Uttarakhanda devastation: man-made or natural
Introduction:
Of late, the terrible cloud-burst coupled with soil-erosion turned the Uttarakhanda calamity into a huge devastation. Government statistics of 1,000 deaths occasioned by such gigantic natural calamity are just a statistics which cannot be trusted but questioned with a number of people still missing and their numbers across the states of India, not received so far. Nevertheless, one can imagine the deaths to be in the region of a number of thousands than one as claimed by Uttarakhanda state authorities. Lack of evidence in the form of dead bodies fails to substantiate any claim contrary to the figure presented by the Uttarakhanda government. All said and done. This tragedy has very few parallels in the history of devastation and destruction.
Uttarakhanda devastation:
- The loss of life and property is so huge that any figure, howsoever unbelievable it may be, can never be denied. There is loss to infrastructure and also loss of properties to the pilgrims and to the residents of Kedarnath, Gourikund, Joshimath, Uttarakashi, Badrinath, etc. The local people are living in abject poverty without food, agricultural implements, cultivable lands, domestic animals and so on. Wherefrom they will get their loss properties and how will they manage their day to day lives is the biggest question mark which even the central and state government and aides coming to the areas cannot answer. Children have lost their schools, gods their priests, wives their husbands, and children their parents. This is an irreparable loss and colossal tragedy which can only be called a national calamity and a global disaster. The plight of local people is definitely more than that of the pilgrims in as much as the pilgrims once reaching their homes by air-lifting and government aid can begin their lives as they were running earlier, but the local people have no hope, no homes and hardly anything to outlive such huge loss.
Man-made or natural:
Though, such incidents in hill terrains and hilly regions are commonly the tragedy which pervaded the recent tsunami in Uttarakhanda appears to be more man-made than natural in view of a few factors which hit human minds. First and foremost of all, the warnings of rain and landslide issued by the meteorological department of the state government and central government were overlooked without any corrective steps being taken. The path to Kedarnath is narrow and thin and regular rain fall makes the journey to the holy place hazardous at normal times, but, when there was incessant rain fall since the 13th of June and the above warning also, the administration preferred to enjoy a dreamy slumber unmindful of what was in store for thousands of pilgrims and residents at the localities. The cloud burst is not an isolated incident in such regions, but every year it happens in one or two places there in a low scale. Administration had never learnt a lesson and was never geared up to encounter any challenge of any sort, what to speak of such a huge disaster.
Ecological imbalances:
Ecological imbalances created by greedy profiteers have shown the seeds of this humongous tragedy. Numbers of big hotels and lodges have been constructed there in the recent past in the name of tourism-promotion. The buildings constructed especially on the river beds and road sides are very unsafe and no parameter of construction being observed since years. There is bound to be a landslide in such places causing colossal soil erosion which occurred in a very substantial way with cloud bursts and flash floods, damaging and destroying the hotels and the roads along with other infrastructure in the process. Multinational companies have constructed many hydro-electricity plants, housing constructions and have undertaken mining in a very big way which caused soil erosion and ecological imbalance plunging the entire infrastructure with mankind into the arena of flash floods and bed-lands.
Mass deforestation:
Another very important contribution to this human tragedy is the deforestation of hilly lands by builders and contractors and multi-national companies for their multi storied housing projects which did not find adequate foundations to counter natural calamities like flood, earthquake, etc. This means no safety measures were undertaken or insisted upon or viewed and examined at any time in the past. The situation, 13 years back, was never so because laws of the land did not permit deforestation and construction. The outcome which we saw is the result of a shift in policy, situation and surroundings.
TheTihiri Dam project undertaken in the Uttarakhanda is no less responsible for this tragedy. It blocked the river waters from flowing freely across the identified routes in the hills and broke the dams and blockades with huge waters pouring water with profuse rainfall atop the hills. The government has given permission for 558 hydro-electricity projects on 17 prominent rivers out of which about 50 percentages have been completed and work is going on for the rest of their speedy completion. According to researchers from the present tragedy is the outcome of these projects. The constructors have chosen to divert the course of the rivers at several places in order to get the maximum out of the projects. A number of tunnels have also been constructed ranging from two kilometers to 27 kilometers for the success of these projects. About 1500 kilometers long tunnels have been constructed so far as for the reports received from reliable sources. Construction works have also caused breakings of hills and roads weakening the river beds across the hilly paths. Such activities have caused landslides in the past even with small rain falls. Builders have also deposited huge quantities of soil, stones and other materials in the river during construction. fThereby making the river shallow and prone to floods and human tragedies.
Conclusion:
Man has failed to tame nature and the ongoing tragedy of Uttarakhanda is a testimony to it. Nevertheless, we can put a brake to our reasoned and seasoned efforts. We can at least avoid the human factor and allow the nature to run its own course. Tampering with nature can create devastation and disaster and Uttarakhanda tragedy is its vivid example.
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