Einstein had once famously remarked that the only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance. A surfeit of either is minacious. A mixture of both, however, can be disastrous. The elected government of Himachal is now displaying that it has both attributes in abundance and it is the residents of the state who are paying the price for this uninformed hubris, which is bound to increase exponentially in the years to come. The ignorance is perhaps remediable, but the arrogance of politicians elected for five years and bureaucrats assured of a thirty- year tenure is becoming endemic in our " electoral autocracy", and can spell disaster for the state.
Notwithstanding the daily visitations of the impacts of climate change, deforestation and global warming in the state, the government is deaf and blind to the pernicious effects of its distorted "development" model on the ecology and livelihoods of its citizens. Huge swathes of local populations and panchayats have been protesting for years against the Jangi-Thopan hydel project in Kinnaur, the so-called international airport in Balh valley of Mandi district, the Kishau dam project in Shimla district, to mention just a few. Even while these agitations continue, the government has decided in its arrogance and ignorance to push ahead with another blunder- the ill thought-out new Development Plan 41( DP41) for Shimla, which was given Cabinet approval last week and could be notified any day now.
This decision flies in the face of repeated studies and warnings by its own agencies- an EIA by the State Department of Environment ( 2013), a Comprehensive Disaster Management Plan by the Municipal Corporation Shimla ( 2012), both of which had advised against relaxing the Town Planning rules. Having already more or less destroyed this once idyllic town, the government is now preparing to administer the death blow- it's like a murderer returning to the scene of his crime to ensure that the job is well and truly done. And it will be, if the courts allow this to be implemented.
In 2017 the NGT ( National Green Tribunal), acting on a petition by an environmentalist, Jogin Sengupta, had appointed an Expert Committee to make recommendations for future town planning and construction in Shimla Planning Area. Unlike most govt. committees this one had professionals from the Wadia Institute, National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forests, NEERI, among others. It would be relevant to list out here some of the more significant observations/ recommendations of this committee:
[1] Shimla falls under seismic Zone IV and this is compounded by the fact that 85% of the town is located in landslide prone zone, that most constructions are on steep slopes with gradients between 45* and 75*, buildings are constructed on overburden rather than on on solid rock, barely 20% of them meet the standards for seismic proof construction.
[2] In the event of an earthquake 39% of the buildings shall collapse, and the cascading effects of falling buildings will have a multiplier effect. More than 20000 people shall be killed. This, says the Committee, is an extremely conservative estimate. "It is evident that Shimla and its surrounding areas face great risk to life and property in case of earthquakes and big landslides."
[3] The town has long exceeded its carrying capacity and needs to be urgently decongested.
[4] There should be no new construction of any kind or addition to existing facility in the Green Areas, Core areas or Heritage Areas.
[5] There is an urgent need to increase the forest cover of the town, both for reasons of ecology, water conservation and soil stability.
[6] In view of the above findings and observations the Committee recommended that, far from allowing any relaxations, the boundaries of the Green Belt be extended further, and that new No Construction areas be created in the High Sinking/ Landslide Zones such as Lakkar Bazaar, Dhobighat, Ladakhi Mohalla, Krishnanagar and the area surrounding Clarkes Hotel.
The NGT accepted most of these eminently sensible recommendations and, by its order of 2017, imposed a complete ban on any fresh construction in Shimla's 17 Green Belts and Core Areas, and also restricted construction in the non-core areas to two floors and an attic. The state's appeal against this order is pending in the Supreme Court, but no stay has been granted. Therefore, it is self evident that the new Development Plan 41 is in violation, if not outright contempt, of the NGT order. ( That the government is not bothered by these minor legalities is explained by the fact that elections to the state are due in December and to the Shimla Municipal Corporation in June this year. And votes matter more than deodars or lives, as we well know by now).
[ SHIMLA- SPOT THE TREE ]
The SDP 41 amounts to driving a coach and four through the NGT order and the report of the Expert Committee. It upturns just about every recommendation and stipulation that could have saved Shimla: construction is now permitted in the Green Belts, the Core and Heritage Areas, a jaw dropping six floors is allowed in the non-core areas, for both commercial and residential buildings. The govt. has completely discarded the scientific findings of the Expert Committee- that every seismologist of any worth has predicted that the Himalayas are overdue for a major earthquake of at least 7.3 magnitude, that Shimla is already in seismic zone IV but moving to V with the destabilisation and deforestation of its slopes, that no vertical growth should be permitted, that a town with a carrying capacity of 25000 population is already overloaded with 225000 people ( with an additional 100000 being added during the tourist season), that its roads are wholly inadequate and will not allow rescue operations in the event of any emergency, that its green cover is disappearing at an alarming rate and anthropogenic pressures make natural regeneration of its deodars impossible. Issues about inadequacy of water supply, garbage disposal, climate change- all of which have been flagged by the Committee and the NGT- have been brushed aside with contempt and the arrogance of power.
