Vijay Kumar Gaba

Over the past three decades it has evolved from a sleepy mountain village that would witness some life during the six months Char Dham pilgrimage; into a busy town bustling with activity all-round the year.

Recently, Joshimath has been in the news for the wrong reasons. About 20000 inhabitants of Joshimath are living in extreme fear as their homes have developed big cracks; and could collapse anytime. Besides, some important temples and other establishments have also become perilous.

Experts have been cautioning the authorities about the fragile ecology of the region for the past many decades. In 1976, the Mishra Committee recommended (i) restrictions be placed on heavy construction work, blasting or digging to remove boulders for road repairs and other construction; (ii) felling of trees; (iii) undertake a massive campaign to plant trees and grass; (iv) avoid agriculture on slopes; (v) construct a pucca drain system for sewage water flow and close soaking pits; (vi) To avoid percolation do not allow water to accumulate, construct drains to carry water to safer area; and (vii) fill all cracks with lime, local soil and sand.

Most of the Committee recommendations seem to have been not only ignored but blatantly violated. To make the matter worse, massive heavy construction work has been undertaken, palpably in the name of developing the area. The hydro power project in the vicinity and widening of road as part of the Char Dham all-weather road project may have inflicted serious damage to the already fragile ecology of the region.

We have seen several disasters in the past few years on the Char Dham route - Kedarnath (2013), Uttarkashi (2019) and Vishnu Prayag (2021) flash floods/landslides being the most (in)famous ones.

This year approximately 4million pilgrims undertook Char Dham Yatra during the six month period between May-November. More than 70% of these 4mn visitors may have visited the holy shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in 4months (May-August), with most visiting Badrinath and Kedarnath only.

As someone who had been regularly visiting these holy shrines since childhood, I know for sure that these places are in no position to handle so many people visiting in a short span of 100 days. The ecology of Haridwar (Base camp for Char Dham Yatra) Uttarkashi (Gangotri and Yamunotri) and Chamoli (Badrinath and Kedarnath) districts has already been damaged severely in the past two decades. Several hydro projects in the area have adversely impacted the already fragile ecology of the area.

There is nothing to suggest that this fight between Nature and human greed will stop any time soon. The development planner need to assimilate that construction of development edifice which is directly in conflict with sustainability and core beliefs has to be rejected out rightly.

Unfortunately, we have not seen any policy drive to this effect despite frequent natural disasters; though many efforts to the contrary have come forth. The major road project in the Garhwal Himalaya to connect the four sacred temples in upper reaches through a wider road network is only one example of the unsustainable development.

The stated objective of the project is to make it more convenient and safer for the pilgrims to visit these sacred temples. This widening of roads has not only caused cutting of numerous trees, but is also resulting in massive increase in vehicular traffic and number of pilgrims visiting the region. This is inarguably resulting in higher pollution, massive piles of human waste & garbage, pressure on infrastructure, and massive construction of room capacities & other conveniences. This will inevitably compromise the sanctity of the place itself; and kill the sacred rivers that originate from there.

The politicians (from all parties) have unfortunately blinded the local populace with the lure of higher income and employment opportunity from rising pilgrim tourism. Unmindful construction and unpardonable exploitation of natural resources has not only endangered the ecology of the region, it has also jeopardized the sustainability of all future generations. For, this region is the source of water to more than 350million Indians.

We ought to be deeply concerned over the unmindful and unsustainable development of the hill state, known as Dev Bhoomi (abode of Gods). I have the following suggestions to offer:

• Completely ban private vehicles in 50km radius of these sacred temples.
• Allow only disabled and senior citizens to travel by public buses (electric vehicles) to the temples.
• Accelerate the construction of ropeway projects to carry the pilgrims to the temples.
• Develop the traditional pedestrian route to the temples. Encourage youth to trek upto the temples. Provide tented accommodation with bio-toilets along the way.
• Regulate the number of pilgrims visiting these temples, and make it compulsory for all pilgrims to plant one tree each and pay for its maintenance for one year.
• Completely ban plastic (including snacks, gutka packets etc.) in the hills.
• Freeze all commercial construction in the state for 5 years.
• Implement the recommendations of the Mishra committee and other such committees.
• Constitute a statutory commission to regulate all the development activities in the state, including roads, power projects, and tourist flow etc.