The people of Chamoli and environmentalists had long been protesting against the setting up of two hydel projects which severely compromised the ecology of the region

On a calm Sunday morning, the sound of gushing water stirred fear in the minds and hearts of the people of Chamoli district in Uttarakhand as it reminded them of the fateful day in 2013 when a deluge took hundreds of lives, rendered many homeless and devastated the State.

The huge volume of water and mud flowing towards the under-construction Rishi Ganga Hydel Project confirmed the worst fears of the local people who watched helplessly as nearly 40 labourers at the Rishi Ganga and Dhauli Ganga dam sites came under the swathe of the colossal deluge consisting of water, muck and debris.

The death toll by Monday evening climbed to 18, while 27 were rescued and over 200 were feared missing or dead, with 30-35 feared trapped in a tunnel at the Tapovan-Vishnugad project.

These figures would have been much more had the incident not taken place on a Sunday, which is a weekend and the number of labourers in attendance is thin.

 The magnitude of the disaster can be gauged by the fact that the glacial burst caused sudden flood and avalanche in the Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda rivers totally devastating the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC’s) Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project. It’s unfortunate that scientists failed to predict the catastrophe even though it was a disaster waiting to happen.  

  The people of Chamoli district and environmentalists had long been protesting against the setting up of the two hydel projects which has severely compromised the ecology of the region.

In 2019 the people of Raini village, who have been deeply impacted by the latest tragedy had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Uttarakhand High Court against the construction of the hydel project, citing damage to the environment as the main reason. The project site in Raini village area falls under the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, just a few kilometres from the Nanda Devi National Park.

Considering its impact on the environment and the local community owing to the blasting and stone crushing activities, the High Court stayed blasting in the project area till further orders and constituted a panel under the Chamoli District Magistrate and Member Secretary of the State Pollution Control Board to inspect the Rishi Ganga Hydroelectric Project site. 

 However, as the project progressed, the huge pile of muck was not disposed as per environmental norms and, as a result, it came gushing down with the flood waters creating havoc.

The Government and courts must realise that appointing committees and delaying the environmental impact assessment report of any project is nothing short of playing with the environment and people’s lives. Sunday’s disaster has proved the same beyond doubt.

Apart from scant regard shown for environmental norms and laws by the Government, climate change too, had a major role to play in the recent disaster.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) reveals that climate change has triggered global warming which in turn has altered the frequency and magnitude of natural hazards leading to adverse events such as the breaking off of a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier on Sunday.

According to the HIMAP assessment report facilitated by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), temperatures are rising in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region and the rise in global temperature will have more impact in the Himalayan region due to elevation-dependent warming. If the world can keep the temperature rise to below 1.5°Celsius, in the HKH region it would translate to at least a rise of 1.8°C, and in some places, above 2.2°C.

 The Himalayan region, which has an ultra-delicate ecology, is least monitored given the difficult geographical terrain and is susceptible to the increases risk of unforeseen extreme weather events such as glacial bursts. As per estimates there are 8,000 lakes in the Himalayas, of which 200 are classified as dangerous, and as mountain slopes are impacted by glacier retreat and permafrost thaw due to rising temperatures, the lakes become unstable and populated regions in the foothills become highly vulnerable to extreme weather events.

 The rising heat in the Himalayas is also attributable to the excess use of concrete in structures such as dams and residential buildings. These structure radiate heat and contribute to the spike in ambient temperatures. There is an urgent need to make a shift to traditional building materials such as stone and wood in order to dial down the vulnerability to climate change and also put hydel power projects under restricted category. In addition to this the Government must also set up more high altitude monitoring stations so that the health of the Himalayas is correctly gauged. This in turn will enable better adaptation practices.

The Uttarakhand glacier burst has revealed the consequences of human apathy towards the environment and climate change. The end result is loss of human lives, ruined nature and, as usual, no lessons learnt.

The writer is an environmental journalist. The views expressed are personal.