Our Activities / Projects

MERU began its fieldwork in the Himalayan town of Manali (H.P.) in the month of May- 2003.The town has seen a boom in tourism since the mid 1980's. Tourist influx into the town and its surrounding areas has increased exponentially in the past couple of decades. As a consequence of this, the whole of the scenic upper Kullu region is now faced with serious degradation of its natural environment. One of the major sources of worry for environmentalists of that region is the continually increasing piles of waste, which are polluting the soil, air and water of the region. The non-existence of effective waste management mechanisms only aggravates this problem.To deal with this problem, MERU evolved a multi pronged strategy,

Starting from May – 2003, two activists from the organisation would, on a daily basis, cover the whole fleet of tourist buses heading for the popular tourist destinations of the upper Kullu valley, viz. Rohtang Pass, Solang valley, Kothi, Naggar and Manikaran etc. The activists would interact with the tourists and talk to them about the necessity of conserving the delicately balanced environment of the Himalaya.The activists would request all the tourists to be very careful and not pollute the ecosystem of these mountains. They would also provide them with either jute bags or cardboard boxes/cartons to facilitate the collection of garbage. The tourists were entreated to not litter these beautiful places and to leave no trace behind. They were also requested to collect as much rubbish as they could and use the bags/ boxes in their buses for collecting this rubbish and their other disposables. On the return of these buses to Manali, the activists would take these bags / boxes and dispose off the garbage as effectively as possible.

• MERU took active part in the campaign to rid the upper Kullu Valley of Polythene bags and other disposable plastic derivatives. This was done in co-operation with a local level NGO, SEVA (Save Environment Volunteers Awareness Forum) – Manali.
  
• This undertaking involved protest marches, demonstrations, and aggressive media and signature campaigns and resulted in the official imposition of a blanket ban on the use of poly- bags in Manali.
  
• MERU is currently working with some likeminded organisations in trying to devise an efficient solid waste management system for the upper Kullu valley. There is already a bio-composting plant present in the outskirts of Manali, in a place called Rangri. This plant is however able to deal with only part of the biodegradable waste generated in the town everyday. Till date, there is no mechanism for the effective disposal of non-biodegradable waste (nbw) in Manali. The contribution of MERU has been the attempt to get a low emission, pollution free incinerator installed in Manali, so that the huge quantities of n.b.w. produced everyday can be disposed off efficiently.
  

• MERU conducted signature campaigns in Manali regarding the incinerator and sent petitions repeatedly to the Manali Nagar Panchayat, Deputy Commissioners office –Kullu, Director- Urban Local Bodies – Simla and the Hon' Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.
  
• MERU also talked to experts (notably, Dr. J.C.Kuniyal) of the G.B.Panth Institute of Environmental and Development and collected data regarding the waste problem of Kullu.
  
• We have been in constant touch with incinerator manufacturing companies like Hi-Altech India Ltd., Thermax and Alpha Therm India Ltd. and have been successful in getting very competitive proposals from them for the installation of the incineration plant. We have submitted all the required papers to the Govt. of H.P. and currently the case is being studied (ostensibly) by the office of the Director of Tourism, Himachal Govt., where it has been gathering dust for the last one and a half year.
  
• Be that as it may, MERU, is seriously contemplating approaching the agency – CAPART, with a comprehensive project proposal for setting up the incinerator in Manali. The estimated setting up cost of the plant is Rupees 9.5 to 10 Lakhs and the recurring annual cost for running the incinerator will be about Rupees 3 lakh seventy five thousand. The setting up of this incinerator will, we believe, go a long way in alleviating the waste disposal woes of Manali.

• In addition to this, MERU is also exploring the possibility of creating a low cost local level recycling mechanism in Manali, with the help of the local Kabadhi Wallahs, for the management of recyclable waste items like glass bottles, tins and plastic jerry cans etc.
  

MERU has been active in creating awareness amongst school children in Manali, about nature conservation and the need to protect the environment (especially, mountain environment).

• MERU has also been involved with the mobilization of school students (specifically, students from DPS – Manali, where the President of MERU was instrumental in getting an Ecology club called 'Duffdun Eco Warriors' started in the school).
  
• MERU and Duffdun Eco Warriors jointly carried out a number of aforestation and garbage collection and disposal drives. Two of the sites where DPS-Manali kids carried out plantation of Deodhar saplings have since grown into thriving nurseries.
  
• We seek to broaden our ambit in the current year and involve various other bodies like local Mahila Mandals, various village panchayats, college students and tour operating agencies in grassroots level conservation work such as aforestation and garbage collection/ cleanliness drives, organising resistance (through peaceful demonstrations and marches) to unsustainable developmental projects- inimical to the health of mountain ecosystems, cleaning up rivers, streams and springs, helping in the prevention and mitigation of forest fires and checking trafficking of endangered Himalayan wildlife etc.

• MERU conducted a workshop on Himalayan Environment Conservation from the 2nd to the 4th of October 2003, for The Songtsen Library and Center For Tibetan and Himalayan Studies in Dehradun, Uttranchal – India. The topic of the workshop was, 'Environmental Degradation in the Himalaya and some remedies to mitigate it at the grassroots level.

'Twenty-five college students from the Indian Himalayan states of Uttranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir (Ladakh), Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh participated in the workshop in addition to a few students from Nepal, Bhutan and the Tibetan community in India.

• The workshop was a resounding success and achieved its objective of making the impressionable minds of these youngsters aware of the need for protecting Himalayan Environment and eliciting their commitment towards conservation efforts. Positive feedback from three of the participants since then has kindled the hope that at least some of those young students will start movements similar to MERU, in their home states.
  

