Leh: The Chairman/CEC, LAHDC, Leh, Adv. Tashi Gyalson inaugurated the inaugural ceremony of the two-day consultative meeting on Forum for Inclusive and Resilient Sanitation in Hill Cities .
The Forum for Inclusive and Resilient Sanitation in Hill Cities meet is organised by the National Institute of Urban Affairs and BORDA along with various other partners, such as Directorate of Urban Local Bodies, UT Ladakh, Sanitation Capacity Building Platform, LeDEG and various other institutions.
Addressing the gathering, Chairman, LAHDC, Leh, Adv. Tashi Gyalson appreciated the organisers for conducting such an important seminar in Ladakh and added that it is the ideal place to start sending message to the rest of the world on the issue of water and sanitation in the wake of climate change. He exhorted that an important aspect of such deliberations is ensuring constructive implementation and execution of the decided goals and targets on the ground.
He added that impact of climate change is most visible in high mountainous regions like Ladakh where glaciers are receding at a fast pace further accelerating the crisis of water shortage. Stressing the patterns of climate change, he added that the timely action in course correction is needed to avoid any disaster in making.
Also, CEC Gyalson added that Leh is overstressed and overburdened with the huge influx of tourists, presence of migrant labours and the army adding to the transportation pollution as everything, including essentials are imported from outside, waste management, water crises and sanitation as well. He highlighted the need of policy change such as the extension of Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) to the mountain states to better tackle the challenges.
Further, he expressed hope that the various experts and stakeholders would achieve constructive discussions during the seminar for a sustainable future of Ladakh and mountain states.
The two-day consultative meeting would have panel discussions focusing policy and governance, technological intervention and strengthening service delivery related to water and sanitation in the hill cities headed by experts from NIUA, BORDA, SCBP-NIUA, Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) and other organisations.
