Over 30 civil society organisations urge NDMA to rethink Mountain Governance

Shimla, Oct 16,

Over thirty civil society organisations and forty individuals from across the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) have jointly urged the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to initiate urgent reforms in disaster governance and climate preparedness. Their appeal, made under the banner of the People For Himalaya campaign, follows the catastrophic monsoon season of 2025, which left behind a trail of destruction and exposed deep governance gaps across the mountain states.

In a detailed submission to the NDMA’s High Powered Committee, the campaign—comprising scientists, environmentalists, and people’s organisations from Jammu & Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh—warned that the Himalayan crisis can no longer be viewed as a seasonal misfortune. It must be recognised as a man-made disaster born of policy neglect, unscientific development, and ecological indifference. The letter, coinciding with the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, argues that the time has come to rebuild not just infrastructure, but institutional conscience.

The 2025 monsoon brought devastation through floods, landslides, glacial lake outbursts, and cloudbursts across Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and the Northeast, flattening homes, displacing families, and erasing public infrastructure. The signatories say that this cycle of loss is no longer acceptable. They have called upon NDMA to strengthen the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) framework, urging that ongoing studies in Uttarakhand and Himachal be completed swiftly, while regions such as Darjeeling and North Bengal must not be left waiting. Their demand is for transparent, evidence-based rehabilitation and fair financial allocations—resources that reach those who need them, rather than getting trapped in bureaucratic layers.

But the campaign goes deeper than disaster response. It questions the model of development that has turned the Himalaya into a construction zone, arguing that the worst-hit regions are those overwhelmed by highways, hydropower projects, tunnels, and railways. The submission demands a national review of such projects, calling for independent ecological audits, strict zoning regulations, and the withdrawal of the recent Forest Conservation Act amendment that permits forest clearance within 100 kilometres of international borders. The message is clear: rebuilding must not repeat the mistakes that caused the destruction in the first place.

Equally urgent is the plea for rehabilitation and land rights for displaced populations. The campaign points out that since nearly two-thirds of land in Himalayan states is legally classified as forest, thousands of disaster-affected families remain in limbo—without secure housing, land tenure, or livelihoods. It calls for time-bound exemptions under the Forest Conservation Act for disaster rehabilitation, coupled with ecological restoration measures, and insists that women, pastoral groups, and landless labourers must be at the centre of resettlement policies.

The submission envisions a model of resilience rooted in science and community participation. It urges the government to empower State Climate Change Cells with greater technical and financial capacity, expand the monitoring networks of the India Meteorological Department and Central Water Commission, and strengthen early warning systems. But most crucially, it calls for devolving real authority to Panchayats and Gram Sabhas—those who live with the mountains and understand their rhythms better than any distant agency.

The People For Himalaya campaign concludes with a warning and a hope. It says the disasters of 2025 should be a turning point in India’s approach to mountain governance—a chance to move from reaction to reflection, from relief to resilience. The submission ends with a simple truth: “The only viable future is one that centres safety, equity, and environmental integrity.”

The joint appeal has been endorsed by thirty-one organisations and thirty-seven individuals across India and abroad, including Citizens for Green Doon, Social Development for Communities Foundation, Himdhara Collective, Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, Climate Front (Jammu), The Shimla Collective, Council for Democratic Civic Engagement (Sikkim), Joshimath Bachao Sangarsh Samiti, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), and MAUSAM Network. Together, they speak for the Himalaya’s many voices—reminding India that the mountains are warning us, not waiting for us.