Uttarkashi disaster highlights trade-offs for construction

TUesday’s landslides and floods in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi neighborhood, in the bosom of the Bhagirathi Ecosensitive district (BESZ) feature in time again highlighted the trade-offs involved in the construction of the final stretch of the Char Dham road.The forest clearance for the stretch between Tekhla and Badethi has been pending since December last year. Constructing this stretch will involve the felling of 530 trees, according to documents available on the Union Environment Ministry’s Parivesh website. The annexures to the Zonal Master Plan of BESZ, available on the ministry’s website, add that a key concern is the need to protect the forests and green cover in the BESZ.Also read: Devastation in Dharali spotlights climate change, indiscriminate construction“It requires minimal cutting of trees in the BESZ for road construction and avoiding multiple roads connecting a village to the state or national highways. This caution was supported by the Uttarakhand chief secretary in the December 9, 2017 meeting and reiterated in the May 2, 2018 meeting. In the January 9, 2018 committee (NGT appointed) meeting, Chandi Prasad Bhatt (Chipko leader) referred to the immense damage potential of the Uttarkashi-Gangotri National Highway widening project currently underway. The plan for widening this stretch will fell 12,995 trees in the BESZ. Almost 6,000 deodar trees are to be felled between Jhala and Gangotri, Bhatt had pointed out that in the latter stretch,” the annexures state adding that the count of trees to be felled is sourced from a submission on record by union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH).Trees have already been marked on the stretch for felling according to local residents. “Authorities are preparing to fell trees. They have been marked. Trees are imperative to bind the mountains in this area and if these are cut then the avalanche from the hanging glaciers, which are expected in these areas owing to climate change, will not be arrested and the debris will slide down burying everything and everyone on its path,” said Mallika Bhanot, environmentalist and member of Ganga Ahvaan, a civil society collective.HT reported on August 29 last year that residents of Uttarkashi have flagged concerns with the Border Roads Organisation’s forest clearance application submitted to the Union Environment Ministry, for the widening of the Char Dham road through the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone.Residents are particularly concerned that conditions recommended by the Supreme Court appointed high powered committee on the Char Dham project which were referred to in SC’s order dated December 14, 2021 in respect of the stretch of around 100 km connecting Uttarkashi to Gangotri and passing through the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone, have been ignored.Also read: Where Uttarakhand cloudburst took place: Dharali village near Gangotri devastatedThe SC order referred to the Ravi Chopra headed high powered committee’s recommendations: that BRO must obtain all requisite clearances from the environment ministry; that road widening should be taken up only after detailed environment impact assessment and application of mitigation measures; that the felling of Deodar trees should be avoided; and that vulnerability evaluations and terrain assessments should be conducted.The high powered committee on Char Dham project headed by Ravi Chopra also warned against construction of dams and other large infrastructure above the main central thrust or the paraglacial zone.“The Tekhla to Badethi stretch is on the left bank of the river. It is a virgin forest, once you cut the trees, the slope gets exposed to the elements. In the event of heavy intense rainfall, the soil begins to get washed down by the rainwater. Now, given that we are in a period of climate change where temperatures in summer are rising, then the soil gets dry and the soil particles are not tightly bound to each other,” said Ravi Chopra, former chairman of an expert panel set up by the Supreme Court to oversee the widening of roads under the Char Dham Pariyojana in Uttarakhand.“Therefore, when the rain comes, then it is easier for the rain to wash away the soil. Once the soil gets washed off, then rainwater begins to enter fissures, fractures, cracks in underlying rocks.In this area, winters can be very cold. Due to the anomalous expansion of water, it can form ice and become large and expand, thereby further cracking the fissures. As a continuous process, it begins to weaken the underlying rock and that can lead to slope failures,” he added.“The entire region from Uttarkashi to Gangotri is ecologically and geologically sensitive. Its slopes are weak in several locations. The best example is of Bhatwari, which is about 40 km upstream from Uttarkashi. Besides having a weak slope, the river is continuously eroding the toe of the slopes. The Bhatwari road has collapsed today and traffic is stuck at either side, so these kinds of events will become more frequent because the slopes in that region are very steep. Now if you cut these slopes, the greater the width, the greater the weakening of the slope. All this is going to happen at a time when we are going to get increasing rainfall. So that will be the second threat. The toes are getting weaker and are vulnerable to slope failure,” he said about BESZ in general.According to the master plan of BESZ, 238 glaciers are in the Bhagirathi basin of which many may be receding. In December 2012, the environment ministry notified 4179.59 sq. Km covering the entire watershed of about 100 km from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi as the Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone (BESZ). Almost 59% of the total BESZ area is glacier or snow covered according to the zonal master plan.“The Bhagirathi Eco- sensitive region is of immense ecological & environmental significance and being the source of River Ganga and its tributaries, it harbors the indigenous and endemic flora & fauna as well as the important migratory species,” the BESZ master plan states.The purpose of having a Zonal Master Plan is to regulate the developmental activities in the region in such a way that it ensures: 1. Environmental and ecological protection of the entire endangered area, falling in the catchment of river Bhagirathi from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi town and holistic development of the area ensuring livelihood security of the people living in the area including protection of their traditional rights and privileges.According to the master plan, widening of existing roads/construction of new roads in the BESZ can be taken up only after detailed environment impact assessment and appropriate mitigation measures.The last 150 km-long stretch of Char Dham road, which will pass through the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone, will have to adhere to a minimum width of 10m, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said in Parliament last year.Considering the strategic nature of the stretch, since it connects with the India-China border, the road needs to be wide enough to move defence equipment, the minister added.The apex court cleared the project on the same grounds -- national security -- but Tuesday’s events show that both the court and the ministries concerned may have ignored environmental realities.