Himalayan blunders that are ravaging the Himalayas

General Studies Paper 3

Introduction

• Wonder-struck by the beauty and the magnificence of the Himalaya, the snow-covered peaks, though increasingly diminishing, may still awaken the poet in us, but the barrenness of the hills below tell us the real story — that of steady environmental depredation.

About

• Today, the repeated tragedies of bridges, roads and buildings being swept by raging rivers in the hill States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, epitomise a flawed developmental paradigm institutionalised in an eco-fragile region.
• Blocked roads after a landslide at Chamoli and sinking in Joshimath in Uttarakhand, road caving in Chamba in Himachal, accidents on the Char Dham routes, and deaths on the all-weather road are reports that have become everyday news from “Devbhoomi” (land of the gods).

Road project, bypassing the rules

• In 2016, the Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna, a massive infrastructure project of road widening to double-laning with a paved shoulder (DLPS) design  was implemented in the Garhwal region and a short stretch of Kumaon in Uttarakhand.
• The project has claimed lakhs of trees and acres of forest land, many human and animal lives, and also the fertile topsoil of the fragile Himalaya.
• By law, a project of more than 100 km needs environmental clearance. But ambitious projects for tourism and plans that are the result of election agendas are time bound.
• All laws of land are bypassed. In this case, this massive project was broken up into 53 small projects, each less than 100 km long, thus by-passing environmental impact assessment (EIA) requirements.
• The dense forests around Chamba, Agrakhal Maletha, Shivpuri, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Agustmuni, Karnaprayag and Kund (all Uttarakhand) and other such lush green sites are vanishing.
• Amid the rapacious nature of the Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna, only one pristine patch, i.e., the Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone (BESZ), remains.
• BESZ has the only natural free flow that is left of the Ganga river and was declared a protected site in December 2012 under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.

The underlying issue

• BESZ stretch is of approximately 100 km could not be touched by the Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna project without an approved zonal master plan (ZMP) and a detailed EIA.
• To facilitate the Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna, the ZMP was given hasty approval, negating the directions of even the Supreme Court of India.
• The mandatory and detailed EIA was not done. And, finally, the BESZ monitoring committee’s approval was overseen by most of the State officials on the committee without any discussion or suggestions being made.
• While experts have repeatedly pointed out that the Chardham shrines of Uttarakhand are already overburdened, their carrying capacities have been increased ignoring all scientific rationale to blindly boost the tourism sector and perhaps to justify the excessively road widening that the government is pursuing in the most vulnerable section of Himalaya.
• However, after the recent warning signals by mother nature, the State governments of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh propose a reassessment of carrying capacity.
• The Supreme Court too is setting a committee for the same, but the larger question is whether the recommendations will be implemented or not.

Saving the Gangotri, need for regulation

• One of the most challenging issues for the Ganga’s rejuvenation is conservation of the Gangotri glacier, which is also the fastest receding glacier.
• With an increase in vehicular movement and episodes of forest fires, black carbon deposits (carbon plus soot) are rising on the glacier, escalating its melting.
• Black carbon absorbs more light and emits infra-red radiation that increases the temperature. Therefore, an increase in black carbon in the high Himalaya contributes to the faster melting of glaciers.
• In the persistent debate of environment versus development of the hills, there is a very simple solution to all the chronic and acute problems that the hills face — regulation.
• In BESZ, the upgradation of roads to an intermediate road width, that will have minimal environmental impact, is the only possible and sustainable solution.

Way forward

• If reducing a few metres of road width helps ensure the conservation of the only pristine stretch of the Ganga and protection of the Himalaya, then we must make sincere efforts to amend the plan.
• Most importantly, no development can be sustained if it ends up destroying the main lifeline for millions of people and future generations.