UN mediation must to avoid environmental hazards
September 26, 2011
With Pakistan and India preparing to have next round of talks on Siachen area, the experts opined that both countries need United Nations’ mediation to at least find ways and means to cope with growing environmental challenges in the highest battlefield that have started posing grave threats to people living in this region.
The experts referred to various latest reports that showed that hundreds of thousands of people benefiting from the Indus River are expected to face disastrous effects of water pollution as Siachen Glacier that feds this river entirely lacks natural biodegrading agents to decompose a huge amount of metals and plastics regularly thrown away mainly by the Indian military forces serving in the area.
They said major pollutants simply merge with the Siachen Glacier as permanent pollutants, leaching toxins like cobalt, cadmium, and chromium into the ice. “This waste eventually reaches the Indus River, affecting drinking and irrigation water being used by millions of people both from India and Pakistan,” they said.
A report prepared by Neal A. Kemkar in the past also underlined the need to include Siachen Glacier into 200 areas ‘critical’ to global conservation. “The Siachen area has been continuously experiencing large-scale loss of plant and animal diversity as a result of the lingering conflict. The constantly eroding glacier line, have led the World Wide Fund for Nature to designate the entire Tibetan Plateau Steppe, which encompasses the Siachen Glacier, as one of 200 areas ‘critical’ to global conservation,” the report said.
It stated, “[The Siachen conflict is like] a struggle of two bald men over a comb . . . . [It is] the epitome of the worst aspects of [their] relationship. These are two countries that are paired on a road to Oslo or Hiroshima, and at this point they could go either way.”
Dr. Seeme Mallick, a consultant for Climate Change Policy Formulation at One UN Joint Programme on Environment, told this correspondent that the creation of a transboundary protected area in coordination with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) would serve as a tool for disengagement and the collaborative management of such a protected area might help build confidence in bilateral relations.
“Pakistan and India are going to have next round of talks on Siachen area in the coming weeks and now it is high time for both the countries to think about grave environmental threats due to military activities especially on Indian side of the glacier,” she said.
It is also pertinent to mention here that the Siachen glacier is melting at an unprecedented rate due to deployment of troops and establishment of permanent cantonments. In order to facilitate the troops, glacial ice has been cut and melted through application of chemicals that have made it the fastest melting glacier.
Dr. Seeme Mallick said choosing a mediator with credibility and without unilaterally vested interests is an important element to a successful mediation and the United Nations that has obviously no such interests may be better mediator.
Though media reports occasionally refer to the environmental benefits of the demilitarisation of the Siachen area, Pakistan is believed to have so far not sent any proposal to India about environmental aspects of the lingering issue.
Dr. Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, a meteorologist and research scientist, told this scribe that now both Pakistan and India can no longer ignore environmental threats to the region due to military presence in the Siachen area.
“Global warming, emergence of large scale coal based industries in India and China and above all human activities in the Siachen area is causing fast melting of the glacier and it is high time to realize the intensity of the situation and take measures to avoid any kind of environmental disaster,” he said.
The experts referred to various latest reports that showed that hundreds of thousands of people benefiting from the Indus River are expected to face disastrous effects of water pollution as Siachen Glacier that feds this river entirely lacks natural biodegrading agents to decompose a huge amount of metals and plastics regularly thrown away mainly by the Indian military forces serving in the area.
They said major pollutants simply merge with the Siachen Glacier as permanent pollutants, leaching toxins like cobalt, cadmium, and chromium into the ice. “This waste eventually reaches the Indus River, affecting drinking and irrigation water being used by millions of people both from India and Pakistan,” they said.
A report prepared by Neal A. Kemkar in the past also underlined the need to include Siachen Glacier into 200 areas ‘critical’ to global conservation. “The Siachen area has been continuously experiencing large-scale loss of plant and animal diversity as a result of the lingering conflict. The constantly eroding glacier line, have led the World Wide Fund for Nature to designate the entire Tibetan Plateau Steppe, which encompasses the Siachen Glacier, as one of 200 areas ‘critical’ to global conservation,” the report said.
It stated, “[The Siachen conflict is like] a struggle of two bald men over a comb . . . . [It is] the epitome of the worst aspects of [their] relationship. These are two countries that are paired on a road to Oslo or Hiroshima, and at this point they could go either way.”
Dr. Seeme Mallick, a consultant for Climate Change Policy Formulation at One UN Joint Programme on Environment, told this correspondent that the creation of a transboundary protected area in coordination with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) would serve as a tool for disengagement and the collaborative management of such a protected area might help build confidence in bilateral relations.
“Pakistan and India are going to have next round of talks on Siachen area in the coming weeks and now it is high time for both the countries to think about grave environmental threats due to military activities especially on Indian side of the glacier,” she said.
It is also pertinent to mention here that the Siachen glacier is melting at an unprecedented rate due to deployment of troops and establishment of permanent cantonments. In order to facilitate the troops, glacial ice has been cut and melted through application of chemicals that have made it the fastest melting glacier.
Dr. Seeme Mallick said choosing a mediator with credibility and without unilaterally vested interests is an important element to a successful mediation and the United Nations that has obviously no such interests may be better mediator.
Though media reports occasionally refer to the environmental benefits of the demilitarisation of the Siachen area, Pakistan is believed to have so far not sent any proposal to India about environmental aspects of the lingering issue.
Dr. Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, a meteorologist and research scientist, told this scribe that now both Pakistan and India can no longer ignore environmental threats to the region due to military presence in the Siachen area.
“Global warming, emergence of large scale coal based industries in India and China and above all human activities in the Siachen area is causing fast melting of the glacier and it is high time to realize the intensity of the situation and take measures to avoid any kind of environmental disaster,” he said.
