Editorial: Learning environmental lessons the hard way in Himalayas
The Centre’s assurance to the Supreme Court on Uttarakhand hydropower projects reflects a welcome recognition that rivers are more than channels for electricity generation
India has learned the hard way how tinkering with the fragile Himalayan ecology could lead to disastrous consequences. Unbridled construction activity in the upper reaches of the Ganga basin has played havoc with the region for decades. The government now appears to have realised the folly of continuing with such policies. The Centre’s recent assurance to the Supreme Court that it would not permit new hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand is a welcome development. Three central ministries — Environment, Jal Shakti and Power — have submitted a joint affidavit saying the government was not in favour of new hydropower projects on the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Rivers, the headwater streams of the Ganga, in the Himalayan State. This marks a significant departure from the long-held official argument that every river can be engineered into an energy asset. Disasters in Uttarakhand, such as the 2021 Rishi Ganga floods and the Joshimath flash floods and land subsidence, were cited in the affidavit as proof of the region’s vulnerability. After years of ecological warnings and repeated disasters, the government has now acknowledged that the fragile Alaknanda-Bhagirathi region cannot endlessly absorb the burden of aggressive infrastructure expansion. For years, experts have warned that without balancing development with ecological sustainability, the Himalayan region would continue to face ecological disasters. Uttarakhand has witnessed an alarming frequency of landslides, floods, cloudbursts, forest fires and even earthquakes in recent decades. But, unbridled construction activity to cater to the growing number of tourists continues to play havoc with the region.
Massive flash floods in August last year, triggered by a cloudburst, came as a grim reminder of the region’s vulnerability to extreme and unpredictable weather events. The shadow of the 2013 Kedarnath tragedy still looms large over Uttarakhand. Each calamity has reinforced what environmentalists and geologists have long argued: the young Himalayan ecosystem is inherently unstable and highly vulnerable to reckless construction activity. Tourism, which is central to Uttarakhand’s economy, has fuelled rampant, often unregulated construction across the State. Hydropower may qualify as renewable energy, but in ecologically fragile mountain regions, it cannot automatically be considered sustainable. Following a Supreme Court order in 2013, the Environment Ministry constituted an expert committee to study whether hydroelectric projects played a role in escalating the impact of the Kedarnath floods and to examine whether 24 such projects would significantly affect the biodiversity of the basins. The committee concluded that 23 of the 24 projects under review would harm biodiversity. The Centre’s latest affidavit before the apex court reflects a welcome recognition that rivers are more than channels for electricity generation. The Ganga, in particular, is an ecological, cultural and spiritual lifeline. Excessive damming disrupts sediment flow, biodiversity and the natural rhythm of the river, while tunnelling and blasting weaken already fragile slopes. The emphasis on maintaining environmental flows is therefore both scientifically sound and environmentally necessary.
