Story of the nature overpowering mankind

   The importance of co-existence among nature and humankind has got its fittest reply with the country handling a natural disaster in Uttarkhand. The flashfloods in the Uttarkhand brought the region to its primitive existence as water gushes out from its repositories to land and the roads and bridges wiped from the face of earth; nailed the humankind for curtailing its existence by being pervasive now.

The official figures reveal about 822 died in the flashfloods till now and thousands left stranded in the disaster. More than 40 choppers are ferried in the inclement weather to distribute essentials and in airlifting the stranded people. The choppers ferry ghee and woods to carry on with the mass cremation, the locals are alerted to abstain using water in the hills and outbreak of deadly diseases is on high alert. Further, the chaos looms larger with the kith and kin at a frantic pace in search of the missed ones heightens the distress situation in the hills.

Within 24 hours of the onset of flashfloods, center declared it as a national disaster and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) acted on a full swing to mitigate the crisis. The Uttarkhand Chief Minister, Vijay Bhagugan, disheartened, said not expected floods during this monsoon season. The funds poured in from all the corners and the state governments ensured that pilgrims belonging to their state airlifted safely amidst the relentless operation.

As the events unfold, the environmentalists are fraught with the damage done to ecologically sensitive areas. The watershed of Bhargyarati and Mandakini Rivers comes under ecologically reserved areas that bar any developmental activities in the region. Further, in 2005, the Ministry of environment notified the state government of Uttarkhand to abstain from the activities that bring hazards to ecology but the Uttarkhand government defended those activities on the pretext of bringing development to the state.

In the following years, the state invested heavily on the tourism by laying new roads and widening the existing ones. The tourist buses crossed the mark of a lakh in 2010 and records the time gap of seven minutes between two vehicles plying in the hills. Subsequently, plying of heavy vehicles to ferry the growing tourists’ population weakened the mountains which triggered the landslide and created slits during the flashfloods. The construction companies and contractors drilled the mountains haphazardly without using advanced technologies and precautionary measures to minimize the ecological hazards. Subsequently, this man made construction changed the course of the rivers and thus disturbing its natural flow.

The generation of hydropower energy in Bargavati River tends to be lucrative to the state with high tariff rates but the series of bumper on the River to produce energy shrunk the water source.  Some parts of the river are parched and even during lean period the sharing of water is impossible. According to the claims the existing projects already did 80% damage to the river. 

The heavy drilling into the mountains for the construction of dams, roads, and bridges haphazardly without using sophisticated technology severed the mountains. The private contractors while building hotels and resorts drilled randomly without a prior knowledge laid many contractors bankrupt.

Apart from it, abode of Shiva, is a seismic zone, prone to landslides and earthquake. Back in 2002, the state experienced a massive earthquake jolted people from its normal life. Even during this rescue operation the hills recorded a quake of 3.5 Richter scale. The ecologists call the young Himalayan hills as ecologically fragile zones and claims the government has carried out the development at the cost of the environment.

The construction of buildings not adhering to the types belonging to seismic zones paid heavily during the floods. The environmentalist endorse any planned construction using technology withstands floods and earthquake. The flouting of rules and unregulated constructions wreaked havoc in the hills during the flashfloods are the strong claims of environmentalists.

Even after witnessing havoc, the Chief Minister, Vijay Bhagugan, shrugs these reasons as childish leaving ecologists in despair. As rescue operations drawing to a close and news stories on flashfloods moved to inside pages raises doubts on the momentum that can be seized for a better future of nature and humankind.