And this in spite of the fact that the restrictions imposed in 2000 on new constructions were actually working: the census of 2011 established beyond doubt that between 2000 and 2010 the decadal growth in the population of Shimla came down by 50%, serving a key objective of reducing congestion. All this will now be undone.
The new Plan, if allowed to be implemented, will not only lead to a rash of new construction but will also unleash a deluge of applications for the "regularisation" of thousands of illegal buildings constructed since 2000. This process is euphemistically termed " retention policy" and every govt. has taken recourse to it in the past as a vote multiplier- Shimla has had seven retention policies so far, and with each new one the town has moved closer to perdition. It will not survive another one, or the new SDP.
What baffles me, however, is the resounding silence of Shimla's residents: they are like lambs being led to slaughter ( literally, when the next earthquake arrives) but I don't hear anyone bleating, other than people like Mr. Sengupta who filed the original petition in the NGT. Why are the citizens of this historic settlement not starting a civic movement to force the govt. to back off from this madness? Why are they not making this an election issue for both, the state and municipal elections? Why are they not rallying behind Mr. Sengupta ( who is expending his own resources in this cause) with funding, free legal help and a challenge to the new Plan in the courts? Why is it left to just one or two concerned citizens to protect one of India's most historic towns from oblivion?
With the executive hell bent on ramming through SDP41, it is now only the High Court or the NGT which can save Shimla. Our courts should not disassociate themselves from such grave public issues: after all, judges too are citizens and residents of this town and shall suffer the consequences of suicidal policies as much as ordinary citizens will. I learn that a young environmentalist and scholar, Richa Minocha, has filed a PIL in the High Court this week for staying this apocalyptic Plan. One fervently hopes that the court will accept this petition and stay the SDP 41. We need more citizens to join and support her. We need the High Court too to bury this Plan beneath the debris of the seven storey building which collapsed in Kachighati last year: that would be the most apt head-stone for a piece of regulation that should never have seen the light of day. To adapt and rephrase the wise words of the historian Arnold Toynbee about civilisations to the present context: Cities do not die of themselves, they are murdered by politicians and town planners.
I am 69 years old. Was born in Simla in 1953 and spent all my formative years growing up in what was then literally a piece of heaven. I have always maintained that in our country there simply could not have been a better place for a child to grow up in.
ReplyDeleteHave seen 8 feet of snow in the winters.
Grew up in a house which was in the midst of a thick Deodar forest.
Where the school boundary ended was the start of a pristine valley which extended all the way up the slopes to Tara Devi.
It was heavenly.
Fast forward to now when, rather infrequently and reluctantly, I visit Simla.
I walk up to our old house which has all but disappeared in ugly concrete surrounding what was once as green as one could wish for, I cry!
They call it development!!!
nded up oHad a
It's a great concern to everyone, who loves shimla and wanted to keep it green.I fully support author's view and hope that people will arose above party politics and selfish minds.
ReplyDeleteEach time Avay Shukla articulates a wistful threnody to the decimation of Shimla, a similar destruction is occurring at Shillong, Ooty, Kodaikanal, Munnar, Mahabaleshwar, along with the rest of the hill stations in the North. Add to it the beaches and jungles of Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, the estuaries of West Bengal and the wildlife sanctuaries all over India. This aggression by us on our natural bounties is a continuous and relentless one that is passed and executed under the overarching umbrella of tourism, employment and development.
ReplyDeleteIn a country that is about 2.5% of the world landmass, but has a population about 18% of total humans, this onslaught upon nature within our territorial boundaries looks inescapable. The thin line separating economic compulsion from environmental restraint is overstepped repeatedly - sometimes inadvertently, at other times indifferently. Had our poverty, our population and consequently pressure on ancestral land assets not been what it is, perhaps the need to sell prime properties in these idyllic destinations by the original inhabitants would not have arisen. Whenever a property changes hands, it does so because of the premium it commands, and enriches the previous owner to a life of happiness ever after, while adding to the commercialisation that follows. Most of us participate in such transactions which are performed not out of avarice but from the inner desire to gain financially and secure ourselves. The local residents of these places convert their properties to hotels or homestays for similar drive and perhaps to satiate an entrepreneurial instinct.
