Plans talks with neighbours, biodiversity mapping.

Recognising the importance of the Indian Himalayas as a unique repository of biodiversity, and as part of the official mission for sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem, the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has released guidelines on this.

Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Environment and Forests will bring out a white paper on the current state of scientific knowledge on the Himalayan glaciers.

It will establish an institutional mechanism to monitor the trends and variability of glaciers and study the impact of changes on the hydrological regime in the region.

Chandigarh

Madhur Tankha

NEW DELHI: The Energy and Resources Institute and the Indian Mountaineering Foundation on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to study, preserve and safeguard the Himalayan glaciers under the National Mission of Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system.

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI

Nov. 26: Expressing concern over the receding Himalayan glaciers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said all resources must be mobilised to protect the Himalayas and its eco-system.

Environmentalist and Chipko leader Sundar Lal Bahuguna

DEHRA DUN: The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh has assured the Chipko leader Sunder Lal Bahuguna and the Congress MLA from Tehri, Kishore Upadhyay of taking up the issue of framing an ecologically sustainable policy for the Himalayan region during the next Cabinet meeting.

Announcing this at a press conference here, Mr Bahuguna and Mr Upadhyay said that they had apprised the Prime Minister of the perils that were emerging from the unscientific and market driven policies followed in the Himalayan States.

The ice form of lord Shiva, Shivalingam, has completely melted away in Amarnath, much to the huge disappointment of thousands of devotees and many more who are yet to come. An Amarnath Shrine Board official said the holy icicle had been receding day by day and disappeared today. Reports from the holy cave say that some pilgrims were agitated over the disappearance of the lingam and blamed ill-management on the part of board for its now almost annual disappearance.

BY CHRISTOPHER BODEEN China is planning a major cleanup operation for Mount Everest in 2009 and may limit the number of climbers and other visitors, Tibet's environmental protection chief was quoted as saying on Monday. The cleanup and new measures are planned for the second half of 2009, Zhang Yongze told the official Xinhua News Agency. China has already enacted some restrictions, including forbidding vehicles from driving directly to the base camp which is at 16,995 feet (5,180 metres), Mr Yongze said.