Why Shimla is crumbling : Infrastructure development has not been climate smart August 21, 2023 TIKENDER SINGH PANWAR The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report states that the coastal areas and the Himalayas are poised to experience a rise in extreme climate events and a shift in rainfall patterns. Consequently, the developmental strategies for the Himalayan region should prioritise climate resilience instead of solely pursuing unguided infrastructure expansion.
Moulding the Himalayas needs caution https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/moulding-the-himalayas-needs-caution/article67576291.ece TIKENDER SINGH PANWAR November 27, 2023
The Uttarkashi tunnel collapse has thrown light on the major flaws in the infrastructure development in the Indian Himalayan Region the infrastructure development trajectory in the Himalayas comes under serious clouds — once again. Can the current model of widening roads, rampant construction of hydropower projects, and the unbridled impetus for tourism be a sustainable way of development? The Char Dham Project, all-weather roads, being constructed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in Uttarakhand, linking the four religious pilgrimages of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, and Kedarnath, has brought into focus two major issues in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR).
what should be the carrying capacity of the IHR. Also important are the processes in which environment clearances were sought, undermining safety protocols, and a new form of architecture that should be built to construct and monitor infrastructure projects, if at all they are desired, in the region. The irony is that the flash floods of 2013 in Uttarakhand are suggested as the reason for the construction of the Char Dham Yatra. In a way, a tragedy becomes a source for many tragedies in the offing!