Sages, saints and scholars since time immemorial have sung to the glory of the Himalaya . The great sage-scholar Ved Vyasa did all his writing in Badri Van (Badrinath). Himalaya has not only been a place of pilgrimage for the Hindus, but also has in its folds, holy places of Muslims (like Hazratbal), besides the Buddhist monasteries scattered all over it.
The great Sanskrit scholar Kalidas was born, according to some, in Kali Math in Kedarnath valley.
The Himalaya is still a source of spiritual inspiration to seekers. All the great teachers of India from Adi Shankaracharya to Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore have visited the Himalaya to get inspiration. Its enchanting scenic beauty attracts nature lovers, and its highest peaks are a challenge for mountaineers. But the great Himalaya has not remained attractive or even a place worth living for the Himalayan people themselves. You can see them in thousands in big cities, some of them settled there in search of a bright future for themselves and their children. This was not so a century ago, when the Himalaya was prosperous. The accounts of travellers and researchers reveal that there was a flourishing trade between Tibet and India. Why has the Himalaya, which was so prosperous, become a centre of appalling poverty? The answer escapes the planners and rulers of India, and even China and Pakistan who periodically come out with reports of spending huge amounts on the development of this region. As a matter of fact, the cause of the Himalaya’s poverty lies in this very development which is being enthusiastically promoted in this region. For the rulers ruling over this mountain region from Islamabad, Beijing or New Delhi, development of the Himalaya means construction of roads and now even airstrips on a priority basis. For them the roads ‘open’ the country. Roads mean easy access to the hidden treasures of the Himalayas, that is, its natural resources. The proponents of modern development believe in converting nature into cash. As such, the lush green forests of the Himalaya which were the sources of its prosperity have vanished to satisfy the greed of the metropolitan elite who need wood and even the skins of wild animals to decorate their drawing rooms. Also Read I Nepal devastation puts focus back on glacial lake outburst floods in the Himalayas. What is a GLOF? The rape of forests continues; it has accelerated during the last few years in the whole Himalayan region and it continues even in the upper sensitive catchments of rivers emerging from the Himalayan glaciers. The latest victims are the forests of Tons valley which lie in the Govind Pashu Vihar wildlife sanctuary. This is not peculiar to India alone; in Tibet, half of the forest has been cut down to meet the demands of wood-hungry Chinese cities. In Pakistan, the Himalayan forests fell prey to the greed of immigrant officers from India who clear-felled the mountain forests to raise orchards. Later, refugees from Afghanistan settled down here. The forests of Nepal in the beginning fell prey to the greed of Indian forest contractors and later to the settlers from mountains to the Terai region. India had, under the influence of American interests, clear-felled its Terai forests. In Arunachal Pradesh, where there was no commercial exploitation of forests, clear felling of natural mixed forests has resulted in the monoculture plantations of teak in the foothills. But instead of teak, inferior species like bamboo eventually came up. With forest destruction came climatic changes, recession of glaciers and scarcity of water, erosion of top-soils, and finally the poverty of the people. The efforts to modernise the Himalayan region have resulted in both ecological disaster and economic ruin. It has been difficult for the policy-makers to understand that ecology and economy are interrelated. Mountains are the water towers of humankind. The major rivers of the world, like Huang He, Brahmaputra, Ganga and Indus originate from the Himalayas. Even the Amu Dar’ya flowing west towards the Aral Sea has its origin in the Hindukush-Himalaya. Also Read I ‘Everything, everyone is gone’: Mapping the glacier collapse that has killed hundreds, devastated Nepal and Tibet The story of the Brahmaputra is somewhat different. This river originates in Tibet, where mass felling of trees in the eastern regions has reduced the water holding capacity of the catchment areas. Another threat to the Himalayan rivers is from the continuous recession of glaciers which has accelerated during recent years. With the recession of this glacier, a desert is spreading northwards. Thus, the first threat to economies agricultural and industrial from the Himalaya is ecological. Policy makers who believe in quick economic gains care little for ecology. So they have planned a series of high dams in the mid-Himalayas.
