Control indiscriminate construction and tourist congestion in the Himalaya: experts
Tuesday, 20 June 2023 | PNS | DEHARDUN
Experts have stressed on the need to control indiscriminate construction and tourist congestion in the Himalaya. Experts stated this while expressing their views in a community dialogue organised by Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation to mark 10 years of the 2013 Kedarnath disaster. Experts from various fields and eminent citizens also stressed on the need to learn lessons from the disasters in the State.
Geology expert and adjunct professor, HNB Garhwal University, YP Sudriyal said that the crowd coming to the Himalayas including Kedarnath is consistently increasing. “If it is not managed properly, a tragedy like 2013 can happen again,” he said. “After the 2013 disaster, we conducted a survey and found that the Kedar valley had a capacity for only 25,000 pilgrims to stay, but that night there were 40,000 people there. Now this balance has deteriorated further. The road which was earlier branded as all weather has now been branded as Char Dham Marg project.” He emphasised that landslides are occurring on this road throughout the year. In such a situation, gathering more and more people in Kedarnath should be avoided. “We have to take care of the holding capacity of the valley. We have also seen the result of unplanned development in Joshimath. On these issues, the government should listen to experts and involve them in the policy process,” he said.
Participating in the discussion, senior journalist Hridayesh Joshi said that work is being done against the opinion of scientists in Uttarakhand, due to which the precariousness of disaster situations persists. “We should insist on sustainable roads instead of wide roads. People are asking for roads in their villages but aren’t being heard. The formation of the State Disaster Response Force after the Kedarnath disaster is a major achievement, but we have not been able to develop a warning system in the Himalaya as is in place in the coastal areas. The 2021 Raini disaster is an example of this. We do not have a mechanism to monitor the lakes. Environmental concerns are brushed aside in lieu of development plans,” he said.
SDRF commandant Manikant Mishra said that the 2013 disaster was not limited to Kedarnath as the entire Uttarakhand was affected by it. SDRF was formed on the basis of those experiences. In the 10 years since the disaster, there has been a change in the attitude of the administration and the public that such a disaster can come at any time, and one has to be prepared for it. “At present, we have five companies deployed at 42 locations. It is planned so that one can reach any accident site in the shortest possible time. Now we have better forecasts too. Weather forecasts are coming up for the micro level. Due to the increasing number of tourists in the State, the challenges of dealing with accidents have increased. For this, the jawans are given training in personal rescue and paramedics. There is also a special team for high altitude rescue,” he said. He advised tourists coming to Uttarakhand to be alert about weather reports and travel keeping in mind the geography and climatic conditions.
The audience raised questions and gave suggestions on policy issues along with indiscriminate construction and huge rush of tourists in Uttarakhand. The programme was moderated by senior journalist Sanjeev Kandwal while the inaugural session was moderated by Prerna Raturi. On this occasion, founder of SDC Foundation Anoop Nautiyal, scientists, academicians and others were also present.
