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When there are no Himalayas for Himalayans.
Relevance: GS Paper – 3, Disaster Management.
Current Context: As the mountains are turning into places unfit for habitation, where will the mountain dwellers go?
Introduction:
- The news of the sinking of Joshimath was widely covered. It evoked fear and anxiety in other Himalayan habitations in and outside Uttarakhand, lest a similar fate befall them. Most Himalayan sites, undergoing similar violative “development” as the Joshimath region, lie khurd-burd, as a pahari put it — hollowed out and mutilated, and thus, vulnerable to disasters.
Sinking of Joshimath:
- The sinking of Joshimath has not yet stopped. Newer cracks are appearing in its houses and fields, and older ones are widening. Locals fear that particular stretches of land could slide down in heavy rainfall.
- Their dharna to demand rehabilitation continued from January till early April, when they were asked to discontinue it before the start of the yatra season, with assurances of prompt action.
- They are reportedly resuming the protests because they have no option but to stay in their damaged houses in the absence of formulation of a proper rehabilitation plan.
Need of serious reflection and question raised:
- Firstly, how is it that no accountability gets fixed for such calamities? A series of so-called run-of-the-river (RoR) hydropower projects have been pushed in all Himalayan states, despite the region being ecologically and geologically sensitive and seismically highly active.
- Studies have shown that the green energy claims of these projects are not correct. Instead, they are “risk-laden artefacts” that have proved to be socially and ecologically unjust.
- The Tapovan Vishnugad project in Joshimath has been linked to the build-up of socio-ecological problems in the region since its commencement in 2005.
- Second, why are the locals kept in the dark regarding the terrain’s safety, even as they are forced to spend sleepless nights in their damaged houses? Even after seven months have passed, no comprehensive report about the causes, extent, and future threats of land subsidence in Joshimath has come forth.
- Third, if the government insists on pushing the RoRs despite all the risks, why must it not ensure the rehabilitation of the affected people? Even years after such projects have been in operation in the Himalayan states, there are no clear guidelines defining liabilities or official recognition of their impacts. RoRs’ impact on the mountain topography is not one-time, but long-term and widespread.
- In several villages in Joshimath, the government’s rehabilitation policy is inadequate. There have scarcely been any attempts to frame an appropriate policy to take care of involuntary displacement by development projects. Instead of focusing on rehabilitation, the government’s endeavors remain limited to a “one-time-settlement”.
Conclusion:
The approach of the government has been of downplaying the disaster to let yatra tourism go smoothly. No limit was put on the number of tourists. This begs the larger question: As the mountains are turning into places unfit for habitation, where will the mountain dwellers go? What will be the relevance of the “development” that is being promoted in “their” region, if it turns uninhabitable.
