THE CONTEXT: The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) is India’s critical water tower and ecosystem service provider. However, the current development model pursued in the IHR is unsustainable and damaging to the environment. Recent Supreme Court judgments suggest a shift towards a rights-based sustainable development regime where nature has fundamental rights.
THE ISSUES:
- Ecocentric Development Model: The current development model in the IHR directly conflicts with an ecocentric approach, which views nature as a subject with fundamental rights. This model includes the proliferation of hydroelectric power stations and the reckless widening of hill roads, which disregard the rights of rivers and streams to exist and regenerate.
- Impact of Unregulated Construction: Rampant construction that violates norms and regulations, especially on riverbeds, flood plains, steep slopes, and landslide-prone areas, has been identified as a significant cause of floods and landslides. This unregulated development exacerbates the region’s vulnerability to natural hazards.
- Intersectionality of Rights: The Supreme Court of India has highlighted the intersectionality between fundamental rights, such as the right to life and a clean environment, and the need for sustainable development. The Court has emphasized that without a stable climate, the right to life cannot be fully realized and that underserved communities’ inability to adapt to climate change violates their rights to life and equality.
- Need for Sustainable Infrastructure: Sustainable infrastructure ensures equal access to developmental opportunities. Infrastructure must be resilient to climate change and disasters to support the developmental goals of the people in the IHR. This includes incorporating disaster management into development planning to prevent and mitigate the impacts of natural hazards.
- Challenges of Unsustainable Tourism: The prevailing tourism model in the IHR is unsustainable, leading to environmental damage, pollution, and threats to socio-cultural heritage. Unsustainable tourism practices strain the region’s resources and disrupt its ecological balance, necessitating a shift towards responsible tourism that considers environmental impacts.
- Plastic Waste Crisis: Rapid and unplanned urbanization and changing production and consumption patterns have led to a plastic waste crisis in the IHR. The accumulation of plastic waste, especially non-recyclable plastics, is causing significant environmental pollution and impacting the region’s biodiversity and water sources.
THE WAY FORWARD:
- Develop a Himalayan-specific sustainable development model: The IHR requires a development model tailored to its unique ecological fragility, socio-cultural heritage, and economic needs rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Strict environmental and social impact assessments for all development projects. Promotion of eco-tourism with caps on tourist numbers based on carrying capacity. Earthquake-resilient and eco-friendly construction standards suitable for the mountains. Judicious development of hydropower with redesign of projects to mimic river flows.
- Strengthen spring revival and water security: With springs and glaciers drying up, urgent action is needed to inventorize, recharge, and sustainably manage water resources in the IHR. Launch a National Mission on the Himalayan Spring Revival to map and rejuvenate springs. Develop regional cooperation on transboundary water management in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. Promote water harvesting, moisture conservation, and efficient irrigation practices in mountain farms.
- Promote climate-resilient and pro-poor mountain agriculture: With most of the IHR population dependent on agriculture, adapting this sector to climate change is crucial for livelihoods and food security—transition to organic, diversified, and high-value mountain farming systems. Strengthen market linkages, local food processing, and value addition for mountain products. Provide weather advisories, crop insurance, and compensatory mechanisms for farmers who suffer climate-related losses.
- Enhance disaster risk reduction and resilience: The IHR is highly vulnerable to disasters like flash floods, landslides, and glacier lake outburst floods, which will be exacerbated by climate change. Strengthen early warning systems, hazard zonation, and land use planning in vulnerable areas. Incorporate disaster risk management in all development programs and improve coordination between agencies. Build local capacities for disaster preparedness and promote resilient infrastructure and housing.
- Promote regional cooperation for the mountain agenda: Many challenges facing the IHR transcend national boundaries and require regional collaboration and knowledge sharing to be addressed. Strengthen platforms like the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) for joint research and policy advocacy on the Hindu Kush Himalayas. Develop regional standards and monitoring systems for environmental conservation in the mountains. Promote transboundary landscape and biodiversity conservation programs in the Himalayas.
THE CONCLUSION:
The Supreme Court’s judgments establish a new fundamental right to be free from the adverse impacts of climate change. Disaster management must be incorporated into development planning for prevention and resilience. The people of the IHR have a fundamental right to a sustainable development model that is in sync with the region’s carrying capacity.
UPSC PAST YEAR QUESTIONS:
Q.1 Dam failures are always catastrophic, especially downstream, resulting in a colossal loss of life and property. Analyze the various causes of dam failures. Give two examples of large dam failures. 2023
Q.2 Discuss the recent measures initiated in disaster management by the Government of India, departing from the earlier reactive approach. 2020
Q.3 Vulnerability is essential for defining disaster impacts and its threat to people. How and in what ways can vulnerability to disasters be characterized? Discuss different types of vulnerability concerning disasters. 2019
Q.4 What impediments exist in disposing of the vast quantities of discarded solid wastes continuously generated? How do we safely remove the toxic wastes accumulating in our habitable environment? 2018
MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:
Q.1 The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) is facing severe environmental degradation due to unregulated development activities exceeding the carrying capacity of its fragile ecosystems. Critically analyze the concept of ‘carrying capacity’ in the context of sustainable development and discuss how it applies to addressing the environmental challenges in the IHR.
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