(2nd article in my series on Himalayan & Uttarakhand's environmental destruction after my previous post on August 04, 2013)
Environmental
Costs Equal Lives of Poor
The recent disaster in
Uttarakhand where more than 6000 people lost their lives has been portrayed as
a ‘natural disaster’ by the state and central governments and by some sections
of media but, in reality, its nature’s first major counter strike against our
country’s incessant mindless destruction of the most diverse yet one of the most
fragile ecosystems on the planet in the name of development.
In the wake of the current
disaster, it is critical not just for real sustainable development of the
mountain states of India but more so for the very survival of the people living
in the Himalayas to avoid any plausible similar disaster from happening in the
future but also highlight and continuously reduce the long term environmental
costs that are, both literally and metaphorically, never borne by the
perpetrators who enjoy the so called ‘fruits’ of development in the Himalayas.
One simple example out of many
which proves my point – In Lodhama region of Darjeeling district of West
Bengal, the state government partnered with some MNC to develop a Mini-Hydel
power project under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). CDM is an emissions
trading scheme under Kyoto Protocol in which, if a project is emitting less
pollutants than a baseline value (as calculated from emissions of other similar
projects), then the emissions that were not emitted are given as credits to
that company which has invested in the project. These credits can then be
traded in the carbon trading markets.
So, while this Darjeeling based
project made money for its owner company through power generated, they also
earned carbon credits for some other MNC which has the go ahead for continuing
to pollute (as has been the case with numerous CDM projects which on the ground
never make actual emission reductions), the locals who have the first right on
the natural wealth have got no share of the electricity generated from the
project. At the same time, water diverted from the stream has crippled crops
grown nearby and biodiversity of the stream (ruining small fishermen). Imagine
the impact on the locals with the poorest earning just Rs.8/day.
The
Neglected Science
(most of the environmental science issues explained in this section is the summary of an enlightening discussion I had with India's preeminent geologist Prof. K.S. Valdiya some time back)
The landmass of the present day
Indian subcontinent is pushing against mainland Asian landmass consisting
especially of the Tibetan Plateau at a rate of 5cm/year. Thus, the Himalayas,
on average, are rising by 5mm/year. Active fault lines as deep as 20 miles at
places exist wherein rock layers push with intense force against each other. Thus,
unregulated blasting and tunneling activity through the rocks for diverting
river courses is severely disturbing the surface layers of soil consisting of
trees and other vegetation which are unstable and have settled on the slopes
only in last some decades. Thus, the first major rainfall is a perfect recipe
for landslides. That is exactly what happened during the once in a generation
cloudburst that occurred during 15-17 June 2013. And, the mushrooming of dam
projects including operating, under construction and proposed ones in Indian
Himalaya is the most lethal combination.
Because of the active geological
fault lines, explosive activity has been a catalyst for increased seismic
activity resulting in greater probability of earthquakes. Already there are
numerous examples (sometimes hidden by the local administration) wherein, walls
of houses and hotels have collapsed and cracks have occurred in many more
structures in villages and towns nearest to the blasting and mining sites even
due to minor tremors. We must remember that Uttarakhand and much of Himachal
Pradesh lie in either Seismic Zone 4 or the worst, Seismic Zone 5 meaning
highest probability of large earthquakes.
Millions of tonnes of rubble generated
due to massive excavation both for tunneling and road construction is
indiscriminately dumped in the river beds (since developers save on costs of
removing and transporting the millions of tonnes of rubble to safe dumping
grounds, mother nature bears the costs). Thus, the volume of the river bed is
severely reduced on the side of the dumping. Hence, during rainy season, the
river charts out a new course with huge force and starts cutting the opposite
slope from the base moving upwards thereby triggering land slide tendencies on
both the slopes. Now, since rampant unregulated construction (homes, hotels and
restaurants) happened all along the river banks totally neglecting dangerous
flood marks, thousands of such constructions were washed away during the June
floods.
