Prof. B. L. Kaul
In his popular patriotic song “Sare Jahan Se Achha” Urdu Poet Dr. Mohammed Iqbal eulogized Himalayas in these two beautiful lines : “Parbat woh sab se ooncha hamsaya aasman ka; woh santari hamara woh pasban hamara” ( the tallest of all mountains, neighbor of the sky is our sentry and protector). Dr. Iqbal was in fact echoing the feelings of the people of India who consider Himalayas as nature’s marvel and the abode of Gods.These majestic mountain ranges are truly one of the most outstanding yet fragile ecosystems of our planet. They have served India as an impregnable insulation against invasions by barbarian hordes from the north. Even the sages of yore understood quite early in history their importance for food security and livelihood of the people of Indo- Gangetic plains.They knew that the production of food, vegetables and fruits was largely dependent on the flow of water and nutrients from the Himalayas through mighty rivers like Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and their tributaries.
Unfortunately, however, the threat to the Himalayas comes as much from the very people it protects and serves as from the forces of nature. The factors responsible for the degradation of the Himalayas are natural as well as man made. The most visible man made reason is the continuing deforestation resulting in high intensity land- slides and ravaging floods. Unplanned developmental activities especially in mining, road construction and dam building using dynamite and explosives have added fuel to the fire.
As if human vandalism was not enough, nature also has had her share by way of global warming , climate change, earthquakes, neo- tectonic activities, cloud bursts, avalanches and fast melting glaciers to accentuate the ecological deterioration of the Himalayas with serious repercussions. Global warming and climate change, however, are a direct result of greenhouse gas emissions largely by the developed countries and to a lesser extent also by the developing countries.
The desperate dependence of the people living on the fragile mountains for agriculture, fuelwood and fodder for live- stock has taken its own toll and resulted in denudation and virtual desecration of nature’s charm and beauty. The beautiful high altitude lakes are getting dangerously filled with water coming down from melting glaciers as a result of climate change. These lakes often get dammed by avalanches and landslides. Once filled beyond their capacity the lakes burst and create havoc as recently witnessed at Rishi Ganga- Dhauli Ganga in Uttarakhand.
A more recent dimension that has added to the threat to the Himalayas is global warming. Increase of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere like carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons and nitrous oxide etc. from use of fossil fuels is directly responsible for it. Recent scientific studies have indicated that warming of the Himalayan environment has increased noticeably over the last seven decades. There has been an increase of about 2.7°F which may increase further to 3.6°F by the middle of the century. It is quite possible that if carbon emissions continue to increase at the present rate the high mountains might be subjected to a further rise by more than 5.4°F by the end of the century. It is indeed alarming because as a result of increase in heat, rivers and springs will dry up and directly affect the farmers growing grains and fruits on steep slopes. For their survival they will be forced to move to higher upslopes for raising their crops and fruits.
A very serious result of climate change has been the retreating of glaciers all over the world. Studies made on central Himalayan range and Khumbu in Nepal where some of the most famous mountains of the world stand have revealed that glaciers have retreated between 20 to 47 percent since the year 2000 and it is expected that about 50 percent of their volume will be gone by the end of 21st century.As a consequence of melting of glaciers, which together snow feed and sustain south asian rivers more water is coming down in them from the high mountains now. Normally as the glaciers and snow packs, which are like big storage banks, melt water is released slowly over hundreds of years.However, climate change is forcing the glaciers and snow packs to melt faster than usual.If this continues water supply to south asian countries is going to get worse in near future.
The constant damming of rivers for hydropower generation, blasting for road widening, deforestation and unregulated and uncontrolled tourism are all adding to the degradation of Himalayan ecosystem .Several infrastructure development projects are simultaneously happening in Uttarakhand and elsewhere thus severely weakening the already fragile Himalayas. That the ecosystem of the Himalayas is seriously threatened and remedial measures are urgently required needs no emphasis as it is an established fact.Consequently biodiversity of the region is also adversely affected. It is high time for the Himalayan States, the Central government , scientists and the people living in the Himalayas , whose lives are directly affected , to get together not only to reduce damage but also to restore the pristine glory of these mighty and beautiful mountain ranges. A continuous monitoring of melting glaciers is also a very necessary step to prevent devastating floods.
