`Siachen as peace park will help'

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, JUNE 21. Concerned over environmental degradation and the loss of life in Siachen, a group of conservationists has proposed that the troops stationed there be withdrawn and the glacier be converted into a peace park. The proposal will be formally sent to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, ahead of his summit meeting with the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in Agra.

Mr. Aamir Ali, who is here as part of a group to commemorate the golden jubilee of the Trishul mountaineering expedition, said the conversion of Siachen into a natural reserve offered several advantages. First, it skirted the contentious issue of border demarcation. The reserve, along the Saltoro range, could be jointly maintained by India and Pakistan without reference to territorial boundaries.

Secondly, it would not involve dislocation of populations as the area was uninhabited. Also, it would be an honourable way out for the countries locked in a battle since 1984 on the heights ranging up to 21,000 feet. ``If Siachen becomes a trans-frontier peace park, it maybe a way out as no side (India or Pakistan) loses out,'' Mr. Ali said.

If both sides mustered the political will to convert the Saltoro range into a reserve, technical means were commercially available to verify that it remained that way, Mr. Ali said.

On the ``appalling'' environmental degradation, he said the troops stationed there generated a huge amount of waste. Because of the low temperatures, the waste was stored in drums, which were later thrown into crevasses. Around 1,000 kg of human waste alone was generated daily, he observed, adding that ``all this will come out one day with disastrous effect''.

Mr. Ali said both India and Pakistan, who were experienced in maintaining high-altitude parks, would not have a problem in looking after the Siachen area. For instance, Pakistan maintains the Khunjerab National Park and the large Central Karakoram National Park, which will be adjacent to the proposed Siachen peace park. India maintains the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary on both sides of the India-Bhutan border. Other Himalayan reserves looked after by India include the Nanda Devi, the Leibul Lamjao, the Khangchendzionga and the Kishtwar.

The concept of peace parks is not new. Mr. Ali said there were 136 trans-frontier parks on the borders of 98 countries. Recently, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Croatia had agreed to establish a cross-border nature reserve, while in February last, Albania, Greece and Macedonia had decided to establish the Prespa park. The demilitarised zone between North and South Korea had also become a nature reserve after it was left undisturbed.

The Peace Park foundation in South Africa, led by Mr. Anton Rupert, was taking a keen interest in such ventures, Mr. Ali said. If India and Pakistan agreed to a `Siachen Peace Park', it would earn them great respect in the international community. ``It would be an extraordinary statement as the year 2002 is being observed as the International Year of the Mountains.'' In the following year, the World Conservation Union will be devoting its regular conference to peace parks.

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