The Price of Development: Sikkim’s Mountains Under Pressure

 


Geologically, Sikkim’s mountains are young, steep and fragile. Excessive use of heavy machinery, dynamite blasting and indiscriminate hill cutting can disturb the natural stability of these mountains and increase the risk of landslides and other disasters.

As an environmental journalist from Sikkim, I have been observing these changes closely. What we do to the mountains today may determine what the mountains do to us tomorrow.



Development is necessary, but development without understanding the limits of the mountains can become a disaster in itself.

— Sonam Pintso Sherpa
Environmental Journalist – Sikkim

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