So what needs to be done urgently? First of all we need to have a second look at ambitious projects like chardham pariyojna, chardham railway project, on-going hydroelectric projects , building of resorts and so on and so forth. The cumulative impact of these activities combined with existing problems of forest fires, soil erosion and landslides are severely threatening the fragile Himalayan ecosystems.An urgent regulation of all the above activities is needed.
To begin with as recently suggested in an article( Daily Excelsior) by Dr. Karan Singh M. P. we need to work on providing a green cover in the adjacent valleys of the retreating glaciers. According to him it will work as a buffer and minimize the impact of climate change on the Himalayas. A 2018 Niti Ayog report had cautioned that almost 60 percent of water sources in the Indian Himalayan region are on the verge of drying up. For this reason too, it is essential to maintain a green cover in the upper stretches of the Himalayan valleys by vigorously launching afforestation programmes .These valleys should be declared as eco sensitive zones as recommended by Dr. Karan Singh.I strongly feel that the so called developmental activities, which are detrimental to the health of Himalayas, must be stopped forthwith to protect biodiversity and check further degradation of the holy Ganga.
There is now sufficient scientific data available on the causes of degradation of the Himalayas and the recommendations for remedial measures made from time to time by the committees appointed by the government. The Supreme Court of India took suo motu cognisance of the mushrooming hydropower projects and appointed a committee to investigate the factors that had led to Kedarnath tragedy in 2013. Although the Ministry of Environment and Forests had accepted that construction of dams and massive deforestation, loss of water sources, fragmentation of river length and soil loss had directly and indirectly played a role yet not much was done for restoration.
Besides stopping all those projects which threaten the Himalayas a comprehensive policy must be framed to restore their stability,health, charm and beauty . All developmental activities are not bad in themselves but unplanned ones certainly are. In formulation of projects in the Himalayas mountain ecologists, environmentalists, geologists, geographers and seismologists must be involved and consulted.
In addition to local causes enumerated earlier, eco- degradation of the Himalayas is a part of the world wide degradation of the environment brought about by excessive burning of fossil fuels for energy resulting in carbon emissions. The sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change(IPCC) has now confirmed that humans have already heated the planet by roughly 1.1°C since the 19th Century, largely by burning Coal, Oil and gas for energy. The total global warming is likely to rise around 1.5°C within the next two decades, says the report. The report emphasizes that a coordinated effort to stop adding Carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by around 2050 would likely cause global warming to level off at around 1.5° C preventing far reaching perils.
Paris conference on Global Climate in December 2015 is an important milestone as it has united all the World’s nations in a single agreement on tackling climate change for the first time in history. Coming to a consensus among nearly 200 countries on the need to cut down greenhouse emissions is without doubt historic. It laid down a road map to reduce greenhouse emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of of greenhouse gasses in the second half of this century.It emphasized that steps need to be taken to bring down the rising global temperature and pursue efforts to bring it further down to 1.5°C in the second half of the century. An important requirement for reducing Carbon emissions is clean energy. Giving up use of fossil fuels means production of energy from renewable sources like solar, wind , hydro, geothermal, tidal and biomass. If hydrogen is also added as a source of clean energy the threat of global warming and climate change will vanish.
The steps already mentioned above that are required to control degradation of the Himalayan environment together with a worldwide reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as agreed in 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, will indeed go a long way in helping to restore health and ecology not only of the venerated Himalayas but also all other threatened ecosystems of the world. The fragile and vulnerable Himalayas eulogized by the people of India for centuries are in great need of saving them. It is now or never.
( The author is an environmentalist)
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