Many agricultural and local flora
based livelihood lands were lost due to flood waters crossing all previous
highest flood levels during the Uttarakhand tragedy. Similarly, the rubble and
the diversion of rivers due to tunnels have massively reduced the irrigation
capacity of many downstream agricultural areas that were fed for millennia by
the rivers’ natural flow. This has nearly destroyed local fisheries and aquatic
life based industries apart from affecting the freshwater resources of
communities at various altitudes all along the river basin.
Dam and real estate construction was
and is being done on slopes where the top soil layers are already loose due to
deforestation and thus, are easy to excavate making construction less expensive
as against tougher and socially isolated rocky terrains. Thereby, explosive
activity and digging coupled with deforestation all act as perfect catalysts
for landslides. Secondly, another long term damaging effect of deforestation
and tunneling is that the rainwater seeps in through the barren slopes and eroded
soil in these tunnels. Consequently, natural water resources like numerous
springs which have served the local village population for centuries have dried
up in the last 15-20 years coinciding with massive dam construction and
deforestation. Villages in many Himalayan districts have been facing a severe
water crisis in the last 15 years or so.
The perpetration of this slow
destruction isn’t restricted to land and water. Dams are a major source of
Methane gas which is a bigger heat trapping greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
A recent study by an international research institution categorically stated
that India’s current dam density is the highest source of global warming as
compared to all other countries in the world. However, the biggest alarm bells
have been rung by a very famous research study published early in 2013 which stated
that India’s predicted dam density in terms of dams per kilometer of river
length after the proposed dams are built will be 62 times the world average.
This will submerge 170,000 hectare of forests and affect nearly 90% of
Himalayan valleys and 27% of those dams will affect dense forests with unique
biodiversity.
The Establishment’s
Tawdry Muck
On the governance front, there
has been a complete lack of a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) of dam and
hydroelectric projects and the existing system of Environmental Impact
Assessment under the Environment Act is carried out by voluntarily appointed
environment auditors which lack credibility and there is negligible or zero
local community involvement anywhere both in terms of getting clean chit from
the locals and providing them alternate means of livelihood and homes.
However, the road to stopping this
rampant plundering of our greatest natural wealth seems ready to be broken even
before it’s built. As per the Supreme Court directive issued in August this
year, the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) was to form an expert committee
to investigate and come out with a report on the cumulative impact of all
existing as well as proposed hydel projects in Uttarakhand. The committee was formed
last month and no guesses, it consists of numerous government officials and 2
senior members of the former Expert Appraisal Committee (see my previous blog post
dated August 04, 2013) of the MoEF, the same ‘clique’ that cleared more than
250 hydel projects across Himalayas since April 2007 and did not stop a single
one for any environmental flaw or disregard. And this committee which has been
directed by MoEF to come out with its report within 3 months, to cover more
than 30 projects and asses each one of them separately, this committee sure
will do an ‘expert’ job with no conflict of interest!!
The Panacea
& Potential for Green Growth
In the short to medium term, the
first step that must be taken should be the consolidation of existing
settlements governed through land-use planning rather than unplanned growth of
new ones. Secondly, flow paths for river beds and flood plains must be clearly
demarcated and regulation zones put in place to protect them. For example, the
entire watershed of the Bhagirathi river for the 135km stretch between Gaumukh
and Uttarkashi must be declared as an eco-sensitive zone as per the EPA, 1986.
The draft River Regulation Zone (RRZ) notification, that controls hotels and
townships constructed along the river, lying in some dusty drawer in the MoEF,
must be immediately notified.
India suffers from 35%
transmission and distribution losses which can be reduced to the global average
of less than 20% if only a little political will can be applied and civil
society needs to highlight this on every possible forum and platform. Secondly,
there are numerous examples of villages and communities not just across the
globe but in India as well where small and micro hydel projects provide
electricity to the nearby villages and communities ensuring economic development
and negligible environmental impact.
Then, the concepts of green
development or ecopreneurship applied to the Himalayan states must be
implemented. This includes mainly 2 areas - creating sustainable employment
opportunities in the areas of watershed development, horticulture and
floriculture based industries AND valuation of ecosystem services like the carbon
absorption capacity and water retention capacity of forests which is a huge
long term cost not accounted for when such forest areas are removed.
