Key Points
A coalition of the organisations, the People for Himalaya, released a charter of demands on Friday and said they will share it with political parties ahead of elections..
NEW DELHI: Civil society organisations have called for a complete moratorium on all mega infrastructure projects in the High Himalayas and sought a multi-disciplinary review of the impacts of existing projects.e)..
A top-down model of development and governance cannot work for the region which has its unique topography, culture and lifestyle, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk said at a meeting of the coalition on Friday..
Among its demands, the coalition has sought democratic decision-making through referendums and public consultation on large infrastructure by strengthening the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 1994, scrapping of the EIA 2020 Amendments & Forest Conservation Amendment Act 2023; free prior informed consent of gram sabhas to be mandatory for all developmental projects; and a just implementation of 2013 Right to Fair Compensation and Rehabilitation Act..
Mayalmit Lepcha, from Affected Citizens of Teesta, and Mohan Saikia from the North East Dialogue forum expressed serious concerns about the ecological impacts of massive hydropower development proposed on the Brahmaputra and its river basins allegedly without the consent of local indigenous communities..
