Unplanned and uncontrolled construction in the name of development in Uttarakhand has brought Joshimath to the brink of submergence, experts said on Saturday and demanded that the Himalayas be declared an eco-sensitive zone.
In a resolution passed at the round table conference organized by Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), experts termed as “inadequate” the steps taken to deal with the current situation in flood-hit Joshimath.
He also asked the government to consider taking long-term measures to address the problem, adding that a similar situation may arise in other areas of Nainital, Mussoorie and Garhwal, if the “so-called development driven by human greed” is not checked. Is performed. Hill State.
“Declare the Himalayas an eco-sensitive zone. Regulate big projects that cause havoc. , it added.
“Chardham Railway is a very ambitious project which will create havoc and further impact the tourist centric state of Uttarakhand. This project needs to be re-evaluated and re-looked,” Sankalp said.
The detailed carrying capacity of Uttarakhand should be assessed to ensure that the number of tourists visiting these places is accounted for and also to ensure that the flow of tourists does not burden the environment.
Ravi Chopra, former chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed committee on the Centre’s Char Dham project, its former member Hemant Dhyani and others, SJM co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan participated in a roundtable to deliberate on the topic ‘Eminent Himalayan Crisis’ took. told PTI.
“Shri Adi Shankaracharya founded the city in the eighth century, where the holy Jyotirlinga is situated, known as Joshimath (Jyotir Math). Today this math is on the verge of collapse. The news of the sinking of Joshimath has shaken the whole nation. ” she added.
Describing the steps taken by the government to deal with the present situation as “inadequate”, the resolution said that while on one hand the submergence of Joshimath is going to displace a large number of people, on the other hand there is a solution. The demand is being made only through rehabilitation of the affected residents. “Currently work on mega projects in the region – National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) hydro power project, Helang bypass road construction which is part of Chardham road widening project and ropeway project have been halted by the district administration succumbing to local protests was gone,” it noted.
It can be seen that in areas like Bhagirathi ESZ, where large scale mega projects have not been implemented and local ecology has not been tampered with, occurrences of land subsidence, landslides and catastrophic disaster events are not less than minimum, It has been underlined. “This is proof enough that indiscriminate, unplanned strong construction everywhere in Uttarakhand has directly or indirectly affected the disaster-like situation.”
Significantly, the way the mountain was cut at the foothills of Joshimath for the construction of Chardham Marg and how NTPC dug a tunnel in the middle of the mountain without hydrogeological study, this fragile mountain was destroyed. “It is also observed that there is inadequate arrangement of sanitation due to rampant and unplanned construction of high-rise hotels and buildings, which makes Joshimath more unsanitary and burdensome,” the resolution said.
Due to all this, today the entire area of Joshimath is drowning and there is no way to save it.
In the name of development, construction work and nature tampering are going on continuously in entire Uttarakhand. There is hardly any greenery left on the mountains due to massive deforestation; And because of this, landslides have become a common feature in these newly folded mountains, it claimed.
“Disastrous construction in the name of development without assessing the expected impact is causing tragedies today and earlier. This crisis can be avoided only by stopping this indiscriminate construction.
“Given such rapid destruction in the past, it has become necessary to consider that so-called development driven by human greed cannot be allowed to continue. It is essential that long-term measures are taken to deal with this problem.”
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