The world's youngest mountain range, the Himalayas, are not only a geographical mountain range for the Indian people but also a symbol of faith for millions of people in India. In the same Himalayas are Gangotri and Yamanotri. In this same Himalayas is the abode of Maa Vaishnodevi. It is the Himalayas, on whose land the Kedarnath temple is situated, while in the far northeast, Goddess Kamakhya also resides in the mountains of Himalaya Apart from this, every Indian is also proud of the fact that various human cultures have developed in many states in the Himalayas, which stretch for thousands of kilometers from Kashmir to Assam. Perhaps that is why the number of people that had visited Himalayan areas in the last thousand years that count has just tripled in the last decade and a half.
But as the traffic of visitors increases, the Himalayas also become a victim of pollution. This is because of the increase in the movement of people. A lot of construction and other developments are also taking place there, and that does not match with the ecological balance of the young Himalayan mountain ranges. If it were not so, then only in just one and a half decade, we have seen Joshimath tragedy in Himalayas, Rishiganga glaciers breaking, Assi Ganga devastating flood, 2013 Kedarnath tragedy and more recent landslides. In all this, we have suffered a loss of more than two thousand crores of rupees, and hundreds of lives have also been lost in these tragedies. To top it all in the month of November, 41 laborers were stuck in the tunnel of Uttarkashi for days.
See, in this article, I dont want to say that this is all happening because of the wrong policies of the government. Nor would I say that the government is extremely indifferent about the Himalayas. Because I myself have traveled to many regions of the Himalayas over the years, where I have seen children are now being educated in homes that have not had access to electricity for ages. In the last ten years, due to the construction of roads, development has also reached many interior areas of the Himalayas. Millions of people living in the interior of the Himalayas are in dire need of many things like education, electricity, roads, or health infrastructure.
But as an environmentalist, I have to say that the system and the various state governments of the Himalayan states have to make a clear distinction between the development of indigenous people and the development of tourism. Because the development of the people living in the Himalayas should be the priority of any government. But for the development of tourism, it is not appropriate to prepare sprawling parking plots, construct hundreds of hotels or roofs, or promote transport for trekking. I have written earlier in this column that uncontrolled tourism in the Himalayan region is causing immense damage to the Himalayas.
I also noticed that the Himalayas areas are being hit in two ways. First, unregulated tourism is increasing carbon and heat problems due to excessive transportation. The haphazard number of people staying with food, campfires, or heaters increases the amount of carbon and heat, which are extremely lethal to icy regions of the mountains. And we are already seeing its effects on the Himalayan glaciers. Also, snowfall in the Himalayan regions has also become highly erratic. Sometimes, it starts snowing very late in the season, and that are times when it snows nonstop like in the Alps or European countries, there is snowfall in immeasurable amount of for days.
The second is that the Himalayas are getting a huge blow of construction. It is very scary that construction is happening, especially in Uttarakhand, Jammu, Ladakh, and Himachal due to tourism. That is why I suggest that the government, especially the central government, should have a very strict policy for construction in the Himalayan states. Just as European countries or America are very strict about visas, in the Himalayan States,'Construction for Tourism' has to be protected by special laws, and the laws are also very strict. It is also very important to follow the guidelines that are recommended to the point and precisely!
Only then can the Himalayas be protected from unwarranted heat, mining, and pollution. Only then can the Himalayas remain extremely healthy. Through the many natural calamities of the last decade and a half, the Himalayas have already told us that if we take care of the Himalayas, the Himalayas will take care of us. Also, the Himalayas are said to be still in their teens. We know that teenagers always need special attention, observation, and care. Hence, we will have to give our special attention, observation, and care for the Himalayas from now on. We can not delay any longer.
By Viral Desai
(The author is a known Environmentalist and the pioneer of Satyagraha Against Pollution movement, viraludayindia@gmail.com )
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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