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Indian Express
4 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
Uttarkashi disaster in notified eco-sensitive zone, experts have flagged floodplain violations over the past year
Dharali in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, the ground zero of the flash flood and debris avalanche Tuesday, is located in the fragile Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone (ESZ), and experts believe that unregulated activities, like construction on river floodplains, could have contributed to making the disaster more severe. Over 60 people are reported to be missing in the flash floods in Uttarkashi as the rescue operations entered the second day Wednesday. The Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone is a 4,157 sq km expanse between Gangotri and Uttarkashi town, and it was notified in 2012 to protect the Ganga river's ecology and watershed near its origin. The Bhagirathi river is one of the main headstreams of the Ganga. It joins with the Alaknanda river in Devprayag to form the Ganga river. The ESZ tag provides the region with a safety net against unregulated development. However, the region has been in the spotlight due to the construction of the Centre's flagship Char Dham all-weather highway project, which faced legal challenges due to ecological threats, and was cleared by the Supreme Court. Members of the BSEZ monitoring committee routinely flag issues of unregulated development, two members told The Indian Express. Mallika Bhanot, a member of the Bhagirathi ESZ monitoring committee from Ganga Ahvaan, a non-profit organisation, said, 'This is a natural event turned into a disaster which is due to man-made reasons. Unregulated construction along the sides of small tributaries and rivers leads to devastation downstream. If BESZ Notification is implemented effectively, then construction along flood plains will be regulated and disasters can be prevented in case of these natural events.' Last year, Bhanot and other independent members of the ESZ monitoring committee flagged the construction of a helipad in Jhala village of Uttarkashi. They had also flagged 'illegal structures' in Maneri, Jamak, near Uttarkashi town, along the banks of Ganga, which are 'multi-storey' hotel buildings. These structures violate the ESZ norms and compromise the safety of the region, they said. There have also been issues with the stretch of the Char Dham project passing through this area. One of the key sticking points on Char Dham was the stand of the Border Roads Organisation that is executing the project that the road widening on the Gangotri stretch did not require a separate Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The monitoring committee members had cautioned that, in light of the Silkyara tunnel episode in 2023, disregarding precautionary aspects and laws in place was 'totally unacceptable'. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Border Roads Organisation has taken up widening of the Dharasu-Gangotri stretch, and Dharali falls on this route. Over the past year, several citizen groups in Uttarkashi have opposed the proposed construction of a bypass between Hina and Tekhla on NH-34, which is located south of Dharali. People even wrote to a Supreme Court-appointed committee, opposing the plan to fell 6,000 Deodar trees for the bypass. Ravi Chopra, who headed a Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee which appraised the Char Dham project in-depth, told The Indian Express, 'On the stretch from Dharasu to Gangotri, the headquarters of Bhatwari block is located. The slope here has been sliding away over a period of time, and scientists have studied and published papers on this. We had said the road widening was not recommended and advised (the authorities) not to touch it.' 'The route to Harsil is narrow and composed of igneous rock, making it extremely dangerous. Rather than widen it, we suggested that the rock be shaped in the form of a half-tunnel. We imposed a lot of strict conditions on the widening – we recommended not to widen it at all– and if insisted, it should be under strict conditions,' Chopra said. Cause of Uttarkashi flash floods not cler as of now, say experts The Dharali disaster is suspected to have been triggered by heavy rain in an area which is already prone to unstable slopes and thus landslides. In fact, as per a bulletin of the Central Water Commission's Himalayan Ganga Division, three different spots – Dharali, an area near Sukhi top (between Harshil and Gangnani), and the area near Harshil Army camp witnessed rain-triggered floods and debris flow. The India Meteorological Department's (IMD) data, though, shows that neither Uttarkashi nor the surrounding districts received anomalous extreme rain, with maximum rainfall of 43 mm recorded at Sankri Tuesday. Explaining the process behind debris and mud slides, Dipali Jindal, senior consultant, landslides, National Disaster Management Authority, said, 'From the videos, it looks like a mudslide, a type of landslide which involves rapid flow of mud, debris. The cause of the failure is not clear as of now. But it could have been triggered by a cloudburst-type event in areas above the disaster spot, in the catchment of the Kheer Ganga river, or perhaps