By PTI
NEW DELHI: Unplanned and uncontrolled development within the identify of improvement in Uttarakhand has introduced Joshimath getting ready to sinking, specialists stated right here, demanding that the Himalayas be declared an eco-sensitive zone.
In a decision handed at a roundtable organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) on Saturday, specialists termed as “inadequate” the steps taken to cope with the prevailing scenario in subsidence-hit Joshimath.
They additionally requested the federal government to think about taking long-term measures to handle the issue, saying an identical scenario might come up in Nainital, Mussoorie and different areas of Garhwal as properly if the “so-called development driven by human greed” just isn’t checked within the hill state.
“Declare Himalayas as an eco-sensitive zone. Regulate big projects causing devastation,” the decision stated.
While the width of the highway underneath the Char Dham highway widening undertaking should be regulated to intermediate normal to reduce the injury to the terrain, the Char Dham railways undertaking ought to be reassessed, it added.
“Chardham railways is an over ambitious project that will cause much devastation and will further overburden the tourist centric state of Uttarakhand. This project should be reassessed and re-looked at,” the decision stated.
An in depth carrying capability evaluation of Uttarakhand ought to be completed to make sure that the variety of vacationers visiting these locations is accounted for and likewise to make sure that the vacationer movement doesn’t trigger environmental overburdening, it added.
The roundtable, organised to deliberate on the subject ‘Imminent Himalayan Crisis’, was attended by former chairperson of a Supreme Court-appointed committee on the Centre’s Char Dham undertaking Ravi Chopra, its former member Hemant Dhyani and others, SJM co-convenor Awshwani Mahajan advised PTI.
“Sri Adi Shankaracharya founded the city where the holy Jyotirlinga is located in the eighth century, which is known as Joshimath (Jyotir Math). Today, this math is at the brink of collapse. The news of the sinking of Joshimath has shaken the whole country,” Mahajan stated.
“Even though some steps have been taken in view of the current crisis, experts believe that the sinking of this first Jyotir Math established by Adi Shankaracharya cannot be stopped,” he added.
Terming the steps taken by the federal government to cope with the prevailing scenario “inadequate”, the decision famous that whereas on one hand numerous persons are going to be displaced because of the sinking of Joshimath, on the opposite, the answer is being sought solely by means of rehabilitation of affected residents.
“Currently work on the mega projects in this area – the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) hydropower project, Helang bypass road construction which is part of Chardham road widening project and ropeways project, has been stopped by the district administration succumbing to the local protests,” it famous.
It may be seen that areas equivalent to Bhagirathi ESZ, the place giant scale mega tasks haven’t been applied and the native ecology has not been tampered with, land subsidence, landslide incidents and devastating catastrophe occasions are minimal to none, it underlined.
“This is proof enough that the indiscriminate, unplanned robust construction everywhere else in Uttarakhand has directly or indirectly impacted and aggravated the disaster like situation,” it added.
“It is worth mentioning that the way the mountain was cut at the foothills of Joshimath for the construction of Chardham Marg and how without a proper hydrogeological study, the NTPC dug a tunnel in the middle of the mountain, this fragile mountain was destroyed,” the decision famous.
“It is also noticed that due to robust and unplanned construction of high-rise hotels and buildings, there is inadequate arrangement for sanitation, which makes Joshimath more unstable and burdened,” it stated.
“Due to all this, today the entire area of Joshimath is sinking and there is no way we can save it,” it added.
In the identify of improvement, the decision famous, development work and tampering with nature is happening constantly throughout Uttarakhand.
Due to the huge deforestation, there’s hardly any greenery left on the mountains; and resulting from this, landslides have turn into a standard characteristic in these youngest fold mountains, it claimed.
“Disastrous construction in the name of development without assessing the expected impact is becoming the cause of today’s and earlier tragedies. This crisis can be avoided only by curbing this indiscriminate construction,” the decision stated.
“In view of this type of rapid destruction in the past, it has become necessary to consider that the so-called development driven by human greed cannot be allowed to continue. It is necessary that long-term measures are taken to deal with this problem,” it demanded.
