The detailed regional plan and zonal master plan for the Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone in Uttarkashi district will be drafted in a year.
The Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone monitoring committee will organise public hearings in Uttarkashi, Harsil and Gangotri and conduct a second round of public hearings before finalising the detailed plan. These decisions were taken in the second meeting of the monitoring committee chaired by the Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar in Dehradun. It was decided during the meeting that members of the committee will also tour the area in question.
The Uttarkashi district magistrate Sridhar Babu Addanki put forth the issues of the public in the meeting. He sought relaxation in the stipulated conditions for reconstruction works in the disaster-affected areas of the district. The DM was directed to form a regional monitoring committee. The third meeting of the Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone monitoring committee will be held on February 12 to finalise the time table for the ESZ task.
An expression of interest will also be released for drafting of the detailed regional plan, informed the additional secretary, Forests and Environment, Manoj Chandran. The December 2012 notification issued by the Central Government declaring the watershed of about 100 kilometres stretch of the Bhagirathi river from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi as an eco-sensitive zone had elicited mixed reactions.
The State Government, along with a considerable portion of the local population affected by the decision, was against this decision on the grounds that this would prevent construction and developmental works in this mountainous region. However, this decision was also welcomed by many, including environmentalists and members of the religious fraternity. The Government of India had issued the notification for the Bhagirathi ESZ which abets the Indo-China border from East to North West citing the fact that this river is rich in aquatic flora and fauna including migratory species and any hindrance in their migration due to construction of hydropower projects may adversely affect this unique ecosystem.
A number of hydro power projects have been commissioned or are proposed or under implementation on the river apart from which the consistent and phenomenal increase in the human and cattle population, the anthropogenic pressure on ecosystems and environment has tremendously increased, causing irreparable damage to the fragile mountain ecosystems including flow and character of the river.