The devastation in Himachal Pradesh is yet another instance of the wages of unplanned and unscientific development in the geologically fragile and eco-sensitive Himalayan states. Close to 300 are dead and thousands of structures have either been washed away in flashfloods or buried in landslides. Several thousands more have developed structural infirmities, compounding the costs. The tragedy could have been avoided had the state followed a strategy of sustainable development of infrastructure. In a bid to rapidly grow its tourism-led economy, the state took several shortcuts. Traditional construction methods that were more suited to the topography of the state—such as dhajji dewari, that involves nogging, or filling up the gaps in a wooden frame with bricks, and kath kuni, that involves walls of alternating layers of stone and wood—have given way to concrete structures.
This has meant displacement of significant volumes of rock and soil in the mountains, loosening the surface and making the region more vulnerable to landslides. Worse, the bulk of such construction violates building standards prescribed for Himalayan geographies. As per a study published in Natural Hazards Journal, just under a third of the buildings complied with the recommended standards for mitigating seismic vulnerabilities. For faster construction, basic standards on thickness of columns had been ignored. There is a crying need for retrofitting of many buildings in the state.
To push both tourism and trade, road expansion in Himachal Pradesh has been carried out rapidly—69 national highway projects have been approved, including five four-lane highways. Thanks to the breakneck speed of work, necessary geological studies and mountain engineering specifics have been bypassed, according to Tikender Singh Panwar, former deputy mayor of Shimla. The conversion of two-lane and single lane roads into four-lane and two-lane ones, respectively, has also meant significant alteration of the mountain slopes, soil displacement and cutting down of vegetation key to the region’s topographical and ecological stability. Vertical slitting of the mountain for the four-lane projects in Manali and Shimla, instead of the traditional terracing approach has increased risks of landslides. The debris from excavation has also not been managed properly, leading to these getting washed down. The fallout is that even normal rainfall causes the rivers to well and threaten floods.
As per Isro’s Landslide Atlas of India, all 12 of Himachal’s districts are in the top 70 most landslide-susceptible districts in the country. The number of landslides has increased six times between 2020 and 2022. While climate change and extreme rainfall are responsible, reckless development has compounded the problems. There is thus an urgent need to address the anthropogenic causes of the present disaster and correct course as climate change effect are set to worsen. The widening of roads must strictly adhere to mountain engineering norms, and there should be curbs on construction that is not suitable for the local geology and seismological activity. As a Rajya Sabha panel recommended in July, template environmental clearances must give way to customised ones, recognising local needs. The management of water resources for dealing with heavy downpour needs to get a lot more adept—a Lok Sabha panel made a raft of recommendations for glacier management that can be the key to flood control in March. Early warning systems also need to be made more robust and perfected for efficacy. The state needs to pay heed to prevent a repeat of the Himalayan blunder.
