The price of progress

Development projects without any regard for nature have worsened the fragile ecosystem of Uttarakhand

- PUJA AWASTHI

The spectre of floods looms before us, yet we build houses by rivers," wrote the Hindi poet Dushyant Kumar. The poet died in 1975, but his words turned out to be prophetic. They translated into what happened a few months ago in Joshimath and in many other places across Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh over the past few years in how a blatant disregard for nature worsened an already erratic weather pattern, how houses crumbled and lives were swept away.

The Joshimath disaster is attributed to a hydropower project which involved some deep digging and the subsequent bursting of an aquifer. Ravi Chopra, a scientist who focuses on the interactions between technology and society, said that despite the charm of hydropower, its flaws were recognised early on. "Engineers neither understand nor care for the ecosystem of the river which is dramatically impacted. Their teaching has never incorporated ecology," said Chopra.