Lessons to be learnt from the mountain tragedy

The 21st century brought in a number of conveniences and facilities, something which could not have been dreamt about in the 20th century. So much so, that an easy life and comforts are all taken for granted. For example climbers on paid expeditions to Mount Everest this year had luxury tents at Camp III! While there is no doubt the Nepali Sherpas arranged it all, it also proved money brings in luxuries at inconceivable heights. On May 19, 2012 nearly 234 climbers scaled Mount Everest, unimaginable consequences would have followed had the weather turned bizarre like it has been doing over the years. There is no denying in mountain territory you are at the mercy of vagaries: be it thunderstorms, cloud burst, avalanches, landslides, earthquakes and erratic weather patterns.

This weeks images on television of buildings tumbling into the roaring Alakananda, Bhagirathi, Mandakini and Ganges river (Uttarkashi Dist, Northern India), like clothes tumbling out of a closet, roads caving in, automobiles submerged in a sea of silt and water, and thousands of lives consumed by torrential rain, caused by cloud bursts and melting glaciers once again confirms that when it comes to Nature and Man, it's Mother Nature who is indomitably superior, ruthless should it choose to be and undoubtedly the 'Bigger Boss.' The tragedy is compounded when Man shows lethargy, is incompetent & corrupt, doesn't read and analyze scientific data in a pragmatic manner and shows scant regard for Nature in name of 'development' and solving vexing existence issues.

Three years ago, when I visited Pauri and Srinagar in Uttarakhand, I was shocked to learn that Pauri town in Pauri district received drinking water once every two days. The absence of tree cover in most of the areas confirmed my worst fears. Yes, there are terraced slopes but on many of these slopes one only finds local houses. Come summer, most of these locations in the vicinity of lower Himalayas are filled with tourists, often outnumbering local population by ten times the number. It's a welcome break for those living in the plains, however, it comes filled with riders ranging from water scarcity, to increasing pollution from vehicles, weakening of poorly built roads and utter scarcity of items meant for daily consumption like food and durables. Often mountain ranges visitors come to have a glimpse of are hazy, due to morbid quality of air!

On my first visit to the Valley of Flowers, Hemkund, Joshimath twenty two years ago, there existed a glacier in the Valley of Flowers, besides a handful of visitors. Hemkund had a steady stream of visitors numbering on an average between 1000-1200 visitors per day. A few tourist and state transport buses operated on this route during daylight. After 8.00 p.m. these roads remained closed to vehicular traffic as it was and still is, common for landslides to occur. Twenty years later when I made the trip to surrounding regions, vehicular traffic multiplied, and so did the number of tourists and pilgrim tourists making the trip to the four renowned Hindu pilgrim spots at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri, situated at an average height of 12,000 feet and source for Himalayan major glaciers feeding gigantic rivers of India, like Yamuna and Ganga to name a few. Roads were widened, countless boarding and lodging houses set up to accommodate the increasing flow of visitors. Understandably, local populace were now having better lifestyles, thanks to tourism. Yet overcrowding in a relative way was evident. One had to literally skip well known tourist centric zones to earn some quiet and solitude. Eco sensitivity nosedived, keeping a date with the mountains deemed more important.

Was there a storm brewing? Between 2005 till date landslides and torrential rain appeared on a more regular basis than it did during previous decades, mainly due to damming of rivers, reduction in forest cover and increase in vehicular traffic. The big burst finally take place on 16th and 17th of June 2013, bang in the middle of a busy pilgrim tourist season, considering most schools in North India were closed for summer vacations. Death and devastation seen was unprecedented, bringing to mind the images of cyclones devastating Eastern India during the seventies and the more recent Tsunami. As I write this piece rescue operations are on in full swing, thanks to the Indian armed forces doing a fascinating job of search, rescue and airlifting affected locals and visitors. With 1300 roads breached or washed away, helicopters, small aircraft are only options available. With no final count available of those who perished, initial estimates put it at a thousand or more; infrastructure losses will run into millions.

There are plenty of lessons we need to take back to the drawing board, when re-drawing the road map for development in highly sensitive mountainous regions where twin challenges of sustaining local populations and maintaining ecological balances remain top priorities. With not many similar examples available worldwide, we need to evolve developmental plans taking into the sensitivity of these regions into account. As is done in wildlife parks, regulating number of vehicles entering into the region say at Dehra Dun or Haridwar is the need of the hour (though it may take at least a couple of years for traffic to resume on the sector). Recommendations of geologists and scientists need to be studiously followed as regards damming of rivers and construction of navigable roads. Simply dynamiting mountain faces for road widening maybe a short term measure, proving fatal in the long run. As suggested by Mr Bahugana (a leading environmentalist and conservationist) building ropeways could be an alternate solution. Reforestation and planned development is the need of the hour, especially in regions like Uttarkashi, Chamoli & Naini where local populations are reaping benefits of tourism, albeit, with steady degradation of local environments.

De-polluting rivers as they enter the plains needs to be urgently revived, simply depending on monsoons to wash away pollutants is an unthinkable alternative. Determining carrying capacity at pilgrim spots gains importance as a huge onslaught of visitors descend during the short summer months (when these sites remains open) only succeeds in putting tremendous pressure. Carrying capacity can be determined by taking into account facilities available for visitors which ensure there is minimum damage to local environment, if 'x' number of visitors arrive at a particular destination on a given day. Evacuation facilities take precedence in these areas, when it comes to determining sustainable numbers. Finally measures suggested by various sources, will come to naught in absence of political will. It is worth remembering these words of wisdom cited by our ancestors eons ago; nature provides enough to satisfy human needs, but not human greed. A leading economist of the fifties, Malthus serves another gem and a forceful reminder: Nature intervenes, when Man fails. And more recently the Hon'ble Supreme Court tightened entry norms to buffer and core areas of wildlife parks with stringent norms and regulations. Similar norms could be set in these ecologically fragile zones, in an age and era where instant gratification and rapidly changing weather patterns due to global warming are deemed regular. These conservation and preservation measures may well force tourism to play a reduced role. It is well worth it, considering our generation has not arrived to inherit the planet but to pave the path for future generations to enjoy the marvels of Nature, as well.

-Hector Dsouza