The conundrum is a complex one. Governments are driven by economic and political motives to alter the land use of a geography, pre-obligated by votes. Locals are driven to encourage tourist visits of outsiders for economic reasons. Outsiders are driven to these destinations for vocation, vacation and possibly land ownership. If Shimla is a town of 25000 carrying capacity but has 225000 residents jostling hip and shoulder, the cause lines are simply untraceable today. And the same applies to every other hill station, beach town or jungle village.
I for one see no tangible solution. Regulating tourist inflow is but a seasonal measure. What is to be done if a destination is burdened with excess residents? Governments will have to pursue development to bring water and electricity within it. Traffic regulation is an impossibility without widening roads. The task of garbage disposal is - an odorous one. This will mean the intrinsic desolation of the fragile ecology of the place, a devastation that scars every picturesque locale.
Perhaps the one effluent Himachal has managed to successfully discharge - probably to its relief - is Kangana who now clings firmly to Bollywood Mumbai, like the plastics that refuse to leave the Mithi riverbed.
Epilogue,Mr.Patankar, is classic.
DeleteToo much to expect the High Court to step in on its own, especially when it was this very High Court that had set the ball rolling some twenty five years ago by demanding, and getting, a seven storey monolith for itself.
ReplyDeleteTo my mind the mail list of Avay Shukla's blogs is perhaps the most appropriate quiet forum to make effective noise about the SDP 41. We can to begin quietly by dishing out some moolah to support the lady who has file that PIL in the High Court. A Shimla based volunteer to co-ordinate?
ReplyDeleteBut as already pointed out, the RCC construction madness is unfolding all over the state. All the once beautiful towns of Himachal have devolved into Sanjauli like concrete slums with little water, overflowing garbage, much of it non biodegradable and generally dirty public places with bleak futures.
A persistent reason why there is no popular support to oppose these insane projects driven by commercial greed seems to be that whoever could possibly be "heard" by the government has a finger in the pie! Like the rich countries not really bothered about the impacts of climate change.
I fully endorse what Avay has so emphatically stated. I have been observing this killing of Shimla since the end 1990's when I was stationed at Shimla as Army Commander Army Training Command. During my tenure I saw two governments, one of Congress and the other of BJP. I raised the issue with both Chief Ministers, but their eyes remained on votes and money! The High Court building Avay has mentioned came up in my time, but the judges had their way and the people suffered.
ReplyDeleteAre these the perils of a democracy or the SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE that has become all pervasive? I think the Latter.
Very depressing it's very painful to see my Simla like this
ReplyDeleteIt's truly saddening to see the once Queen of the Hills,being quietly but surely relegated to a "Page" in the Queens Court.
ReplyDeleteTruly an " eye sore" to look at her overburdened self.To me who grew up ,studied and married there,and now being away from it for so many years ..every time one recalls memories of the"good times ",to feel a sense of nostalgia,to read about the story of Simla going into decline like the Kingdoms of old is like a sweet memory being slowly but surely erased.
Awaken out of your stupor people and do something to help or else just resign into nothingness and forever hold your peace.
Sirs/ Ladies, I address all of us who are on this page; literally and in empathy. Indignation and anger against an institution or the establishment itself is to invariably be looking at the wrong end. As a school master it has been hurtful and maddening to see what we have been producing over the last thirty years. Much of it is out there on the streets throwing stones at schools and colleges. Much of it unled, untutored, ill advised, perpetually harrangued to get a job, get married and settle down. And then disappeared into our various jobs and services; climb by 'seniority' and secretly, (or not, depending on how much arrogance we acquire), not really giving a s*** about anything. And passing it on. Like monkeypox. So, where does one begin? I think at the top. If there is good change to be wrought, that's where we have to look. And this is not just about governance but about every top. That one chair. And then the rest. A citizen's collective. Invite the top(s). Persuade, explain, offer help, show recent examples. Go viral. Good things can happen.
ReplyDeleteDear Sir, you write so beautifully, but with the ingenuousness of a school teacher and I certainly mean no disrespect there. Yours was the world of shaping young people to a future of worthiness. "Collectives", "Cooperatives", and other such combinatorics of togetherness held relevance there. These words are extinct now - to my recollection 8 years back. Permit me the audacity of altering a line from your address..."If there is good change to make rot, at the top is where we have to look." For have we not observed its percolation top down to be what we are today...
DeleteReturning to the gist, who do we persuade, explain, offer help, show recent examples...we are all rapacious landlords out to carve our niche. In the end we will all cluck our tongues at the destruction and go back to the comfort of our abodes.
Very informative 🙏🙏
ReplyDeleteWe all have to raise our voice together to save the environment, only then the governments will wake up.
ReplyDelete