Only recently, more than 5,000 cedar trees were felled in the Gangotri region, not by smugglers but by the Uttar Pradesh government undertaking, the UP Forest Corporation under the orders of the forest department. Despite a ban on felling of green trees for commercial purposes above 1000 metres since 1981, trees are being felled under the pretext of removing dead and dying trees in thousands every year from virgin forests. Bhutan and the Eastern Himalaya like Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim had some natural forests but during the last 20 years the proponents of ‘scientific forestry’ have started the commercial exploitation of these natural mixed forests under the pretext of ‘scientific management’. Though only 4% of the people live in the mountainous regions of the world, they decide the destinies of at least 40% of the people living in the plains. The Gangotri glacier from where the Ganga originates, receded 731.5 metres during the last century. In this century, the rate of recession was 18 metres a year but during the last five years, since the ways to earn more foreign exchange started and the tourist industry was encouraged, the recession rate has gone up to more than 200 metres a year, according to a DST study conducted by Prof Hasnain of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
This has happened all over the world and it is only as a result of this that “the income of the wealthiest 20 per cent of the population is 150 times greater than that of the poorest 20 per cent. Now these rivers which were once sources of permanent prosperity have become sources of disaster due to wanton exploitation. Due to earthquakes, the bed of the river rose and now it is the ‘river of sorrow’ for Assam where regular floods occur during the monsoon.
As “ecology is permanent economy”, the economic threat follows the ecological one.
It is a heaven for the exploiters but a hell to the local toiling masses. In some regions the exploited regions have risen against the exploitation and this can be seen in the various resistance movements which are being suppressed by the authorities after being branded anti-national. The conflict can be resolved by granting control of the three resources of water, forest and land to the local communities. Since the land and forest have in many areas become unproductive, the only resource holding any hope is water.
Also Read I ‘Virgin forest, sheer cliffs’: Satellite shows before-after images of Nepal-China border ravaged by flood The Himalaya is bleeding today on account of the onslaught of aggressive development.
Already the number of dam oustees and other development refugees in India who have not been rehabilitated is 15 million. Some of the oustee families of Bhakra have still not been rehabilitated while the number of oustee families of Pong dam not rehabilitated is 13,500. Similarly, schemes to pump drinking water from the Bhagirathi to 50 scarcity-hit villages of Pratapnagar area in Tehri Garhwal have been cancelled on the plea that this will reduce the amount of water available for the dam reservoir. The justification for building the Tehri dam is that it will ensure the supply of 300 cusecs of water to Delhi, to flush its toilets and to fill the swimming pools of 5-star hotels.
About two dozen such dams are proposed to be built in the most fragile and seismic zone of the Himalayas. The Tehri dam is the first in this series, and is being constructed despite scientists’ warnings about the dangers inherent in its construction. These dams will inundate the flat land in the fertile valleys of the hills, which is a scarce resource in the hills, and the local populace will be uprooted. Big projects being pushed in the name of ‘national interest’ serve the interest of only the big cities, big industries and big farmers. The Himalayan people, meanwhile, become paupers. People living on the periphery of the Bhakra dam in Naina Devi area of Bilaspur district are denied water from Bhakra, the great ‘temple of modern India’. So, women in remote hill villages spend sleepless nights to be up early enough to get a chance to fill their pitchers with a few litres of water. Even the electricity will be taken to distant grids leaving mountain villages in darkness. The third threat from the Himalayas is to the security of the nation. The Himalaya has become one of the most unquiet regions in Asia. Where sages did penance, soldiers in bunkers guard frontiers from the neighbouring nations. The most expensive item of expenditure in this region is the guarding of Himalayan borders, which are inaccessible, being largely covered with snow, and sparsely populated. That is why vast areas in the region are still disputed territory. China has adopted a clever strategy of defence in Tibet, adjacent to its borders with India, Bhutan and Nepal. China has settled its soldiers, married to Tibetan women, as farmers and cattle herdsmen in this region. Some of these shepherd families have intruded into Bhutan with their herds and settled there. Meanwhile, the Indian border, which was more densely populated than the other side, is gradually becoming an area of deserted villages.
Their number is increasing every year according to the Royal Government of Bhutan.
