KNS Special Correspondent
Srinagar, Oct 13 (KNS): Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said the Purple Revolution is transforming Jammu and Kashmir's economy and has generated employment for nearly 8,000 youth, while asserting that lavender cultivation is now spreading to Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Mizoram.
Addressing the first meeting of the Sustainable Mountain Summit at SKUAST-K in Srinagar, Dr Jitendra Singh said J&K, lying in the lap of the Himalayas, possesses all the attributes of the mountain range—springs, rivers and glaciers—making it an ideal location for research and academic study, even as he flagged the region's vulnerability to flash floods and cloudbursts.
The beauty of the Himalayas, whether it is the beauty of the springs, or the beauty of Sindh, Jhelum and Chenab, that same beauty sometimes becomes heavy by taking the form of flash floods or by taking the form of a flood, Dr Singh told news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS) on the sidelines of the 13th Sustainable Mountain Development Summit.
Recalling the 2014 floods that submerged the entire city and last year's cloudburst in Kishtwar, the Minister said the government has since installed a series of automatic weather stations from Leh and Ladakh to Kishtwar, with additional stations set up after the Kishtwar incident.
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Radar stations used to be just 17 in this country before 2014. Today, it has increased to 50. And we are putting up 50 more, according to the Mission Mausam announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh also announced that India's first capacity-building programme for glaciology has been initiated from the University of Kashmir, with the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in Dehradun beginning work at three locations—Sikkim, Tezpur in the North-East, and Kashmir.
Describing J&K as the
birthplace of the Purple Revolution, Dr Singh said the Aroma Mission, which began here, is now being replicated in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Mizoram, providing employment to about 7,000 to 8,000 young people.
He said the government provides full funding and market linkage for the technology, and dispelled the misconception that a PhD is required to pursue it.
Today we have 3-4 such examples of Jammu and Kashmir who have left their corporate jobs in Bengaluru and other cities and have joined the work of this Aroma Mission, Dr Jitendra Singh said.
The summit witnessed participation from scholars, students and experts from across India and around the world, the minister said. (KNS)
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