Sir — This refers to the article, “In the throes of a water crisis” by Rinku Ghosh (June 16). The narration is apt to save and protect the Himalayas. The message to go back to basics is loud and clear. Besides, historical and colonial factors responsible for unprecedented deforestation, this situation of acute water stress has resulted because of growing Indian tourist traffic and estate building purely for making quick bucks by greedy builders.
For once, if we have to save the Himalayan ecology, markets will have to take a back seat and erratic development has to stop. Since this is ultimately an existential issue, all restrictions that could save these mighty mountains will have to be in place. Politicians, policy makers, investors and developers must realise that development simply cannot take place if it is not in sync with the ambition of the local populations, their culture, their philosophy and way of living and the approach of managing their resources. It means locals are the real stakeholders whose welfare, well-being and growth should be a paramount. Corrupt practices by staff of regulatory bodies will have to be dealt with firmly in order to achieve any semblance of ecological reform.