NITI Aayog A Summary Report Contributing to Sustainable Development in the Indian Himalayan Region Key messages from five thematic reports and way forward NITI Aayog, August 2018 Cover photo: Trisul mountain peaks, Himalayas, Kumaon, Uttarakhand, India Facing overview: Nohkalika fall, Cherrapunjee, East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya A Summary Report Contributing to Sustainable Development in the Indian Himalayan Region Key messages from five thematic reports and way forward Revival of Springs Sustainable Tourism Shifting Cultivation Skills and Entrepreneurship Data for Informed Decision Making Acronyms and Abbreviations ATI Advanced Training Institute IPCC Inter-governmental Panel on Climate BBIN Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Change BIMSTEC The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi- IT Information Technology Sectoral Technical and Economic ITI Industrial Training Institute Cooperation MGNREGS Mahatma Gandhi National Rural CAMPA Compensatory Afforestation Fund Employment Guarantee Scheme Management and Planning Authority MoEF&CC Ministry of Environment, Forest & CDMA Central Data Management Agency Climate Change FSI Forest Survey of India MoSPI Ministry of Statistics and Programme GBPNIHESD GB Pant National Institute of Implementation Himalayan Environment and MSDE Ministry of Skills Development and Development Entrepreneurship GCF Green Climate Fund MUDRA Micro Unit Development and HIMAP Himalaya Monitoring and Assessment Refinancing Agency Programme NITI National Institution for Transforming ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated India Mountain Development SDGs Sustainable Development Goals IHR Indian Himalayan Region ToR Terms of Reference IIT Indian Institute of Technology TSA Tourism Satellite Accounts WG Working Group /fhLj s'df/ ef/t ;/sf/ pkfWoIf gLlt cfof]u, ;+;b dfu{ DR. RAJIV KUMAR gO{ lbNnL–110001 VICE CHAIRMAN Government of India Phones : 23096677, 23096688 NATIONAL INSTITUTION FOR TRANSFORMING INDIA Fax : 23096699 NITI Aayog, Parliament Street E-mail : [email protected] New Delhi-110001 MESSAGE The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) that makes up our north and north-eastern borders, comprises 10 mountain States and four hill districts from States of Assam and West Bengal. The region and its communities are a pride of India but experiences a range of demographic, environmental and social stresses. An estimated four million springs, which are the lifeline for meeting water requirements of millions of people across the region, are interestingly drying up or becoming seasonal, causing untold misery to both rural and urban inhabitants. Tourism related activities in the region are already generating about 23 thousand tons of solid waste every day. With the projected number of tourists expected to more than double by 2025, (reaching 240 million from the current figure of 100 million) — urgent actions are needed to address critical issues of waste management and water conservation. In addition, the region has seen a slower pace of development as compared to the rest of the country, leading to economic stagnation. Employment and higher education opportunities have been concentrated in the urban centres in the plains, causing the aspirant youth to migrate out. It is necessary that any development activity to economically lift the region, besides being environmentally sustainable, should target the youth. This will also help check migration outflow. Thus a strong thrust on skilling and creating advantageous opportunities in the areas of goods and services is needed. Five Thematic Working Groups contributing to Sustainable development in the Indian Himalayan Region set up by NITI Aayog in 2017 have presented a shared vision to foster well-being of the people in the region. These relate to improving water security in mountain towns and cities through revival of springs, developing responsible mountain tourism, increasing skilled workforce, transforming shifting cultivation in north eastern hill region to ensure ecological, food and nutritional security and making available required dataset and information. I congratulate Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog and Dr. Ashok Kumar Jain, Adviser, who led the process for bringing out this timely report. My compliments to experts from relevant Ministries. IHR States and other institutions who have contributed to the development of the road map for Sustainable Development in the Indian Himalayan Region. The next step is to ensure that the recommendations are considered by the concerned Ministries at the Centre and by the IHR States and translated into improved policies and action plans. (Rajiv Kumar) Dated: 3rd August 2018 Place: New Delhi :jR5 ef/t Ps sbd :jR5tf sL cf]/ jL=s]= ;f/:jt ef/t ;/sf/ DR. V.K. Saraswat