Rampant development, not climate, pushing Himalayas to the edge, Pg2

Key Highlights:

• Punjab experienced its worst floods since 1988 in August 2025 due to overflowing rivers [Sutlej, Beas, Ravi], devastating villages.
• Intense rainfall in August 2025 caused at least 34 deaths in India-controlled Kashmir and parts of Pakistan.
• The Supreme Court expressed concerns on September 4, 2025, about deforestation due to logs floating in floodwaters in the Himalayan states.
• The Supreme Court, on July 18, 2025, cautioned that Himachal Pradesh could vanish due to unsustainable development.
• There were more than 25,000 classified glacial lakes in the Himalayas by 2018, increasing the risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).

Detailed Insights:

• Recent disasters in the Indian Himalayan region, including the 2013 Kedarnath floods and the 2021 Chamoli disaster, are linked to climate change and unsustainable development practices.
• The Himalayas, being young and high-energy mountains, are susceptible to landslides, floods, cloudbursts, and glacial lake eruptions, exacerbated by human activities.
• The Supreme Court has raised concerns about governments prioritizing revenue over ecological sustainability, blaming human activity for worsening disasters in the Himalayas.
• Development plans for the Himalayan region should differ from those of metropolitan cities, incorporating lifecycle analysis and assessing the carrying capacity of the area.
• The increase in tourism has led to deforestation for hotels and facilities, reducing the stability provided by native trees like deodar, increasing the risk of landslides and floods.
• The average temperature in the Indian Himalaya is rising faster than the global average, leading to reduced snowfall, increased snow melt, and a higher risk of GLOFs.
• Experts recommend nature-based solutions, involving local communities, and building climate literacy to balance economic development and environmental protection in the Himalayas.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Carrying Capacity: The maximum number of individuals or level of activity that a region can sustainably support without environmental degradation.
• Ecological Sustainability: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, focusing on environmental preservation.
• Environmental Impact Assessment: A process to evaluate the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse.