Himalayan blunders that are ravaging the Himalayas

Why in the News?

The States in the Himalayan region have been experiencing extreme climate events in recent times leading to large scale damage to lives and property led by steady environmental depredation.

• Blocked roads after a landslide at Chamoli
• Sinking in Joshimath in Uttarakhand
• Road caving in Chamba in Himachal
• Accidents on the Char Dham routes
• Deaths on the all-weather road

Flawed developmental paradigm institutionalised in an eco-fragile region:

1. Bypassing rules
   1. As per law, a project of >100 km needs environmental clearance to start the project.
   2. Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna was unveiled in 2016 as a massive infrastructure project of 900 kilometre of road widening to double-laning with a paved shoulder in Garhwal region and a short stretch of Kumaon in Uttarakhand. 
   3. This massive project was split into 53 small projects, each less than 100 km long, thus by-passing environmental impact assessment (EIA) requirements.
   4. The Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone (BESZ), a protected site under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 extending more than 100km was given a hasty approval of the zonal master plan (ZMP) and the mandatory and detailed EIA was not performed.
2. Overburdening the fragile areas beyond its carrying capacity.
   1. The Uttarakhand government increased the carrying capacity of all the Char Dhams including for the Gangotri shrine (i.e., BESZ) was increased to 9,000 passenger carrying units per day.
   2. This is in contrast to the BESZ notification calling for a “regulation of vehicular traffic”.
   3. This reflects ignoring all scientific rationale to boost the tourism sector and justify the excessively road widening by the government.
3. Adoption of one size fits all approach to environment clearance especially for the ecologically sensitive areas by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is an issue. This has not further environmental interests but economic interest.
4. With an increase in vehicular movement and episodes of forest fires, black carbon deposits (carbon plus soot), Gangotri glacier has become the fastest receding glacier.
   1. Black carbon absorbs more light and emits infra-red radiation that increases the temperature contributing to faster melting of glaciers in the Himalayas.

Way Forward:

1. Upgradation of roads to an intermediate road width in BESZ is required to have minimal environmental impact and to arrive at a sustainable solution.
2. Conservation of the Gangotri glacier by regulating the vehicular movement in the region which can also aid in Ganga’s rejuvenation.