Disasters are causing enormous damage in Uttarakhand

Disasters are causing enormous damage in Uttarakhand

Shishir Prashant (1655 hours)

The Uttarakhand hills may be known for their breath-taking beauty and diverse ecosystem. But every year, monsoon rains wreak havoc in the hill state causing widespread floods and landslides that keep the state administration on the tenterhook. Besides, incidents of land subsidence, earthquakes and forest fires also cause lots of damage in the state.

More than 120 people were killed and dozens of others rendered homeless in these disasters this year alone, said a report of the Uttarakhand emergency operation centre.   A total of 16 people also went missing in these disasters, it said.

Every time the Met office declares a red or an orange alert in the hill state, a worried Chief Minister is seen instructing the top government officials to remain in an attentive mode. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has put the losses suffered by the hill state at Rs 1000 crore.

And just when the monsoon fury ended in late September, a portion of the Silkyara tunnel caved in trapping 41 workers inside on November 12.  Interestingly, a couple of disaster occurred during the non-monsoon season. For example, the Rishiganga deluge struck in parts of Chamoli district In February 2021 which also took a heavy toll. Many scientists have expressed fear that a big earthquake of more than 7-8 magnitude may strike in Uttarakhand any time.

Despite all these disasters, the government has not taken any long term measures to mitigate the sufferings of the people from these disasters. When the land subsidence issue came to the fore in Joshimath early January, a section of residents in this religious town had expressed concern over NTPC’s 520 Mw Tapovan Vishnugaad hyel project alleging an underground head race tunnel near the highly seismic and fragile town have caused wide-spread cracks in the town.  On previous occasions, the residents had alleged excessive water discharge from the head race tunnel.

But instead of going to the bottom of the issue, NTPC launched a campaign saying its 12 kms long underground tunnel has played no role in the land subsidence. Various reports of the committees of scientists set up by the government to look into the matter made no observation on this underground tunnel of NTPC.

Make no mistake; the people in general suffered the most from the fury of these natural disasters. Be it Silkyara or any other disaster, the common man is suffering. There are reasons to believe when you hear that people are not living happily in all those places which are highly vulnerable.

Dr S P Sati, a senior geologist with HNB Garhwal University said besides climate change there are various other important factors which are leading to these disasters. “Climate change is not a rabid phenomenon but it can cause rain variability. These disasters are occurring mainly due to human interference in the form of unplanned and haphazard infrastructure developments in the hills,” Sati said. For example, the muck disposal in rivers is also contributing to floods, he said.

In a study published in Current Science on Joshimath land subsidence, a group of geologists led by Sati said unplanned infrastructure, lack of adequate drainage and excavation of roads through unstable debris slopes are some of the reasons that have accelerated the ongoing slope instability and land subsidence. Was there any land subsidence in the case of Silkyara, this has to be seen by scientists.

There had been incidents in the state where thousands of trees were felled in the name of development or illegally for wooden sleepers. In a couple of recent incidents, smugglers colluding with forest officials felled thousands of trees in Chakrata-Tons areas in Dehradun district. The rampant cutting of trees is also causing environmental degradation in the state, said environmentalists. Suresh Bhai, an environmentalist, claimed that the government has felled nearly 50,000 trees in the name of the construction of the all weather chardham highway project. “When one tree is cut actually it harms three more trees. So our estimate suggests that nearly 2 lakh trees have been affected by the chardham highway project,” said Sureshbhai.

Even on the Chardham all weather highways, the state experts are unhappy with the road widening methods. “These all weather roads are disasters for Uttarakhand mainly due to the wrong road widening techniques. The river valley alignment cannot be considered as safe. When you disturb the slopes the landslides are imminent,” said Harshpati Unniyal, former adviser to the state planning commission. The rock strata towards rivers are very unstable in the Himalayas but if you go on a certain height, you will find it stable. This you have to take into consideration while constructing roads,” said Unniyal.

Citing an example of Pahalgam in Kashmir where there is ban on construction activities, experts say the state government should adopt a similar approach to safeguard the Hiamalayan belt. “Be it Himachal or Uttarakhand, we have to take tough measures to safeguard the Himalayas,” said Prof Harsh Dobhal of the Doon University.

Recently, the Uttarakhand High Court has also stopped haphazard mining of minerals like soap stones in some areas in Bageshwar following concerns expressed by villagers that it was causing widespread cracks in nearby villages.

In yet another move, the Supreme Court has decided to set up an expert committee to assess the carrying capacity of the hill stations in Uttarakhand and other Himalayan states in terms of its ecology. “This is a good decision. Let’s hope for the better,” said ruling BJP MLA Kishore Upadhaya, who has repeatedly called for safeguarding the ecology of the Himalayas. “If the Himalayas and the Ganga are not judiciously managed, not a single drop of snow will be left on them in the coming years,” said Upadhayay.

The experts emphasized on the importance of the sustainable development in order to maintain a balance between the Himalayan ecology and the planning. Ends