Lessons unlearnt from Himalayan tragedies

It is five days since a part of tunnel on Yamunotri National Highway collapsed trapping 40 workers.

The rescue efforts have not yielded any success so far although the authorities are hopeful of having a breakthrough soon. The tragedy is the latest in the series of landslides, dam bursts, flash floods being witnessed in Uttarakhand which was in news for nearly a fortnight in January this year for land subsidence and cracks appearing in a large number of houses in the Joshimath town.

The authorities had to evacuate a large number of inhabitants from the town and relocate them elsewhere. It was attributed to NTPC’s 520 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad hydroelectric project.

The tunnel collapse is clearly linked to the widening of the Char Dham Yatra road and the National Highway 7 which will link holy shrines of Badrinath and Kedarnath.

The widening work had been taken up against the advice of environmentalists who have been warning of imminent danger of sinking of surface due to the development works which also include removal of water, oil, natural gas, or mineral resources from the ground.

The situation has been aggravated due to excessive rains, floods and cloudburst, the factors related to climate change. Continuous seismic activity too has been responsible for earthquakes, soil compaction, erosion, sinkhole formation and infusion of water into fine soil.

Unplanned construction, hydropower project and the lack of proper drainage system in the hilly towns too have exacerbated the situation. Recent years have made it evident that the Himalayan hills cannot be subjected to all kinds of development work without taking the ecological, geological and meteorological factors into account.

The disasters wreaked by floods in Himachal Pradesh, massive damage caused by bursting of Chungthang Dam over Teesta river in Sikkim, floods due to glacial burst in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand in July this year and of course the land subsidence in Joshimath carry enough proof of how the human activity and ignoring of environmental factors could cause disasters.

Much of the environment impact assessment reports seem to be an eyewash and the authorities have found a convenient way to overrule the objections, if any, by declaring some of the projects crucial for defence purposes.