Himalayan states like Himachal and Uttarakhand are slowly going to pieces, literally, under the onslaught of cloudbursts, flash floods, land subsidence and collapsing infrastructure. In just the last four years (2022-2025) Himachal has lost 1200 lives and suffered a loss of Rs. 18000 crores in these disasters (and this does not include the indirect loss to trade and economic activities). Whether these are natural disasters, as the government would like us to believe, or man-made disasters, is debatable; but that is not the focus of this piece and can be left for another day. I am on a larger and more fundamental point: can the country afford the destruction of the Himalayas and do these Himalayan states need help?
North India and its Gangetic plain would not survive without the forests, the glaciers and rivers that originate from Himachal and Uttarakhand, and would soon become a desert: these rivers sustain a population of almost 300 million people and are a lifeline for many cities. The Himalaya Hindukush ranges help to moderate the climate, enable the monsoon precipitation and snow that recharge the rivers every year. They contain some of Hinduism's most revered religious shrines and pilgrimages. They are the green lungs which enable north India to breathe and provide relief to 40 million tourists every year. We cannot afford to lose this landscape.
But losing them we are, because of financial compulsions. Himalayan states like Himachal suffer from a double whammy: on the one hand they are revenue deficit because they have limited sources of income. They have no industrial or manufacturing base, services sector or surplus agriculture (other than the apple crop). On the other hand, the cost of providing basic development to the people is double that of the plains because of topographical and climatic reasons. The only low hanging source of income they have are their natural resources- the forests and rivers- and these are therefore being exploited ruthlessly for hydel projects and tourism, causing immense damage to the ecology, and resulting in the death and destruction we have been witnessing in the last few years. (Himachal has diverted 11000 hectares of dense forests for various non-forestry projects in the last 20 years alone). This is being further exacerbated by climate change which is drastically altering the hydrology of the rivers, accelerating glacial melt and the threat of GLOF (Glacial Lake Overflow).
(View of the Greater Himalayas from the author's cottage in Puranikoti, Shimla)
The irony, and tragedy, is that this need not be a zero sum game, if only the central government was to recognise the real wealth and contribution of these states to the national economy and well-being. According to a 2025 report of the Institute of Forest management, Bhopal, the total forest wealth of Himachal was valued at Rs. 9.95 lakh crores. The report calculated the annual Total Economic Value (TEV) of Himachal's forests at Rs. 3.20 lakh crores; this includes Rs.1.65 lakh crores for carbon sequestration, Rs. 68941 crores for eco-system services, Rs. 32901 crores as the value of bio-diversity, Rs. 15132 crores for water provisioning, Rs. 3000 crores for regulatory services such as flood control and sediment retention . These contributions benefit the whole nation, not just Himachal. Unfortunately, these are neither acknowledged nor taken into account while disbursing central assistance to the states.
But this must change. Himachal (and other Himalayan states) must be compensated by the central govt. for their non-monetary, but vital, contribution to the country's well being, quality of life and sectors like agriculture, climate control, hydel power, carbon capture and tourism. The mechanism to do so already exists- the Finance Commissions, which determine the formula for devolving central funds to the states. A beginning was made by the 12th Finance Commission which allocated a total of Rs. 1000 crores for this purpose, which was termed a Green Bonus; the share of Himachal was a paltry Rs. 20 crores.
This idea must be amplified and taken forward by the 16th FC. The Himachal Chief Minister has taken up this matter of the creation of a Green Fund or Green Bonus with the Chairman of the 16th (current) Finance Commission, requesting for an outlay of Rs. 50000 crores for incentivising the mountain states. This is an idea which must be considered seriously; the additional devolutions would go a long way towards ameliorating their financial condition and removing their present compulsion to ruthlessly exploit their forest and ecological capital to meet budget deficits. Release of this money should be indexed to improvement in environmental parameters, sustainability of development and tourism projects, protection of rivers and curbing of illegal mining and construction. In fact, the Supreme Court which is holding suo moto hearings on the environmental devastation in Himachal and has said that at this rate the state would "vanish from the map of India", should also consider this issue and nudge the central govt. to create such a fund. Protecting the Himalayas has to be seen as a shared responsibility, not as the concern of the mountain states alone. If the Himalayas lose their forests, rivers and glaciers it won't be long before north India goes the way of the Indus Valley civilisation.
Great piece. Raising important issues. Hopefully the Ministries concerned (at the Centre and the two States) will pay due attention to the issues pointed out. I would suggest that CCG may take up this issue with the government(s) concerned.
ReplyDeleteThe Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister's submission is at the contentious intersection of regionalism, nationalism and federalism.
ReplyDeleteHis state is naturally gifted with its unique topography, whose high mountains serve to protect the northern plains from the icy winds that flow from Siberia and Mongolia. The forests, rocks and soil collectively capture and stock tonnes of carbon, which enables it to offset the emissions spewed by Manufacturing in other parts. While these are national assets, the cost of maintaining them falls squarely upon the state. Businesses and factories in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh grow cash, while Himachal Pradesh grows virtue through forests and scenic beauty, as well as bears the unrelenting burden of over-tourism. He is then justified in being somewhat regional, as there is no compensation to his state from the Centre, which would serve as an internal balance upholding federalism.
Having said that, the Chief Minister’s numbers invite demurral. After all, ethical concepts do bang hard against the unsparing boulders of economics.
He has advocated for 50000 crores to be outlaid - presumed annually - to the mountainous states. While Himachal Pradesh has, arithmetically speaking, about 1.65 lakh crores worth of naturally sequestered carbon stock, not a ton is capable of being converted to cash or carbon credit on the exchange. It is not the intrinsic stock that has tradable value, but the incremental carbon sequestered - either by addition from reforesting or by reducing it through technology - that drives financial numbers. The state reforested 6715 hectares of its land in 2024-25★. It would amount to INR 5 crores★ at the absolute high, for sequestering is lowest in the first few years. This is an acute variance on the fiscal spectrum between Centre and State, that inevitably invokes a ‘tug-of-war’ federalism. The runway of the proposed Green Bonus then gets pocked with economic bumps. Tangled further by the absence of a well defined legal framework involving carbon and its natural capture, value, compensation, opportunity cost lost to environmental preservation, and fair burden-sharing in the current times.
This fascinating yet complex issue is in urgent need of a solution, as is a swift redressal of the common grouse of states such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and those of the northeast - they lock carbon and Delhi locks money.
★ As per official figures of the state for 2024-25.
★ A freshly reforested hectare of land in Himachal Pradesh can capture between 2 to 4 tonnes of CO2 at the most in the first few years. Assuming an ambitious figure of 6 tonnes from aggressive and active efforts, this is (6715 x 6) = 40290 tonnes of CO2. Current prices range between $ 2 and 4. Even if they are $14 per ton, it is $564060.00. INR is 88 times = 5 crores.