Construction Projects & Himalayan Fragility

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

Context:

The Supreme Court reserved its judgment on an appeal by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for relaxing its order specifying road width under the CharDhamMahamargVikasPariyojana (Char Dham Highway Development Project) of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

CHAR DHAM HIGHWAY PROJECT

• Objective:

• • • Widening of roads up to ten meters to enhance connectivity to Char-Dham shrines- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath.
    • Development 889 km National Highways

• Implementation Agencies

• • • Public Works Department (PWD, Uttarakhand)
    • Border Roads Organization (BRO)
    •  National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL)

• Chamba Tunnel-

• • Border Roads Organisation (BRO) achieved the  milestone by digging 440 m long Tunnel below Chamba town on Rishikesh-Dharasu road Highway (NH 94)

NEED OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGION

• Security Interests

• • • With China continuously scaling up its building activities along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indian Army needs to prepare itself for any unforeseen circumstances in future.
    • The recent report by the US Department of Defence on the Chinese military also highlights the strength of the People Liberation Army and its increasing hold along Indo- China border
    • The region has terrain & altitude where the defence of the nation is extremely important. The mistakes of 1962 cannot be repeated, building and widening of roads is necessary to take up artillery and missiles
    •  Supreme Court also observed that the defence of country cannot be compromised in name of environmental risks, there needs to be a balance 

• Socio-Economic interests

• • • The first phase of the forest where’s the extraction for development which led to widespread deforestation resulting in landslides and deprivation among people dependent on the forest for survival
    • This led to the Forest Conservation Act (1980) and Supreme Court directions to check forest-based industries. This resulted in a decline in state revenue from the forest.
    • The development in the region is required to provide employment opportunities and a decent standard of living to people

• Basic facilities for people

• • • Providing people with adequate health and education facilities infrastructure is a prerequisite.

• Multiplier Effect

• • • Increasing focus on infrastructure and connectivity would multiply into various benefits across the different sectors and boost the growth of Himalayan states

• Viable & sustainable forest-based economy

• • • To reap the benefits of unique Himalayan products there is a need for development in the region like storage facilities & efficient supply chain mechanisms ‘

• Enhance connectivity

• • To increase accessibility and connectivity due to geographical and topographical factors, there is a need for construction projects like the Atal Tunnel which ensures all-weather connectivity

THREATS TO HIMALAYAN ECOSYSTEM

• Affects the forests and also the forest-based economy

• • • The first phase of forest-  the extraction for development which led to widespread deforestation resulting in landslides and deprivation among people dependent on the forest for survival
    • This led to activate of the forest conservation act 1980 and supreme Court directions to check forest-based industries
    • This resulted in the decline of state revenue from the forest. 

• National environment policy 2006

• • • According to the policy, several measures to conserve the mountain ecosystems including land use planning, watershed management, farming methods and promotion of eco-friendly tourism
    • Talked about best practice norms for infrastructure construction in the mountain regions to minimise the damage to the sensitive ecosystem
    • To promote tourism and local employment one cannot turn blind eye to the danger various projects unleash on the Himalayan ecosystem

• Geographical Factors 

• • • The himalayas are young fold mountains  that are tectonically active Kingdom of a guide and sensitive to the development activities
    • Himalayan landscape with steep slopes and shop gradients is not inherently immune to human engineering

• Threat to Mankind

• • • It is a transcontinental mountain range facing various environmental issues with huge implications for survival for one-third of all humans
    • Being called the third pole it is the source of Asia major rivers and it is a key driver in regulating the climate change

• Melting of glaciers

• • • Because of increase in temperatures and melting of glacier, will hamper the rivers and trigger massive  seasonal flooding followed by dry spells
    • Uttarakhand would lose approximately 70-99 % of glaciers by 2100

• Environmental Outlook and ethos

• • • Human induced changes to the ecological parameters would have an impact on stream runoff erosional as well as depositional processes
    • Indian Himalayan region is a home to 1000 species of flowering plants which is about 50% of all flowering plants of India, with the vast green cover it is a major sink of carbon dioxide
    • Attention towards the vulnerability of biological and physical features of the Himalayan mountain system is the need of the hour

• Forest loss

• • • In the Char Dham project, about 500 8.6 hectares of forest area would be diverted to non-forestry purposes
    • Around 33000 to 43000 trees would be cut down to build roads
    • According to estimates, Uttarakhand would take 40-45 years to recover from this loss
    • Road Edge Effect- it is an ecological phenomenon that wraps wide areas and creates ecological pressures on nearby flora and fauna 

• Road blockages and landslides

• • Cutting out trees soil rocks from hillsides would make the entire slope unstable
  • Without fresh plantations, the bare hillsides would be more vulnerable to disasters like landslides

WAY FORWARD

Mission Document on sustaining Himalayan ecosystem by the Ministry of Science& Technology (2010) talks about green road construction. Considering that roads are the lifeline of remote regions of the mountains it said that construction must consider the regions environmental fragility as well. The balance between both has to be maintained.

The Indian Express Link:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/char-dham-road-debate-supreme-court-army-7618880/

Question- Infrastructure projects in the Himalayas need to be taken up by balancing economic prospects with environmental concerns. Comment.