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Pressing for immediate steps to protect Himalayas especially after the Uttarakhand flash floods, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today mooted setting up a dedicated, central body which would oversee development and ecological conservation works in the mountains.
"The Himalayas are not a different entity for Uttarakhand, J&K, Darjeeling and Nepal. It is one, it is one system. Therefore there should be proper arrangements for its security and we had also mentioned in our manifesto that the responsibility to safeguard the Himalayas lies with the entire country," said Joshi.
"We need to create a system for Himalayas' security and there should be funds allocated every year by the Parliament for this. We should create a dedicated unit like Himalaya Development Authority or anything you name it, but a central body should be constituted which can manage Himalayas," he added.
A body which can identify what kind of technology can be used in Himalayas, what kind of roads and houses can be built and what kind of industrial units can be established, said Joshi who was here at a function organised by Akhil Bhartiya Uttarakhand Trasadi Peedit Manch for paying tributes to the victims of the Uttarakhand flash floods last year.
"If Himalayas are saved, only then the country will be saved," added Joshi.
Remembering the plight of Uttarakhand tragedy victims, senior RSS leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi, said, "be it a man-made disaster or a natural disaster, the damage can't be forgotten ever".
Scientists should study the causes of the Uttarakhand tragedy, so a clear plan of action can be formulated for avoiding such tragedies in future, he said.
