Balancing Development and Environmental Concerns in the Himalayan Region: Lessons from Recent Disasters

&NewLine;<p>The recent tragic events of landslides and floods in the two northern Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand serve as a crucial reminder that environmental concerns should not be compromised for the sake of development&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s essential to recognize that development that fails to consider the capacity to withstand irregular weather conditions and changes in the environment is not true development&semi; in fact&comma; it can be a contributing factor to such disasters&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The continuous rainfall in the Himalayan region this week has led to the unfortunate loss of at least 72 lives and substantial landslides&period; The floods caused roads to be submerged and vehicles and buildings to be washed away&period; Many are injured&comma; and several remain missing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Himachal Pradesh&comma; the most affected area&comma; is currently engaged in relief and rescue efforts&period; Following the landslides&comma; concerns have been raised about people being trapped under debris and mudslides&period; Numerous roads remain blocked&comma; and information about healthcare conditions in remote areas is scarce&period; Schools have been ordered to close in the state capital&comma; Shimla&period; Despite the economic loss of approximately 7028&period;28 crore rupees in Himachal Pradesh alone&comma; these unexpected deaths&comma; disasters&comma; destruction&comma; and devastation should not be taken lightly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The Himalayan region is already considered ecologically fragile from an environmental standpoint&period; There are specific foundational projects that carry inherent risks&period; Experts have been warning about these issues for years&period; The increasing pace of environmental changes poses an escalating risk&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>According to the World Health Organization&comma; global landslide estimates predict the impact on 4&period;8 million people&comma; and between 1998 and 2017&comma; over 18&comma;000 deaths have been attributed to landslides&period; The heightened risk of landslides is especially concerning in hilly areas due to changes in the environment and rising temperatures&period; Melting snow at higher altitudes in the Himalayas can destabilize steep slopes&comma; potentially leading to landslides&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>In September 2019&comma; in the policy document of the National Disaster Management Authority&comma; which operates under the central government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi&comma; it is stated&comma; &&num;8220&semi;There is no land use policy at the national&comma; state&comma; and local levels for implementation&period;&&num;8221&semi; The burden on cities in the Himalayas is growing&period; The cities face challenges such as waste&comma; unregulated sewage&comma; water scarcity&comma; unplanned urban development&comma; and local air pollution caused by vehicles&period; The influx of tourists during summers exacerbates the situation&comma; necessitating better management of these cities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The policy paper also highlights&comma; &&num;8220&semi;In rural areas&comma; construction without adequate research and proper drainage systems for rainwater has led to heavy investments in road construction and an unplanned development approach in risk-prone hilly areas&period;&&num;8221&semi; The paper suggests involving urban planners in local safety assessments&comma; focusing on risk areas&comma; slopes&comma; and land use mapping&period; It also emphasizes understanding the impact of landslides on rural communities&comma; where damage to a significant agricultural sector has disrupted livelihoods and put food security in hilly areas at risk&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Additionally&comma; attention needs to be given to compensating farmers for lost land due to landslides&period; The policy paper further states&comma; &&num;8220&semi;Recent incidents of landslides and cloud bursts causing large scale property loss have indicated that most of the construction plans are flawed and do not adhere to the standard norms&period; Government agencies themselves rarely follow design-related rules&period; This has created a worrying situation&comma; where the number of unsafe buildings and annexations to unsafe buildings is increasing significantly in highly unstable hilly areas&comma; causing a significant number of unsafe structures and buildings to be added every year&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The National Landslide Risk Management Policy recommends&comma; based on three years of research and regional surveys&comma; that &&num;8220&semi;an integrated development plan can be prepared by considering environmental and other relevant factors&period; Efforts should be made to protect other water bodies including underground water bodies in water-scarce areas&period; Large-scale cutting of hill slopes disrupts the environment and causes instability in nearby areas&comma; so such cutting should not be done until appropriate measures are taken&period; Generally&comma; in areas with more than 30 slopes or areas at risk of landslides&comma; no construction should be undertaken&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>It&&num;8217&semi;s evident that much can be done&comma; and the insights of several experts emphasize what should be prioritized and what shouldn&&num;8217&semi;t&period; The challenge lies in the implementation of these guidelines&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s time to change our perception of disasters and incorporate precautionary measures that can mitigate the impact&period; Precautionary measures play a crucial role in minimizing the impact of disasters and supporting reconstruction efforts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Local activists like Mansi Ashar from the environmental group Himdhara&comma; along with numerous others&comma; emphasize the need to rebuild the development model of these environmentally sensitive states&comma; keeping local needs in mind&period; Development in the name of progress has amplified the recurrence of disasters due to environmental degradation&period; Controlled development&comma; which accounts for environmental risks&comma; eliminates the need for compromise&period; Now is the time for policymakers to listen to both relevant authorities and the voice of the community&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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