a glacial lake outburst flood. However, this will be confirmed only after an investigation.' She added, 'Prolonged rainfall may have caused saturation of the topsoil. This may have reduced the internal friction and cohesion between soil particles. As soon as cohesion weakens, the slope becomes unstable.' IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, 'It has been raining heavily in Uttarakhand and many other states for the past three days. When an incident like this occurs, it could be because of sustained, accumulated rain, too.' An award-winning journalist with 14 years of experience, Nikhil Ghanekar is an Assistant Editor with the National Bureau [Government] of The Indian Express in New Delhi. He primarily covers environmental policy matters which involve tracking key decisions and inner workings of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He also covers the functioning of the National Green Tribunal and writes on the impact of environmental policies on wildlife conservation, forestry issues and climate change. Nikhil joined The Indian Express in 2024. Originally from Mumbai, he has worked in publications such as Tehelka, Hindustan Times, DNA Newspaper, News18 and Indiaspend. In the past 14 years, he has written on a range of subjects such as sports, current affairs, civic issues, city centric environment news, central government policies and politics. ... Read More Aiswarya Raj is a correspondent with The Indian Express who covers South Haryana. An alumna of Asian College of Journalism and the University of Kerala, she started her career at The Indian Express as a sub-editor in the Delhi city team. In her current position, she reports from Gurgaon and covers the neighbouring districts. She likes to tell stories of people and hopes to find moorings in narrative journalism. ... Read More
Time of India
4 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Unregulated activity added to Dharali devastation: Experts
Dehradun: Unchecked construction and human interference in the ecologically fragile Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone (BESZ) -- spanning 4,179 sq km from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi -- may have significantly worsened the impact of the flood that ravaged Dharali village near Gangotri in Uttarkashi district, according to environmentalists. Experts said that the scale of devastation points to deeper, systemic issues rooted in years of unregulated development in one of the Himalayas' most vulnerable regions. Calling for urgent reforms and stricter enforcement of land-use regulations along the Bhagirathi River and its tributaries, Mallika Bhanot, a member of BESZ monitoring committee, said, "This once again shows how vulnerable the Himalayas are, and we must wake up and stop playing with our environment. Any vulnerable area requires protection and conservation. Unregulated anthropogenic (human-induced environmental change) activity only adds to the risk, as was evident in the shocking footage of the Kheer Ganga stream turning into a torrent. " Other ecologists echoed similar concerns, pointing out that rampant construction in floodplains disrupts natural drainage, accelerates land degradation and contributes to rising carbon emissions -- all of which can impact local microclimates. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like World's 25 Best Cities to Live In Learn More Undo "These carbon footprints are very high and carry serious implications for the surrounding ecosystem," said professor Sunil Nautiyal of the Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources, Karnataka, and former director of GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment. He added, "The Himalayan ecology is uniquely vulnerable, with many species classified as keystone or highly sensitive to even minor environmental shifts. We must begin accounting for the carbon cost of all development in these fragile zones." Nautiyal also stressed the urgent need for valley-specific weather and climate monitoring systems. "Regular, intensified monitoring is essential to understand the evolving impacts of climate change across different Himalayan valleys. With telemetric weather stations covering all hoblis (a cluster of adjacent villages) and 6,500 rain gauge systems across gram panchayats, Karnataka offers a model that must be replicated across Himalayan states to strengthen climate monitoring infrastructure," he added. On the ground, residents said the push to boost tourism revenue is fuelling unsustainable development. "In the race to earn from tourism, tree felling and construction are happening at an unprecedented scale. There are no robust systems in place to manage disasters in vulnerable stretches of BESZ, despite the region having witnessed similar devastating floods in the past," said Suresh Bhai, an Uttarkashi-based environmentalist and founder of the Himalaya Bachao Andolan. Amid mounting concerns over regulatory oversight in the region, officials pointed to jurisdictional limitations. "The area where the flash flood occurred doesn't fall under our jurisdiction. As it lies in an eco-sensitive zone, clearances must have come from the stipulated authorities," said Vineet Rastogi, executive engineer at Uttarkashi District Level Development Authority.
