Himalayan range suffering ill-effects of pollution "the most":

Dave New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) Environment Minister Anil MadhavDave today said the Himalayan range has been suffering fromthe ill-effects of pollution "the most" even as he discussedvarious issues including impact of climate change on the rangeand retreat of glaciers with MPs of the region. Chairing the third meeting with MPs from the Himalayanregion last evening, Dave also underlined the need for havingan interface on the real problems of the Himalayan region tohelp proper planning to mitigate them. "Man, wild animals and forests have been living inharmonious co-existence. No Scheduled Tribe has ever posed athreat to the forests. "Himalayas must be seen as a single whole and not indifferent parts. Himalayan range is one of the areas that hasbeen suffering the ill-effects of pollution the most," Davesaid. Some of the issues discussed at the meeting included thepossibility of disaster risk reduction, climate change impact,retreat of Himalayan glaciers, forest fires and the need toreduce out migration. The government has underlined the need for an interfaceon the real problems of the Himalayan region, as it will helpin proper planning, an official statement said. The MPs who took part in the meeting include Ajay Tamta,Shanta Kumar, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishankand Neiphu Rio. Two such meetings have been held earlier. The firstmeeting was held in September last year in Almora inUttarakhand. The meeting discussed the need to bring in a ‘MountainPerspective’ in national policies and plans and alsoemphasised the need to find long-term, research basedsolutions to the issues specific to the region. The second meeting was held in December last year and ithad underlined the need for bringing mountain states to theforefront of Sustainable Development Agenda in the country.PTI TDSRG