Chardham project will destroy fragile ecology of the Himalayas

Professor G D Agrawal, aka Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand, gave up his life after a 112-day fast in 2018 in Rishikesh demanding an end to the devastating activities going on in the Himalayas in the form of construction of a series of dams on various streams that join to become the Ganga, mining in its bed and deforestation in its valleys, but to no avail. Now, another tragedy is unfolding.

The Himalayas are of tremendous ecological, cultural and religious significance for the people of India. Yet, for the past several decades, the region’s abundant natural resources are being exploited and its ecosystems destroyed in the name of development. Now, the ambitious 900-km Chardham Highways project, work on which began in 2018, seems set to propel the Himalayas towards disaster.

The government’s stated goal for the project is to widen the roads leading up to the four Hindu pilgrimage sites of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath to make the pilgrimage “safer, faster and more convenient.” But the project was pushed through by the authorities with complete disregard for the environmental laws of the country.

Such a large-scale project should have required a comprehensive and rigorous environmental impact assessment (EIA), including public consultations and hearings, before being given the green light, as it is mandatory for road projects which span more than a 100 km. However, the government surreptitiously side-stepped this requirement by dividing the 900-km stretch of road into 53 segments, each thus of less than 100 km, and labelling the work to be done on each segment as a separate project.

Not going through the assessment process has not only put the environment and people of the region at great risk, but, by extension, even threatens the safety of the travellers for whose convenience these roads are being built.

The whole Himalayan region is geologically unstable and disaster-prone. The Himalayas are young mountains which are still in the process of formation. They grow in height by about six cm every year. They lie in seismic zones 4 and 5 because of which they experience frequent tremors and other seismic phenomena. They also experience exceptionally heavy rainfall. Large-scale deforestation and indiscriminate construction activity, mining and quarrying further contribute to the geological instability of the region.

The Chardham sites are located in areas particularly susceptible to landslides and land subsidence. They are amongst the sites that experience the most topsoil-loss in the country. According to a Geological Survey of India report in the wake of the Kedarnath disaster of 2103, road-building in the area has disturbed the natural slope of the mountains over the years, leading to their destabilisation and landslides. Yet, this already precarious nature of the environment has been completely disregarded for the project.

The minimum width of the highway roads has been set at 10m, which many environmentalists have criticised as being far too wide, considering the extent of slope cutting and soil displacement it would require. It has been reported that due to the mountains being cut at the dangerous angle of 90 degrees in many places, several landslides have occurred at different points along the route. There have been several reports of fatalities among the construction workers as well as travellers and residents of the area. Damage to property and agricultural land has also been reported. The muck generated from the cutting of the slopes is being dumped directly into the rivers, causing extensive damage to their water quality and aquatic life.

Environmental groups such as Ganga Aavaahan and the South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People have voiced concern over the project. The late Prof Agrawal had also strongly criticised the project before his unfortunate death.

As the extent of the destruction due to the project started to become apparent, some concerned citizens filed a petition in court. Eventually, the matter reached the Supreme Court, which formulated a High-Powered Committee (HPC) to look into the matter, naming the eminent environmentalist Ravi Chopra as its chairman. The court directed the committee to ensure that the Chardham project conforms with the requirements of safe and sustainable construction in the steep valley terrain of the region.

Chopra and a few of his committee members have, after extensive investigation of the situation, suggested an intermediate road width design of 5.5 metres, as opposed to the 10-metre double-lane paved shoulder design. Through a circular issued in 2018 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways itself originally recommended 5.5-metre width for the roads.

However, a group comprising 22 of the 26 members of the committee, who are mainly government officials, have opposed Chopra’s recommendations. They have submitted a separate final report to the Union environment ministry, which supports the double-lane paved shoulder design. Chopra and the other three members of the minority group, who are all independent experts and scientists, have stood firmly by their recommendations, which they believe is the only viable option for protecting the Himalayas. They have requested that all construction activity on the project be halted until a final decision on the road width, which is now left to the Supreme Court.

One of the reasons being given in support of wider road is facilitation of faster movement of troops, given the imminent Chinese threat at the border. However, landslides will become frequent due to the project itself and thus defeat its very purpose. The manner in which members of the HPC are furthering an agenda completely contrary to the public interest is condemnable and undermines the authority of the Supreme Court in the matter.

Looking at the broader context, with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as well as the climate change crisis -- both of which will likely have a profound impact on tourism in the coming years -- the prioritisation of the interests of tourists and pilgrims over local environments and communities appears irresponsible and unwise. Development in the Himalayas is necessary to improve the living standards and mobility of its people, but for this, the government should take a collaborative approach, which also takes into consideration the indigenous knowledge and technologies of the people of the region. For example, the development and upgradation of existing modes of transport and conveyance through local innovation could be considered to improve access to various remote parts of the Himalayas. This could help invigorate local economies by encouraging and supporting local entrepreneurial activity while also facilitating the conservation of the environment.

(The writers belong to the Socialist Party of India)