Residents of five villages in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh—Tanipari, Shala Nal, Jal Nal, Tanhal, and Thalot—situated along the Kiratpur-Manali highway, have raised concerns about their safety due to the unscientific and negligent approach taken by the NHAI in road widening efforts. Since the project commenced four years ago, houses have developed cracks, and agricultural land has begun to slide. According to a report, Shobha Ram Bhardwaj from Jal Nal village stated that despite their protests, the company has cut the mountain vertically. The road construction involves the use of explosives, with no consideration for the impact on the villages above. Consequently, many villagers have been forced to abandon their homes. Additionally, there is a grievance that the NHAI is entirely indifferent to their plight, with no relief or rehabilitation measures provided, and the Himachal government has not addressed the issue.
In recent weeks, severe rainfall, landslides, and floods have wreaked havoc in Mandi, Himachal; Dharali, Uttarakhand; and Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir. Himachal has experienced cloudbursts at around three dozen locations in the past few weeks. Over 200 people have died, and 400 roads have been damaged. Surveys conducted since 2017 indicate a continuous rise in cloudburst and landslide incidents in the Western Himalayas, with increasing temperatures being blamed. On August 5, in Dharali, a sudden surge of water swept away everything in its path, leaving many people missing. A village with over 150 houses was buried under debris and vanished from the map. The entire Harshil valley shows signs of devastation. The Uttarkashi-Gangotri highway has collapsed in several areas. Nine days after Dharali, a cloudburst in Kishtwar caused significant destruction. Chositi village, located on a mountain slope and the first stop on the journey to Machail Mata Mandir, was also affected, with many travelers swept away by the water. The mountains here range from 1800 to 3900 meters in height, and when a cloudburst occurs, the water rapidly washes away everything. Currently, relief efforts are in full swing in both Dharali and Kishtwar, but the question remains: could this devastation have been prevented? Is it solely a natural disaster, or is it also a consequence of human negligence?
Reports of floods and landslides in mountainous areas during the monsoon have been frequent for a long time. Even before roads were constructed or projects initiated, hills would collapse and roads would become impassable. However, the level of destruction we witness today, with entire villages being swept away, was not seen in the past. A significant warning came in June 2013 in Kedarnath, where devastating floods and landslides affected hundreds of villages and resulted in the deaths of 6,000 people. This horrific event altered the region's geography. It has been 12 years since this disaster, but have we learned anything? Environmentalists have long cautioned that we are exceeding the mountains' limits. The amount of construction is so extensive and uncontrolled that such disasters cannot be prevented. The Supreme Court has issued a stern warning about Himachal, stating that if this unchecked development persists, 'the state will vanish into thin air.'
The Supreme Court has issued a warning that the ongoing development activities are leading to destruction, yet the administration's mindset remains unchanged. The court emphasized that human actions, not nature, are to blame for landslides, and the collapse of houses and roads. Building on drainage systems disrupts the natural water flow, and when pressure builds, it results in widespread damage. Shimla serves as a notable example, where high-rise buildings on slopes frequently collapse. Annually, two to three buildings fall. Additionally, unauthorized constructions near rivers and streams are often swept away by floods. In Manali, a guest house built by the Electricity Board on the Beas riverbank was destroyed by floods, highlighting poor site selection. While construction is necessary due to population growth, development, and tourism, regulations must be established and enforced. The governments of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have been ineffective in this regard, allowing illegal constructions to persist, ultimately causing harm to the people.
Complaints of floods and landslides in the hilly areas during monsoon have been coming since a long time. Even when roads were not built or projects were not made, hills used to fall and roads used to get blocked. But the kind of devastation we are seeing today, that villages are getting washed away, this did not happen earlier. A big warning was received in Kedarnath in June 2013 when several hundred villages were affected and 6000 people were killed due to devastating floods and landslides. This terrible tragedy had changed the geography of the region. It has been 12 years since this tragedy, but have we learnt any lessons? Environmentalists have been warning for years that we are crossing the limits of the mountains. So much construction is happening and it is so uncontrolled that such accidents cannot be stopped. The Supreme Court has made a scathing remark about Himachal that if this uncontrolled development continues, the state will disappear into thin air.
Experts estimate that 16,000 people will die in an earthquake in Shimla in the morning and 24,000 people will die in the night because unsafe buildings will collapse and people will have no place to run. Shimla is located in a region which is a high-risk area for earthquakes. Scientist Vikram Gupta has said, "I shudder to imagine the day when a major earthquake will strike Shimla." The Himachal government wants to increase the number of tourists from 2 crore to 5 crore. But what will happen when so many concrete buildings are built and lakhs of smoke-emitting vehicles come for which there is no parking? Experts have warned many times that the mountains cannot bear more burden. Former director of Geological Survey of India and expert Om Narayan Bhargav has written, “In most places in Himachal, there is no arrangement for drainage of water and water collects around the houses… In such a situation, when there is heavy rainfall, the ground starts sinking and cracks appear in the buildings”.
The situation is the same in other hill states as well. Expert G.K. Bhatt has written, “Buildings which are constructed on a slope of 10 to 20 degrees are considered safe. But if the buildings hang on a slope of 45 to 70 degrees, it will invite destruction”. These views of these two experts were published two years ago, but the repeated accidents show that no lesson has been learnt. The changing weather and what is called global warming is also making the situation delicate. Some or the other big city of the world remains submerged in floods. Right now Mumbai is submerged. Prof. of Garhwal University. According to Sundariyal, “Shivalik Hills which are spread from Jammu to Uttarakhand are the youngest and most fragile part of the Himalayas. Its rocks and stones are the weakest which cannot bear the pressure of heavy water”. This is the reason why incidents of landslides are happening continuously. On top of this, the problem has become more severe due to the rapid cutting of trees. Scientists who study mountains have been warning for decades that the Himalayan region is more vulnerable and unsafe in climate change than other areas.
Ravi Chopra, who was the chairman of two committees formed by the Supreme Court to investigate the Kedarnath tragedy and the Chardham project, says that human settlements should be away from rivers that flood, but the decisions taken ignore the warning bells and push unstable and fragile infrastructure into environmentally and geologically sensitive areas. The bitter truth is that we are suffering the fatal and terrible consequences of uncontrolled construction in the fragile areas of the Himalayas. If we are not careful, what has happened in Mandi, Dharali or Kishtwar will be repeated elsewhere. In Himachal alone, a loss of Rs 2000 crore has been incurred.
We want development, roads, tourists, power projects, but now the mountains are telling us that if we don't move ahead wisely, we will have to pay the price for it. The mountains are calling for better behaviour. The Himalayas should not be seen only as a storehouse of natural resources or a tourist area. They have to be protected too. The plight of five villagers of Mandi shows what the mindset of the bureaucrats is. Was any action taken against those due to whose negligence these five villagers have become refugees? If not, why was it not taken? When will the culture of 'sab chalta hai' (anything goes) change? What is needed is that there should be a debate in Parliament rising above party lines on how to save the delicate environment of the Himalayas? But the MPs are busy making noise. There is no time for real issues, while the changing environment is becoming a big problem.