Srinagar, Aug. 5 -- Himalayan region is facing an undeniable crisis, with climate change accelerating the frequency and intensity of disasters that disrupt lives and livelihoods. Flash floods, cloudbursts, and landslides have become near-daily occurrences, damaging infrastructure and threatening communities. This reality demands a fundamental shift in how development is conceived. Nature must be recognised not as an obstacle to progress but as the very infrastructure that sustains it. Watersheds, wetlands, and forests are not passive landscapes; they are active systems that purify water, control floods, and protect villages. To degrade them is to gamble with the future, while conserving and restoring them is to invest in resilience.

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