The mind boggling devastation recently witnessed in Uttarakhand after the early arrival of monsoon has thrown up several policy issues for the Government and civil society as a whole. Many people are attributing this to several factors.
Some are blaming the climatic changes, while others blame the poor administration, developmental projects, mining etc. The natural phenomena like avalanches do occur in Himalayas for which no body can do anything but accept it. What we can do is to avert the man made disasters by taking precautions and preventive scientific measures.
The matter needs to be scientifically analysed so that adequate remedial measures are taken. This author had led an inter-ministerial team of Central government in 1999 after flood and landslides wreaked destruction in Garhwal particularly in the Chamoli District. We had extensively toured the affected areas for a week and held discussion with locals and senior officers of various state departments. One thing which came out quite clearly is the fact that unplanned construction of buildings and habitation and road construction work had choked the drainage systems of the hills. Choking of drainages in the Himalayas assumes a very serious dimension in a tropical country like India which receives its 80 per cent of rainfall during the three monsoon months.
This coupled with massive development work and deforestation need application of mind, scientific planning and execution which has been sadly lacking. If one goes by what we read in newspapers the society is divided on various issues concerning public welfare. The intense lobbying for and against developmental projects subsumes the merit of the cause and decisions are taken based on expediency dominated approach.
This is detrimental not only to the cause of social welfare and harmony but also for ecological conservation. One must understand that Himalayan ecology is fragile and we have to tailor our livelihood by striking a balance with nature to survive.
Before discussing developmental issues we must first accept that rainfall pattern in India is changing fast. Indian climate is strongly determined by its geography particularly in Himalayas. Many parts of the country particularly Himalayas are witnessing excessive rainfall within few days followed by prolonged dry periods. This also brings cloud burst and the incidents are increasing with severity.
During our assessment of Forest Types of India in 2012, we noticed that though the rainy days in hills in many locations are decreasing by up to five days due to heavy rainfall there is an increase of up to 10 per cent in the rainfall. This situation is critical from the view points of ecological stability, livelihood of the people and development planning.
Regarding habitation, we had requested the state government in 1999 to facilitate a survey of ecologically vulnerable areas based on scientific data and resettle people elsewhere on priority. This needs long term planning and vacated areas must be brought under broadleaved forests after covering them with shrubs initially. When the drainages are choked and rain fall is heavy, the trapped water forms bodies underground which burst following heavy rains, carrying muck devastatingly. This makes shifting of habitation from vulnerable places vital.
Tree line is also shifting above 10,000 feet as revealed in the study by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education and forest department should bring them under shrub and tree cover.
Factually, hydro power is environment friendly only if environment parameters are complied with. If proper scientific care is taken of the various safety needs and geological features hydro power projects are of great help in controlling the flow of rainwater and Uttarakhand should adopt it in a planned manner. But the way hydro power projects were sanctioned on the rivers in the recent past without caring for the minimum flow of water during lean season has created a controversy with people agitating for and against without proper scientific impact assessment. There should be at least minimum flow of 50 per cent in the rivers for sustaining the ecology. Uttarakhand with average rainfall of more than 1500 to 2200 mm is fortunate in terms of water availability and no project should suffer because of shortage of water if development is based on well structured scientific planning. Water must be managed, channeled and controlled within ecological limits. The Tehri dam helped control water otherwise embankments in Rishikesh and Haridwar would have been under more than four feet of.
Mining of sand and refuge from rivers is an important issue as one of the fallouts of soil erosion and choked drainages is the collection of mud and boulders in the riverbeds and if these are not removed the riverbeds expand laterally encroaching on adjoining lands and forests. It is because of this reason that when posted as Inspector General of Forests, the author had helped in granting forestry clearance to Uttarakhand Government in 2003 to allow the Forest Corporation to extract sand and boulders from river beds with proper river training measures based on engineering principles. But the way illegal sand mining is done has naturally invite opposition from several quarters.
Declaration of ecological fragile zone is concerned it needs to be done by taking location specific decentralized guidelines for each zone. People oppose the declaration fearing harassment in the name of clearances. Simple time bound scientifically implemented guidelines with people’s concurrence should be evolved for each zone.
The crux of these facts is to underline the importance of structured scientific planning in the affairs of the state. Transparency and a responsible, accountable and honest administration and political commitment for unity among the politicians are the need of the hour. The way things are in this state as witnessed by the author the energy of the people and their leaders should be utilised more for synergy than for criticism of each other. People and administration need more science here in dealing with the problems than more politics.
(Dr VK Bahuguna is the former Director General of ICFRE)