By Ruma Dubey

It is only those who have visited Uttarakhand, experienced the beauty, tranquility and peace of the hills, seen the majesty of the Himalaya’s and glory of the Ganges, felt spirituality and bliss, only those will feel the acute pain of the calamity which has befallen the state today. Yes, others might also feel the pain but unless one has experienced the state, it is probably difficult to understand the fragility of the topography there.

Today the dirt of politics threatens to take over the slush and mud that the rivers have washed down in full fury. Visuals of the rivers gushing down somehow makes one feel that the rivers are truly angry, infuriated with this plundering by man. The boulders, slush and mud piling up are seemingly pushing back all the muck which man has slathered on this fragile nature. Hell hath no fury when a woman scorned…. we are seeing today what happens when Mother Nature gets angry.

There is a now a raging debate about whether the disaster was man-made, whether the weather department failed to predict correctly, whether the Chief Minister showed apathy to the warnings of the weather department, whether  mindless pursuit of  economic development led to this, whether the mining mafia and construction dons raped the hills… well, the blame game has begun. But the fact remains that today parts of the state lay in shambles.

On a recent visit to the state, one thing which came forth, while talking to all the locals there, one theme which was common was that they needed economic development. Like the manager at a Lodge at Kund, a small village before Uttarkashi. He said that his family lived in Dehradun and he lived in Kund as there are no proper schools in Kund. He said life was very tough in Kund and all over the state, except Dehradun. He said employment opportunities were low and if at all, they were at lodges and hotels, which anyway were closed down during winter. He said that he wished more companies came and set shop so that employment came their way and quality of life could improve. The same sentiment was voiced by scores of locals. Whomsoever we spoke to said that they wanted more companies to come and they wanted economic development.  But when we told them that economic development would take away the charm of the hills, they said we city dwellers were very selfish – we wanted to live in economic developed cities but come for a few days to rugged and rural places to unwind while they (locals) continued to live in a difficult environment. We pointed out that such development could damage the fragile topography of the state; well, most felt that they wanted to live better lives and let Mother Nature take care of Herself. And She has….

While traversing through the hills, we came across trucks carrying sand, mud, wood from the hills. Locals pointed out that these contractors were eating away the hills to build tall buildings, which they warned were a big no-no in the state.  But at the same time, they said helplessly that if they wanted progress, they had to do this.  

So throughout the state, we came across this constant fight between economic development and protection of environment.  This is a tussle worldwide but in a topography like that in Uttarakhand, the face-off is all the more pronounced. One could not help but enjoy the luxuries of a good hotel on the banks of the Ganges but at the same time, also could not help but rue at the degradation being caused to the environment by their very presence. So where does one strike a balance?

The locals today agree that it was mindless development which perpetrated the disaster but at the same time, fear that the Govt will not bring economic progress to their state any more.  They feel that the damaged roads and fallen bridges will take ages to rebuild. Pilgrims will go back home to their cities but they will have to live there, amidst the debris and struggle to get basics like food, water and electricity for months to come.

The face-off between development and environment has no easy solution. With climate change becoming a permanent phenomenon, we have to brace ourselves for extreme weathers and more natural disasters. On that we have no control but what we can surely build on is the response to such disasters. Having proper disaster management systems in place, restricting the number of pilgrims being allowed like in Manasarovar could be a beginning. Also we need to look at the form in which we are bringing in economic progress. Building only dams and hydro power projects are not the solution. We need to put in more schools and colleges, set up companies which are lower in pollution like research and development facilities, training centers, local arts and crafts, even IT solution development centers, these are some of the facilities which can come up there- it will bring in employment as well as get responsible economic development.  Above all, we need to understand that Uttarakhand and other hilly regions are unlike the rest of India so applying the same formula for economic progress is not the solution.

One cannot help but wonder where is India Inc in all this – where is their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). GVK has (had?) a hydro power project in Srinagar on the Alaknanda on the way to Kedarnath. Jaiprakash Power has a plant at Vishnuprayag on the way to Badrinath. NTPC has a huge facility at Joshimath. Anil Ambani is said to visit the Badrinath shrine as soon at its opens in the summer and before it shuts for the winter. He lands there in a helicopter and is even said to have built a house there. We do not have any word yet from any of them – neither about the state of their plant nor about how they are helping. This is the time when CSR from India Inc should be at its highest.  

Last but not the least when we, the common people go to such fragile topographies to enjoy the peace and tranquility, we need to be more responsible too; ensuring we do not abuse the environment and do not directly contribute to its degradation. 

Mankind might make have made huge amount of scientific progress but do we have the technology to measure or anticipate the fury of Mother Nature?  Or can any modern equipment build a temple as strong as the one built in Kedarnath over 1000 years ago?