Chief Ministers, MPs and legislators of 12 mountain States and UTs will participate in a parallel session during the 11th summit on ‘Sustainable Mountain Development’ (SMDS-XI).

“A separate meeting of legislators will also be held on the sidelines of SMDS-XI with the theme of ‘Harnessing tourism for sustainable mountain development,” said Rigzin Spalbar, a member of the Governing Body of Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI).

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The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) and the Sustainable Development Forum of Ladakh (SDFL) are hosting the SMDS-XI in collaboration with IMI from October 10 to12 October at Leh, Ladakh. Chief Ministers, MPs and other public representatives would come under one roof and resolve the issues pertaining to mountain states in general and Ladakh in particular.

Last week, a meeting was convened by SDFL with IMI and six nominated councillors of LAHDC. The meeting was attended by Councillor Saspol, Smanla Dorje Nurboo; Councillor Upper Leh, Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag; Councillor Skurbuchan, Lundup Dorjai; Councillor Lamayuru, Dr Morup Dorjey; the executive members of IMI headed by Chairman, PD Rai and executive members of SDFL headed by Convenor, Rigzin Spalbar.

Anwar Hussain, a member SDFL, gave a presentation regarding the agenda points for the MLM including varied issues like out migration in mountain states, EPR, etc. The councillors shared their concerns and thematic ideas for the MLM, raising a common voice for the need to look into the issue of over utilisation of ground water in cities like Leh, mapping of ground water resource and checking its quality.

In sync with the idea suggested by CEC, Leh, the councillors stressed on taking some action points through MLM in ensuring EPR in mountain States and UTs starting from Ladakh. They also suggested a brand audit of plastic waste generation by the councillors in their respective wards through a cleanliness drive as a run up to the SMDS-XI. They councillors also suggested deliberating on the dual perspective of planting trees in Ladakh given its geographical and ecological conditions.

PD Rai, Chairman, IMI, expressed the hope that having the event in hybrid mode would enable the participation of maximum number of legislators resulting into a more impactful session besides it would reduce the carbon footprint.