More research activities needed in Himalayas, says Kiren Rijiju

PANAJI — Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday said there was a need to conduct more research in the Himalayas as “we are yet to get to the position where we deserve to be.”

Speaking during a visit to the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) at Vasco in Goa, he also batted for “scientific approach” to life, and said the scientific community will guide us in the coming years.

The former law minister who recently took charge of the Earth Sciences ministry also interacted with the Indian researchers stationed at Bharati Station in Antarctica.

“Himalayas belong to India. Himalayas belong to us and we don’t have that level of activities in Himalayas,” Rijiju said.

Pointing out that he hails from a Himalayan region, he said that in his own state of Arunachal Pradesh, which covers the largest area of Indian Himalayas, not much (research) activities have happened.

“We are yet to get to the position where we deserve to be. So Himalayas is another very-very interesting area,” he said.

Geological features of higher reaches of the Himalayas resemble ocean beds, the minister said.

“All the sand, stones everything . I see just the way I see in the pictures of rock bottom of the ocean,” he said.

The Union minister also said that he has seen changes in the Himalayas in his own lifetime.

“In a lifespan of 50 years, if you see so much of changes, you can imagine the level of changes in next one thousand years,” he said.

Scientists are the ones who will guide how we should progress, how should the nation look forward and how our lifestyle should be, the minister said.

“I always believed that our approach should be scientific. Unscientific approach in life is unsustainable. That is why we have to understand that we must have rational thinking when we look at life,” he added.

Acknowledging the NCPOR’s contribution to scientific advancement, the minister lauded the successful expedition of the team currently stationed in Antarctica and said he looked forward to interacting with them upon return.