Development at the cost of nature in Uttarakhand

‘The recent disaster is last warning to us to awake from deep slumber. This type of disaster occurs once in a century. It was one of the rarest of the rare. We can’t make nature scapegoat for all the disaster. In fact, it was man-made disaster’, said Ravindra Jugran, ex-chairman of Rajya Nirman Andolankari Samman Parishad, who fought a long battle for the creation of this state in the 1990s.  Since the formation of this state, all political parties in power remain engrossed in fulfilling their own needs, and paid least attention to all 13 districts. ‘We can’t give clean-chit to any political personalities, with the exceptions of few. Now, they should realize their follies and accept the mistakes done in the past. The entire political system is responsible for the deplorable condition of the state.’

On the issues regarding the dam, he said that such construction should be monitored under the expertise panel of environmentalists, engineers and geologists. The dam under 25 % works should be stopped at once, without counting the pros and cons. Once it arrives at the 25% mark, development work should be furthered only after formulating eco-friendly policies.