Building boom put vulnerable Gangotri Dham at risk: Experts
The Uttarkashi to Gangotri route has seen rapid development, but unplanned construction and deforestation have led to ecological risks and recent flash floods.
The landscape around the 80km stretch that links Uttarkashi town to Ganagotri Dham has transformed rapidly in three decades. What was once a sliver of a road has evolved into a busy two-lane highway dotted with hotels, resorts and business establishments to feed the burgeoning inflow of tourists.
But this transformation has been accompanied by unplanned constructions, chopped trees and hindrances in the Bhagirathi river that curb its natural flow, experts said in the wake of the devastating Uttarkashi flash floods. Dozens of new constructions were built on the floodplains of the glacier-fed streams, and were washed away when mudslides swept through a cluster of villages nestled beside the Bhagirathi, added the experts, pointing to the perils of unscientific construction in ecologically fragile zones.
Trilochan Bhatt, a local environment activist, said that till 10 years ago, there were only a few small shops at Dharali. But construction picked up rapidly.
“Buildings came up wherever possible in Dharali even on the Kheer Ganga flood plain. There was no check,” he said, adding that old Dharali village, located about 500 metres above the disaster zone, was unaffected on Tuesday.
The Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ), in which Dharali falls, guidelines prohibits any construction within 100m of the Bhagirathi river and had instructed the local administration to declare no-go zones for construction in 4,179sqm of the ESZ. The guidelines also called for demarcation of flood plain zones in the area.
“No action on ground has been taken on the guidelines,” said Hemant Dhayani, an Uttarkashi resident.
Pushpa Chauhan, head of panchayat Ganeshpur in Uttarkashi district, said that more than 500 homestays have come up in recent years between Uttarkashi and Gangotri and most of them have been built along the Bhagirathi river and several of them on floodplains.
“In recent years there has been a spurt of home stays, summer tents, hotels and resorts along the route. Our estimate is there would be 500 of them now catering to thousands of visitors coming every day,” she said.
Shailendra Matura, president of the Uttarkashi Hotel Association, said building norms were violated often.
“The government should implement rules but should also consider that homestays have provided an alternate economic avenue to locals,” he said.
According to an official in Uttarkashi district administration, the tourism industry employs over 50,000 people in Bhagirathi valley, where there are few other jobs. “Horticulture is an upcoming industry. But people have limited land holdings — close to 90% of the land is forest and therefore not a big revenue source. There is ecological damage, but we need to balance ecology with development,” said the official.
But Lokendra Bisht, a social activist from Uttarkashi, views this differently.
“There is an old saying in Garhwal — never settle in front of the river, because it will destroy everything in its way. This is what happened in Dharali.”
