VASCO: The Union minister of environment, forest and climate change, Anil Madhav Dave, said lengthy discussions on the fast “disappearance” of the snowscape on the Himalayan mountain ranges were held between India and China during the BRICS environment minister meeting here on Friday. He was addressing a press meet at the end of the second BRICS environment ministers’ meeting held at a starred hotel in South Goa on Friday. He said all the concerned had an idea of climate change and both New Delhi and Beijing raised the contentious issue of the shrinking snowscape at Himalayas which is an indicator in this regard.
“Climate change is a major and larger issue and the effect is something we feel and observe. We need to understand that 30 to 40 years back, those who had been to Himalayan ranges, they must have noticed a blanket of snow spread across, but now the blanket has shrunk and is limited to the peaks and some patches here and there. This indicates the change in the global clime conditions which have aggravated the snow melting process,” he said.
Commenting further, he said “It is not that the countries which are surrounding the mountain range that are only responsible for the melting of snow in Himalayas as the same is due to global climate change. So, we are discussing at length and using technology as to what to do and what not to do.”
He said during the meeting of environment ministers of BRICS, bilateral issues were also discussed and issues such as problems faced by Himalayas particularly with China were also discussed. “These two countries are geographically placed on either side of the mountain range. For the rest of the countries, we discussed the issues of water conservation and particularly rivers, lakes and ponds. Also China alone or any other country cannot be singled out for the fate of Himalayan ranges. The discussion was aimed at finding solutions and not pinning down the erring nation,” he added.