NEW DELHI: Unplanned and uncontrolled development within the identify of improvement in Uttarakhand has introduced Joshimath getting ready to sinking, specialists stated right here, demanding that the Himalayas be declared an eco-sensitive zone.
In a decision handed at a roundtable organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) on Saturday, specialists termed as “inadequate” the steps taken to cope with the prevailing scenario in subsidence-hit Joshimath.
They additionally requested the federal government to think about taking long-term measures to handle the issue, saying an identical scenario might come up in Nainital, Mussoorie and different areas of Garhwal as properly if the “so-called development driven by human greed” just isn’t checked within the hill state.
“Declare Himalayas as an eco-sensitive zone. Regulate big projects causing devastation,” the decision stated.
While the width of the highway underneath the Char Dham highway widening undertaking should be regulated to intermediate normal to reduce the injury to the terrain, the Char Dham railways undertaking ought to be reassessed, it added.
“Chardham railways is an over ambitious project that will cause much devastation and will further overburden the tourist centric state of Uttarakhand. This project should be reassessed and re-looked at,” the decision stated.
An in depth carrying capability evaluation of Uttarakhand ought to be completed to make sure that the variety of vacationers visiting these locations is accounted for and likewise to make sure that the vacationer movement doesn’t trigger environmental overburdening, it added.
The roundtable, organised to deliberate on the subject ‘Imminent Himalayan Crisis’, was attended by former chairperson of a Supreme Court-appointed committee on the Centre’s Char Dham undertaking Ravi Chopra, its former member Hemant Dhyani and others, SJM co-convenor Awshwani Mahajan advised PTI.
“Sri Adi Shankaracharya founded the city where the holy Jyotirlinga is located in the eighth century, which is known as Joshimath (Jyotir Math). Today, this math is at the brink of collapse. The news of the sinking of Joshimath has shaken the whole country,” Mahajan stated.
“Even though some steps have been taken in view of the current crisis, experts believe that the sinking of this first Jyotir Math established by Adi Shankaracharya cannot be stopped,” he added.
Terming the steps taken by the federal government to cope with the prevailing scenario “inadequate”, the decision famous that whereas on one hand numerous persons are going to be displaced because of the sinking of Joshimath, on the opposite, the answer is being sought solely by means of rehabilitation of affected residents.
“Currently work on the mega projects in this area – the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) hydropower project, Helang bypass road construction which is part of Chardham road widening project and ropeways project, has been stopped by the district administration succumbing to the local protests,” it famous.
It may be seen that areas equivalent to Bhagirathi ESZ, the place giant scale mega tasks haven’t been applied and the native ecology has not been tampered with, land subsidence, landslide incidents and devastating catastrophe occasions are minimal to none, it underlined.
“This is proof enough that the indiscriminate, unplanned robust construction everywhere else in Uttarakhand has directly or indirectly impacted and aggravated the disaster like situation,” it added.
“It is worth mentioning that the way the mountain was cut at the foothills of Joshimath for the construction of Chardham Marg and how without a proper hydrogeological study, the NTPC dug a tunnel in the middle of the mountain, this fragile mountain was destroyed,” the decision famous.
“It is also noticed that due to robust and unplanned construction of high-rise hotels and buildings, there is inadequate arrangement for sanitation, which makes Joshimath more unstable and burdened,” it stated.
“Due to all this, today the entire area of Joshimath is sinking and there is no way we can save it,” it added.
In the identify of improvement, the decision famous, development work and tampering with nature is happening constantly throughout Uttarakhand.
Due to the huge deforestation, there’s hardly any greenery left on the mountains; and resulting from this, landslides have turn into a standard characteristic in these youngest fold mountains, it claimed.
“Disastrous construction in the name of development without assessing the expected impact is becoming the cause of today’s and earlier tragedies. This crisis can be avoided only by curbing this indiscriminate construction,” the decision stated.
“In view of this type of rapid destruction in the past, it has become necessary to consider that the so-called development driven by human greed cannot be allowed to continue. It is necessary that long-term measures are taken to deal with this problem,” it demanded.
