An artificial lake has been formed in river Uhl, tributary of Beas, due to a landslide on it near village Barnal in Komand valley, about 21 km from here posing a danger to the villages located on its banks.
Komand Panchayat Pradhan, Mohammad Ali, has alleged that the entire hill atop village Barnal has been debilitated by the construction of a 15-MW Hydel Project by Hyderabad based company Trident Power System ltd. The project got approval in 2008 and the work started for a km long tunnel, the end of which opened beneath village Barnal. But, the construction was stopped by the Forest department as the company had not sought clearance or permission for the project.
He said that despite the ban on construction, the company was secretly carrying on blasting in the unauthorised tunnel. Consequently, the entire mountain hill has become hollow and started sinking.
It may be noted that only 600 metres ahead this, the reputed Rs500 crore sprawling IIT complex is coming up.
Former Forest Minister, Thakur Rup Singh said that the fragile Himalayas were prone to cave in due to excessive disturbance with the soil by human activities, illicit felling and large scale smuggling of timber. The liberalisations of timber distribution system (TD) by the Congress Government for the sake of getting cheap popularity have destroyed the precious forest wealth of the state.
Prof Ram Kumar Gupta, Shimla based environmentalist, lamented that the concept of making four-lane highways in the hilly states of the country including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand was misconceived and bound to invite devastation of the high magnitude which devoured hundreds of lives in Uttrakhand last year and the trail of tragedies seemed to be unending.
He regretted that the warning of the nature was being taken lightly by the rulers of the country. The unprecedented floods which played havoc in Kashmir Valley was another reminder to the Government of India and Jammu & Kashmir. He bemoaned that little has been done to strengthen the green cover and generate practical awareness among the masses that dense forests were the dire necessity for the human survival.