Scorched Earth: Uttarakhand's road to wildlife destruction

With the recent lifting of a ban on mining and a proposal to build a road through core tiger habitats in Uttarakhand, its fragile ecology is being threatened like never before. The second of a three-part series looks at the fallout of construction near wildlife habitats.

Somewhere between the Corbett and Kalagarh tiger reserve, not far from where Jim Corbett felled the infamous man-eater of Mohan in 1931, a road is presently under construction along the Ramganga to aid economic development of tiny settlements between villages Marchula and Bhikyasen. The case study of this road illustrates several problems caused by road construction in fragile environment, underscoring the imperative to balance development with maintaining ecological integrity. This is particularly relevant at a time when the plans for constructing a national highway through parts of the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) are gaining ground. 

“All over the western Himalayas, poor malba disposal practices followed during road construction have resulted in landslides, breakage of roads and deforestation,” says Sunal Kumar Roamin, wildlife biologist and ex-researcher at Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun. At several places by the sides of this half-constructed road, this debris is visible. Some of it is by the roadside, and some, disturbingly, has started slipping down the mountain. Not far from Bhikyasen, a huge landslide has caused the debris to fall into the Ramganga and create a distinct bottleneck. The mountains above the road are made of closely packed lime and slate, loosened by dynamites and force of construction. “Mountainsides damaged by road construction are visible across Garhwal,” says Roamin.“Wherever this happens, landslides are bound to occur regularly.” 

Road construction and the resultant landslides have had a discernable impact on this stretch of the Ramganga. Local villager Manwar Singh recalls that not long ago, village boys swam in the beautiful, deep pools of the Ramganga, which provides a crucial and unique habitat for the Mahaseer and Goonch piscine species found here. Today, silting and debris collections have reduced the size and depth of these pools. Consequently, angling enthusiasts have noted a steep fall in fish population in the past five years. “Much of this can be attributed to the disturbance to the river caused by increased construction activity around it,” says Sumantha Ghosh of Society for Mahaseer Conservancy. “Although the lifting of debris left over from road construction here is a legal mandate, we can see that this is not being done.” 

Ahead, a dead cow, recently killed by a tiger, lies by the water’s edge, belying the government’s assertion that the road lies at a distance from areas of wildlife activity. The road, Ghosh fears, will lead to more commercial activity here, and could give poachers, illegal sand miners and the timber mafia access to a hitherto inaccessible region. He said places along the road have exposed multiple underground water sources. “Since the Ramganga is not glacier-fed, if these water sources dry up, so will the river,” he says. This will, in turn, negatively impact the quality of water in the Ganges, as the Ramganga drains its mineral-rich waters into it. “We can see countless fallouts building on this small stretch of road on the fringes of the forest here,” he says. “Imagine the magnitude of these if the proposed highway between Kotdwar and Ramgarh is constructed through the core areas of the jungle.” 

Plans for this highway have been revived by the new BJP government in the state, amid protests from conservationists. First put forward when Uttarakhand was created in 2000, this highway proposed to connect Kumaon and Garhwal, reducing the distance between the two regions by 70 km. However, according to the original plans, the road would have to pass through parts of the CTR, disturbing the flora and fauna of the eco-sensitive region. Petitions and PILs from individuals as well as non-government organisations such as the Wildlife Protection Society of India and the Corbett Foundation compelled the Supreme Court to stay the construction of the road. Now the state government is planning a “realigned” route but even this will have to pass through the existing tracts of forest, in and around the CTR. 

Conservationists believe that, as illustrated by the case of the Marchula-Bhikyasen road, construction so close to wild habitats and fragile ecosystems has countless fallouts, obvious and hidden. Ashish Garg of Dehradun has launched a petition on Change.org against the building of this road, which has almost 7,000 signatures. The time and massive effort of building flyovers over the CTR’s core areas and the resultant disturbance to the local fauna aside, Garg is worried about the long-term impact of having a busy highway run through one of India’s richest wildlife areas. “Can you imagine traffic jams, honking, busy dhabas and headlights in the middle of the jungle?” he asks. 

Instead of constructing a new road at a huge cost, both economic and environmental, perhaps it would be better to widen the existing connection between Garhwal and Kumaon, which passes through Uttar Pradesh. One of the imperatives for the proposed road is that commercial vehicles in Uttarakhand have to pay extra tax when they cross state boundaries. “Either the two states could agree to make this stretch of road toll-free, or perhaps, we need to educate fellow citizens that this is a small price to pay for preserving their environment,” says Garg. 

Indeed, the environmental degradation is so evident around the Marchula-Bhikyasen road, it offers a strong argument in favour of greater (and more strictly implemented) safeguards to be imposed, while constructing around a region as ecologically important as the CTR. Else, the quest for development and transportation might soon choke up the last few wild places left in India. 

Next: Well-intentioned court, toothless judgments