Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh,
two hill states in the Himalayan range, are so far the worst hit by the extreme
rains that struck northern India in the wake of monsoons that set in early this
year. Media reports say nearly 60 persons have died in Uttarakhand, and an
estimated 60,000 pilgrims are stranded. Heavy rainfall has wreaked havoc on the
region because of the fragile nature of the Himalayan range and poor soil
stability in its steep slopes. But it is man-made factors that have compounded
the scale of the disaster. Unabated expansion of hydro-power projects and
construction of roads to accommodate ever-increasing tourism, especially
religious tourism, are also major causes for the unprecedented scale of
devastation, say experts.
"The valleys of the Yamuna,
the Ganga and the Alaknanda witness heavy traffic of tourists. For this, the
government has to construct new roads and widen the existing ones," says
Maharaj Pandit, professor with the Department of Environmental Sciences in Delhi
University. He says that a study should be conducted to assess the carrying
capacity of the Himalaya and development should be planned accordingly.
Roads
destabilising mountains
"A new (mountain) range like
the Himalaya will remain steady if not tampered with much. But the huge
expansion of roads and transport is bringing the mountains in Uttarakhand
down," says Pandit. Road, he says, is a major destabilising factor for a
mountain and it is a new phenomenon for the Himalaya.
Pandit, who is in Uttarakhand for
a research project, recounts an observation. "I was sitting at the Prayag
bridge for tea and started counting the number of buses crossing it. Withing
seven to eight minutes, 117 buses crossed," he says.
Data with the Uttarakhand State
Transport Department confirms this. In 2005-06, 83,000-odd vehicles were
registered in the state. The figure rose to nearly 180,000 in 2012-13. Out of
this, proportion of cars, jeeps and taxis, which are the most preferred means
of transport for tourists landing in the state, increased the most. In 2005-06,
4,000 such vehicles were registered, which jumped to 40,000 in 2012-13. It is
an established fact that there is a straight co-relation between tourism
increase and higher incidence of landslides.
Threat from
dams
The Ganga in the upper reaches
has been an engineer’s playground. The Central Electricity Authority and the
Uttarakhand power department have estimated the river’s hydroelectric potential
at some 9,000 MW and have planned 70-odd projects on its tributaries. In
building these projects the key tributaries would be modified—through diversion
to tunnels or reservoirs—to such an extent that 80 per cent of the Bhagirathi
and 65 per cent of the Alaknanda could be “affected”. As much as 90 per cent of
the other smaller tributaries could be “affected” the same way.
Pandit says that rampant
construction, be it of roads, or dams, has led to land use change and the
cumulative effect is getting reflected in the extent of damage rains have
caused.
Landslides
more frequent now
“Our mountains were never so
fragile. But these heavy machines plying everyday on the kutcha roads have
weakened it, and now we suffer landslides more often,” says Harish Rawat, a BSc
student in Uttarakhand’s Bhatwari region that suffered a major landslide in
2010.
Rawat lost his home to the
landslide when a major part of the main market and 28 shops were wiped out by
the landslide. About 25 other houses were destroyed completely.
Another local resident, Ram
Prasad Tomar, a driver by profession in Uttarkashi town, says it is road
cutting that has made the mountains so weak. He says the way mountains are cut
to make roads has rendered the mountains unstable. “Road contractors, who come
from outside, do not understand the mountains. Most of the expressways that are
being constructed now are tangled in legal cases. After cutting of mountains,
landslides continue for up to four years, and contractors go bankrupt clearing
the debris,” he says.
Environment engineer and Ganga
crusader, G D Agarawal, says that construction along the Ganga has certainly
cost a lot more if one includes the cost of damage to environment. People have
completely destroyed the ecology of the mountains. “We see more landslides
nowadays because of unplanned development in the hills,” he says.
Experts say promotion of the
state as a tourist destination is coming in way of sustainable development.
