibetan Plateau. He also talk about his concerns regarding the environmental degradation especially on water related issues and touched other related topics as well.
Dr. Rajeev Bindal besides speaking on other interesting topics also spoke about the environmental movement in Himachal from plastic ban to afforestation.
Vote of thanks was delivered by Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok, a senior TPPRC official and member of Tibetan Parliament. On behalf of TPPRC and PRI he thanked the speakers, the audience and the organizing team for making the event a grand success. He also mentioned organizing similar intellectual discussions and talks in other parts of India and the importance of the same.
