Kulbhushan Upamanyu
Globally, climate change has started showing its cruel face. Himachal Pradesh has received more than 200 percent rainfall in July. Same is the condition of Uttarakhand. The unexpected devastation of life and property in Mandi, Kullu, Chamba, Shimla, Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh is heart-wrenching. The number of dead is increasing continuously. In many places, people are feeling helpless due to the wrath of nature. The government is trying to heal. But the menace of floods increasing year by year is raising many questions. The question is that the effect of climate change has been predicted for many years, so why proper precautions have not been taken in a delicate mountain region like the Himalayas.
Hundreds of tourists are stranded at various places. Thank God everyone is safe. The government is also taking action being sensitive to their problems, but how tourism should be guided in the rainy season is lacking. A network of tourist information centers should be activated to inform about the dangers of rain. Sudden release of water from Larji and Pandoh dams is also believed to be responsible for the devastation in Mandi. At the time of construction of dams, the role of dams in flood control has been publicized a lot, but it seems to be the opposite. Sudden and large amounts of water being released from the dams is becoming the cause of unexpected floods. Before the rains, the dams should be kept empty so that the flood water can be stopped, but the dams remain full to generate maximum electricity. When the water starts reaching the level of creating danger for the dam when it rains, suddenly so much water is released that it might not have come even in the flood without the dam. There should be an impartial inquiry into these issues and the dam administration should be directed to do so. The flood control role of dams should be activated.
The second major disturbance is also happening due to negligence in road construction. The debris coming out in the construction work is not thrown in the designated places, dumping sites and is thrown here and there and the same debris becomes the reason for increasing the flood manifold. Once the debris starts sliding down the slopes, it collects more debris along with it, due to which a huge devastation is seen. When this debris reaches the river-drain, the river bed rises up and those areas which were never affected by flood before, also now come under flood. Water drainage is also not taken care of in road construction. Water is collected from the drains made on the side of the road and left somewhere, which causes soil erosion to increase. Road construction should be done with cut and fill technique from hill point of view. Road options in the mountains should also be considered. The road is the lifeline, but if the lifeline starts taking life itself, then one has to think where the problem is taking place. As an alternative to the road, instead of link roads to the main routes, ropeways of advanced technology can be made. But the governments have not even started thinking in this direction. Yes, ropeways have been made in some places as tourist attractions. With their experience, a cheap and sustainable transport facility can be created. At present, when it has come to light that the role of debris dumping is main in increasing landslides, then it is the duty of the government to take suo moto cognizance of it and get technical investigation done wherever damage has happened. In the case of National Highways, the Chief Vigilance Officer should be asked to investigate.
In the year 1994, on the banks of Bhagirathi, when the anti-Tehri dam movement was going on, the manifesto of Save Himalayas movement was issued. Its main demand was that in view of the delicate situation of the Himalayas, a special nature-friendly development plan should be prepared for the Himalayas. The special committee formed under the chairmanship of Dr. SZ Kasim of the Planning Commission had also issued a report of the same effect in 1992, but no action was taken on that too. The people of the hilly areas have been continuously raising their voice against the blind race going on in the name of development, but even a louse does not enter the ears of the governments and technical planners. These people get a good excuse that what can we do in front of nature, but these people should be asked that what right do you have to force nature to such an extent that nature becomes eager to take revenge. Although the discussion on this subject continues in the government sector, in the current government also, the Regional Council has been constituted by the NITI Aayog to decide the direction of development in the Himalayan region, but till now no activity of this institution has come to the fore. Is. Now is the time that everyone wakes up from sleep and try to give a nature-friendly direction to the development activities in the Himalayas. We have to think that any anti-environmental action in the Himalayas will prove to be depriving the entire country of the environmental services provided by the Himalayas. (The author is an environmentalist, an expert on water-forest-land issues.)
