Eco logic
Tuesday's flash flood in Uttarakhand's Dharali village shouldn't be dismissed as just another mountain disaster. Its causes might have been beyond human control, but human choices amplified the effects. Traditional hill homes are built on slopes and terraces, out of harm's way, but the buildings swept away by the torrent at Dharali had encroached on the floodplain. Reports say some three dozen hotels, homestays and shops were in the water's path. In good times, these were prime 'waterfront' properties, attracting pilgrims and tourists making a beeline for Gangotri hardly 20km away. Tuesday just happened to be a bad day.
As climate change makes such events more frequent, there will be more bad days across the hills. That's why choices we make now are crucial. Dharali is among the beneficiaries of govt's Char Dham push. Wider highways mean ease of travel, and tourist numbers have risen fast across the circuit. In 1956, minister OV Alagesan had told Lok Sabha: 'People have to walk four days to reach Badrinath.' Road construction after the 1962 war, and bus services, boosted the visitor count to 2L. But what's happening now is unprecedented, and perhaps excessive. Last year, when the highway project was 75% complete, more than 14L visited Badrinath, and over 16L Kedarnath.
Influx of millions of tourists, and their cars, into geologically fragile zones may be good for business, but is risky otherwise. Roads have been widened at the cost of forests, and hillsides and riverbeds burdened with concrete buildings everywhere, be it Garhwal, Shimla or Mandi. It's not surprising that all new mountain highway projects are plagued by landslides every day. That's why SC's remark last month, in connection with a Himachal case, deserves attention: 'Earning revenue is not everything. Revenue cannot be earned at the cost of environment and ecology.' Other countries have trifled with nature and paid a price. The Soviets famously dried up Aral Sea by diverting the rivers that fed it, to grow more cotton. They got revenue, but at what cost? India must seriously weigh the intangible costs and benefits of its infra projects to avoid more Dharalis.
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This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
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