A Himalayan mistake in Uttarakhand

Other affected districts are Rajouri, Pulwama, South Sikkim, East Sikkim, Thrissur, Palakkad and Kozhikode. From 1988 to 2022, Mizoram recorded the highest number of landslides at 12,385, followed by Uttarakhand with 11,219 incidents.

Geologists have always warned that overbuilding in the Himalayan region could be dangerous. The all-weather road project faced some opposition from the beginning, but the central government remained adamant. Mountains were mercilessly felled in order to transform the existing roads leading to the Char Dham shrines into “all-weather roads.”

The consequences are there, right before our eyes. Even with normal or below-normal rainfall, entire mountains are collapsing, leading to the closure of all-weather roads for days. The Badrinath road has been the worst hit recently, with the Kedarnath and Gangotri-Yamunotri highways also frequently closed, leaving pilgrims and locals stranded.

Thousands of people were stranded on the Badrinath highway, including parties contesting a by-election in Badrinath district, who had to be airlifted to the district headquarters at Gopeshwar. The Kedarnath road near Phata remained closed for two days, as were those to Gangotri and Yamunotri. In Kumaon, the bridge connecting Ramnagar to Ranikhet was washed away and roads in the hilly areas were closed for three days.

According to a report, from the onset of monsoon till June 10, 245 roads were damaged in just 12 days. The worst-hit districts were Nainital and Champawat, with 38 and 35 roads closed respectively. Chamoli also saw 35 roads closed, while Dehradun and Rudraprayag saw 14 closures each, Uttarkashi 3, Bageshwar 19, Pithoragarh 28 (including 6 border roads), Almora 19, Pauri Garhwal 16 and Tehri 24.