Political provocation of Devbhoomi’ s fragile ecology

 

Infrastructure development in Himalayan terrain is not just unsustainable development but is utterly regressive to human development.  



By Malini Shankar

Digital Discourse Foundation

The frequent but distressing extreme weather events in the Himalayan states of Uttarakhand Sikkim, higher reaches of Uttar Pradesh, (UT of Jammu) and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh are but a mirror to the unsustainable development in these regions. Developmental polemics in these areas is an extreme manifestation of political provocation of Mother Nature. Sensitive Himalayan ecology is meant to serve as a catchment area for glacial ecology not cement concrete paved tunnels that stall the water seepage in rocks, destroying the fragile green belts Devbhoomi, the very abode of Gods, as traditional wisdom goes in India.

Factoring Climate Change in planning is critical Sustainable Development But, politicians anywhere in the world are apathetic to the call of Environmentalists. The Silkyara Tunnel Rescue is a moot case in point. The flash floods in Uttarakhand in 2013 may have been a watershed event but no lessons have been learn, and most certainly not documented in the public domain by government /official agencies.

Flash floods in Himachal Pradesh in 2024, the glacial burst triggered landslide in Sikkim in 2021, the flash floods in Uttarakhand (October 2021), Chamoli flash floods of February 2021, the Joshimutt flash floods of January 2023, Kashmir floods of 2014 and 2025, makes a nervous timeline for the uninitiated indeed.

But if policy makers choose to turn a blind eye to the Fourth Estate its time the electorate in these fragile areas collar their political representatives in Parliament with a shred of responsibility. Climate Change Adaptation has to be factored into development. Unsustainable highway development in flash floods prone regions is suicidal.  

Cloudbursts, flash floods, glacial bursts and cloudburst are now disturbingly more frequent. The nightmares play out on fragile populace not on rarefied intellectual academia in fake think tanks. These very rarefied intellectuals in air conditioned comfort of New Delhi or New York are completely passé when it comes to prevailing influence policy makers.  

Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand was once a cloud kissed holiday destination, but the way it has grown after it became the capital of the new state of Uttarakhand puts an economist blush with modesty! Dehradun bears no resemblance to cloud kissed mountains or even a remote dream destination. Its unplanned, congested roads without civil laws in governance shows scant regard for civil laws and sustainable development. The skewed development is causing water logging, flash floods, because of disregard to Land use planning. Secondary disasters like water borne disasters will maim already fragile populace.  Malnutrition is bound to follow where agricultural landscapes are bartered for highway development. So much for shortening the road distance by constructing tunnels through mountain ecosystem. That sums the impact of developmental polemics on its head!

Rohtang’ s Atal tunnel is similarly a recipe for a disaster waiting to happen, sorry if it sounds very cynical.

The Telangana tunnel rescue was a failure in rescue of trapped workers too; unsustainable unsuited three storeyed construction in mountainous Gangtok, the Sikkim capital contributed to the escalating death toll in the Sikkim Earthquake of 2021.

Construction code in the post COVID -19 era should be a textbook manifestation of SDGs. Sustainable architecture and construction code will be an epitome of Sustainable Development. We can lessen CO emissions from air conditioning with SDG compatible architecture and construction code. But illegal tenements in Uttarakhand reek of corruption where all laws are practiced in the breech; Corruption justifies compromise of safety laws and construction code. There seems to be no importance given to soil testing at all. Deforestation is legion yes but it has ruined the landscape. Whither then political accountability? Pray why are the politicians not taking responsibility for corruption especially in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh? Flood plains and flow paths are routinely disregarded and discounted in infrastructure development. Infrastructure development in Himalayan terrain is not just unsustainable development but is utterly regressive to human development.  

We have seen all too often the spectacle of buildings collapsing into raging rivers of Uttarakhand, almost like prime time infotainment. Until lessons are learnt through official documentation in the public domain one cannot expect improvement in disaster mitigation in fragile Himalayan ecology.

 

 

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