gLlt cfof]u, ;+;b dfu{ ;b:o gO{ lbNnL–110001 Member Government of India Phones : 23096566, 23096567 NATIONAL INSTITUTION FOR TRANSFORMING INDIA Fax : 23096603 NITI Aayog, Parliament Street E-mail : [email protected] New Delhi-110001 MESSAGE With its physical grandeur, natural splendor and spiritual aura, "The Himalayas" have shaped our civilization and cultural legacy that pervades through the lives of 1.3 billion people. However, uncontrolled demand driven economic growth has led to haphazard urbanization, environmental degradation with increased risks and vulnerabilities, seriously compromising the unique values of the Himalayas. Sustainability filter that accounts for environmental, socio-cultural & spiritual elements in addition to economic growth must be the bedrock for Sustainable Development Goals for the Himalayas. Underpinning environmental sustainability is must into all decision-making – be it for livelihood enhancement, urban development, tourism promotion or disaster risk reduction. Mountain specificity needs to be understood, we cannot simply work with pan India solutions for the Himalayas. NITI Aayog has picked up 5 themes to address some of the key concerns in the Himalayas. Inventory and recharge of springs in the Himalayas for water security to be taken up as a National Mission; application of transformative approaches to short fallow cycle based shifting cultivation; minimizing the adverse impacts of tourism to enhance visitor satisfaction while creating conditions for enhanced local benefits; strengthening skill and entrepreneurship in IHR based on unique mountain products and services; and looking at data that provides for high fidelity scenarios and help in informed decision making. Developing the roadmap for actions means bringing institutional collaborations at the highest level. It must support processes that bring full ownership of partners/stakeholders at different levels, engaging concerned Central Ministries as well as all the Himalayan States. An "Himalayan Authority", as proposed in the report merits consideration to bring this coordination with lead Ministries at Centre and Himalayan Slates, along with other key stakeholders for synergistic actions. It will also foster regional collaboration to address issues that have regional dimensions, for example, regional tourism circuits, regional markets of niche mountain products etc. to build upon ‘Act East Policy’ of the Government. :jR5 ef/t Ps sbd :jR5tf sL cf]/ Science and Technology will have a crucial role to play to address mountain issues. The need to develop a stronger consortia of knowledge centers in Himalayas for providing scientific and technological solution suited to the mountains can hardly be overemphasized. Life cycle and system approach is key to finding sustainable solutions. Scientific assessments like the one under Hindu Kush Himalaya Monitoring & Assessment Programme (HIMAP) need to be factored in. Coordinated by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a regional organization of eight member countries, the assessment brings out thematic outlooks, deeper understanding of drivers of change and provides for evidence based policy solutions. A Central Data Management Agency (CDMA) for Himalayan region, proposed in the report needs to be considered for not only ensuring availability of consistent and reliable data having bearing on SDGs but also ensuring that the data sharing happens to help planning and decision making at different scales, from local to national and regional. This would strengthen Government of India’s Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy. Our policies must factor in mountain specificities. Therefore, the recommendations of 5 thematic reports merit consideration in both policy and action planning process. Lastly, given significance of the Himalayas and the challenges it faces today, there is a need to launch "Himalaya Calling", a massive awareness to action campaign that could harness people’s energy towards a sustainable and secure Himalaya. I congratulate Dr. Ashok Kumar Jain and his team at NITI Aayog, various thematic working groups and their leads, Central Ministries and IHR States who participated and contributed in various meetings and discussions. The report is the outcome of this engagement. I must mention role of ICIMOD, Kathmandu particularly Dr. David Molden, Dr. Eklabya Sharma and Shri Brij Mohan Singh Rathore whose presentation triggered the process, and continued engagement ICIMOD team of experts further enriched and supported the process. (Dr. V K Saraswat) New Delhi 03.08.2018 cldtfe sf+t ef/t ;/sf/ Amitabh Kant gLlt cfof]u, ;+;b dfu{ d'Vo sfo{sf/L clwsf/L gO{ lbNnL–110001 Chief Executive Officer Government of India NATIONAL INSTITUTION FOR TRANSFORMING INDIA NITI Aayog, Parliament Street New Delhi-110001 Tel.: 23096576,