The hills need strategies to mitigate the risk of a disaster

Climate change alone is not the cause of these disasters. Human interference in the form of unplanned and haphazard infrastructure developments in the hills has played a role.

In the first decade after the Uttarakhand state was formed in the year 2000, the incidents of natural disasters used to be very less which can even be counted on the fingers of one hand. In one such incident in 2002, 36 people were killed in a cloudburst in Ghansali area of Tehri district. In 2003, landslides triggered from the top of Varunavrat mountain caused heavy destruction in Uttarakashi town.

However, after the year 2010, the frequency of natural disasters has increased. The 2013 Kedarnath deluge, the mother of all disasters in the state, left a trail of unprecedented deaths and destructions in the state. The Uttarakhand hills are known for their breathtaking beauty and diverse ecosystem. But natural disasters have rendered the hills vulnerable every monsoon season. In the current monsoon spell, heavy rains have wreaked havoc in the hill state causing widespread floods, landslides, land subsidence and inundating vast areas that kept the state administration on the tenterhook.

Deep cracks have appeared on several stretches of national highways leading to Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines. A landslide-zone map published by ISRO declared Rudraprayag district, where Kedarnath shrine is located, as highly prone to disasters. Yet, the government has not taken any steps to mitigate them.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has estimated the losses so far suffered by the hill state due to excessive rains at Rs 1,000 crore. Questions are also being raised about the sustainability of the Rs 12,000 crore Chardham all-weather national highway that is damaged at a number of places in the Garhwal hills.

Realising that the government can do little to lessen these disasters, Dhami has asked people to avoid unnecessary movements and advised pilgrims to visit the state only looking up weather updates to avoid being stranded.

But not enough long-term measures have been taken. When the land subsidence issue came to the fore in Joshimath in early January, a section of residents in the religious town expressed concerns over the ripple effects of NTPC’s 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydel project underground head-race tunnel — they feared that the tunnel had caused widespread cracks in the highly fragile town.  The government has not taken any decision on the Tapovan Vishnugaad project, though a series of inquiries were ordered against this project since 2010 on the issues of land subsidence and excessive water discharge. As of now, the issue of Tapovan Vishnugad is not on the top of the agenda of the government, and NTPC has denied that its 12 kms long underground tunnel was responsible for the land subsidence. It is also being said that there’s pressure to not make public reports of the committees of scientists set up by the government to look into the matter. All the scientific institutions like the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have been asked not to speak on these issues.

Rains Take A Toll

Joshimath is not the only place experiencing land subsidence. This season’s torrential rains triggered land subsidence in Dehradun, Chamoli and Pauri districts. Water was seen coming out of floors in several houses in Rishikesh. Jakhan village in Dehradun district witnessed land subsidence, forcing its residents to move out. Joshimath too witnessed fresh incidents of land subsidence in August.

People in general suffered the most from the fury of these natural disasters. So far this monsoon season, nearly 85 people have been killed and scores of others rendered homeless. Nearly 60 people were also killed in road accidents, due to poor condition of roads and heavy rains.

Climate change alone is not the cause of these disasters. Human interference in the form of unplanned and haphazard infrastructure developments in the hills has played a role. Muck disposal in rivers is also contributing to floods. Geologists also say the unplanned infrastructure, lack of adequate drainage and excavation of roads through unstable debris slopes accelerate the slope instability and land subsidence in the hills.

There have been incidents of felling thousands of trees in the name of development or illegally for wooden sleepers, such as in the Chakrata area in Dehradun district. Rampant cutting of trees causes environmental degradation. Experts also blame the methods and techniques adopted for the widening of the Chardham all-weather highways.

Tough measures are required to safeguard the entire Himalayan belt including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In a significant decision, the Uttarakhand High Court stopped the 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 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 their ecology. This is a welcome move.

Shishir Prashant is a senior journalist based in Dehradun. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.