Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein attending the one-day Himalayan conclave at Mussoorie on Sunday called for timely intervention of 15th Finance Commission on resolving common issues of these states.
The objective of the conclave was to discuss various issues related to development of Himalayan States. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the one-day Himalayan conclave.
Mein while laying emphasis on the importance of the conclave said that the issues which are common to all Himalayan states need timely intervention from the Fifteenth Finance Commission. He hoped that genuine concerns will be looked into proper perspective by the Commission and it will make appropriate and specific recommendations for the Himalayan States to the Government of India.
“The Joint Memorandum of the Himalayan States to be submitted to the 15th Finance Commission is a significant initiative”, said Mein and added that it is in the right direction and very clearly puts forward the common concerns of all Himalayan states.
Mein laid stress that the criteria for ecosystem services should only be based upon absolute forest area in the state as Arunachal Pradesh has a quality forest cover of 82% of the total area and thus provides invaluable ecological services to the nation and the world as carbon sink.
However, this very asset has become a development disability for the State and its people. In the name of conservation of the forest for larger good, the local people are deprived of modern facilities of development as no compensation has yet been given to the State for this invaluable contribution, added Mein.
He further added that the State has a stock of 148.52 tonnes of carbon stock per hectare which is highest in the country and its value is estimated to be about Rs. 48000.00 crores annually. The forest cover of the State requires due cognizance, which has been ensured in our suggested formula. The 14th Finance Commission had recognized this factor, but now, the earlier weightage is required to be enhanced in keeping with the economic implication arising from some denudation of the State’s forest cover and agricultural practices affecting the same.
Mein advocated that the scientific Vulnerability Index may be used to devolve the funds between states as the Himalayan States are located in high seismic Zone and are highly vulnerable to earthquakes along with other natural disasters.
Stating that one of the biggest challenges which the Indian Himalayan Region faces is the annual devastation caused by relentless monsoons. There is massive destruction of roads and other infrastructures. The current norms of disaster relief under SDRF/NDRF guidelines are far too meagre to restore the infrastructure. Our state has been unable to restore the rain damages that have been accumulating over the years. We are left with a mammoth task of restoring damages, which our state is unable to carry out due to its meagre resources, added the Deputy CM of Arunachal Pradesh.
