Darjeeling, Sept. 16: Come September 19 and Darjeeling will play host to a three-day interactive meet with various stakeholders. The topic of discussion: sustainable development of mountain eco-systems across the globe.

The move comes in tune with the World Environment Conference held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and in the wake of the United Nations General Assembly’s 1998 decision to declare 2002 as The International Year of The Mountains.

The state minister for environment, Manab Mukherjee and his counterparts from Uttaranchal and Assam, Nav Bharat and Pradip Borodoloi will attend the meet. State urban development minister and Siliguri MLA, Asok Bhattacharya will also be present during the workshop. Delegates from the Saarc countries and Rejyce Mabudashasi, the environment minister of South Africa, will attend the meet. International NGOs have also confirmed participation.

The discussions in all sessions will be kept thematic in order to allow easy understanding of focal issues relating to ecological, social and institutional aspects of mountain development. The Darjeeling Himalyan Railway (DHR), which has been accorded the World Heritage status by the Unesco, would also be taken up as a case study to highlight the role of railways in the economic development of the Himalayan region.

Another issue that will be addressed during the meet is the gradual decline of the number of tourists visiting the Darjeeling hills. A survey conducted by the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI), revealed that the flow of tourists, in the DHR, 3600 per month during 1998, had come down to a trickle, 600 per month in 2001.

The survey that had been commissioned by the Union ministry of tourism will be scanned and remedial measures will be solicited from the TERI. The members at the conference will then judge the feasibility of the plan and sanction a project to implement.

Tourism development in the hills will be the prime topic of discussion, as will be the viability of introducing battery operated vehicles and electric tricicles. Issues such as solid waste management, streamlining of traffic-system and augmenting the drinking water storage capacity in the hills will also be taken up.