• The organisers of the workshop were fully satisfied with its outcome and have expressed a desire to conduct more such workshops in the future with the help of MERU. The workshop received media coverage in the Garhwal Post and Amar Ujala newspapers.

• MERU is currently also a part of a spirited peoples resistance movement which is taking place in the village, Jagatsukh, located on the left bank of the river-Beas, in the Kullu valley.
  
• The people of Jagatsukh are protesting against the construction of the 192 Megawatt ‘Allain-Duhangan Hydro Electric project,’ the builder’s of which are grossly flouting all Environmental and humanitarian norms. This project proposes to generate power by diverting the water of the Duhangan Nallah near Jagatsukh, into the Allain Nallah above the village of Prini and running its turbines on the collected waters of the two streams.
  
• The Duhangan Nallah is a beautiful perennial stream that originates from the glaciers on Mt. Deo Tibba. It is a vibrant mountain - riverine ecosystem, which has thrived for millennia. The people of Jagatsukh, for whom the river is the sacred Dhaumya Ganga of yore, depend on this stream for their drinking and irrigation water needs. They have a strong apprehension that once the waters of the Duhangan nallah are diverted into the Allain nallah, they will face a serious shortage of potable and irrigation water.
  
• Till date the builders of the project have not carried out a comprehensive Environment impact assessment about the fallouts of the construction of this project. Only a few halfhearted, stop-gap surveys have been conducted till today.
  
• MERU feels that the construction of the Duhangan project in the present manner will have a catastrophic impact on the fragile ecosystem of the place. The basin of the river will progressively dry up and with it will be destroyed the thriving habitat of a number of species of Himalayan Flora and fauna.
  
• In addition to this, the construction of the project will entail the cutting down of a lot of Himalayan trees such as Deodhar, Moru, Spruce and Bhojpatra. The project officials have given the figure, regarding the number of trees that are slated to be cut down, as 1,400. However, unofficial sources claim that the number could be as high as 4,000 – 6,500. It is not difficult to imagine the kind of impact this will have on the natural habitat of this region.
The construction of feeder roads to the various project sites will only serve to aggravate the problem as these roads will prove to be a blessing for the timber mafia, which will find much easier access to the beautiful high altitude forests of this region. This project is also, we feel, a disaster waiting to happen, as the gorge of the Allain is very narrow. It is our apprehension that when the waters of both the streams are channelised into it, it will become a very risky proposition in the event of a cloudburst or some other such mishap in the upper catchments of these streams. Yet, no heed has been paid to this and to the dumping of construction debris and excavated earth on the mountain slopes, in-spite of a history of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides in this region.
• MERU is taking an active part in the People of Jagatsukhs resistance against the construction of the Duhangan project in the present manner. MERU regularly takes part in any protest demonstrations that are carried out against the project. We are also trying to mobilize the people of the entire upper valley against the heedless construction of the Duhangan Project.
  
• MERUalso submitted a petition in May –2004, to the World Bank which is one of the major sponsors of the Allain – Duhangan Hydro Electric Project, voicing our opposition and the opposition of the people of Jagatsukh to the construction of the project in this ham handed manner without a comprehensive study of its impacts, by a panel of independent Environmental experts. In the coming years, MERU will intensify its campaign against this detrimental project.
  

• MERU conducted a seminar on the 6th of June 2005 on "Strategies and Methods For Preserving Himalayan Environment During Trekking and Mountaineering Expeditions."The venue of the seminar was the Western Himalayan mountaineering Institute – Manali and most of the major adventure tour operators in Manali participated in it. The main resource persons for the were Dr. J.C. Kuniyal, of the G.B.Panth Institute Of Environment and Development( H.P.) and Capt. R.S. Salhuria, Deputy Director, Directorate Of Mountaineering and Allied Sports - Manali.
• The agenda of the seminar was to evolve a practicable code of conduct for trekking and climbing expeditions and groups heading into the Himalaya and devise methods for implementing it. The seminar was a success and a resolution was passed by all the participants expressing their support for the abovementioned code. Copies of the draft resolution and of the code of conduct have already been sent to the concerned authorities for their ratification. The local print media covered this event.

• As a direct outcome of this seminar and the resolution submitted to the concerned authorities, the Department of Tourism, Himachal Govt. organized a six-day sensitization cum training program for guides, tour leaders and porters of various adventure tour organizing agencies in Manali. This program was conducted in The Western Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (WHMI) Manali and was very productive. The code of conduct was approved after a unanimous resolution and was sent for ratification to the HP state govt.

• MERU founder, Mr. Rahul Ogra, took part in a workshop conducted by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) - India, on 'Saving high altitude Himalayan Wetlands,' as one of the main resource persons.The workshop was conducted on the 7th & 8th of April, 2010 in Manali (H.P.), India and a number of adventure tour operators from all over Himachal Pradesh took part in the same. 
• Our founder made an impressive presentation and was able to raise awareness about the issue as well as suggest a host of amelioration measures. Our efforts were very well received were praised highly by the organisers of the event (WWF - India). 

MERU Founder, making a presentation at the WWF workshop (April 2010)

Mentioned above are some of the activities which, we believe, are representative of the 'credo' of our organisation. For future projects, please check out the next section titled Future Projects / Activities.

In the short duration of its existence, MERU has achieved substantial results despite a dire shortage of funds. Its major strength has been a committed cadre of activists and members. It is the long-term vision of MERU to become the spearhead of a grassroots level nationwide movement to preserve the pristine environment of the “Abode of Eternal Snows” (The Himalaya), in all its splendor and glory.

RSVP: 


E-mail : rahulogra@gmail.com,
(Tel.) :  ++ 91 1902 251274 &  ++ 91 9816084461