While thousands have suffered the fury of floods in Uttarakhand, experts say worse tragedies may strike the region unless the rampant violation of the Himalayan state's sensitive ecology is checked.
Environmentalists blamed the volume of the disaster on the dams, indiscriminate construction, uncontrolled tourism and ignorance about the fragile ecology of the area. Experts have called for an immediate halt to unchecked tourism, especially religious tourism, and haphazard construction.
"The large-scale damage could have been avoided if indiscriminate building by the rivers, and on river banks had not been done," Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of think tank South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, told IANS.
The worst-hit areas, Kedarnath and Rudraprayag, are thriving centres of religious tourism. Both the towns have seen rampant construction over the last three decades with several structures coming up along the river banks.
"The high volume of religious tourists is a major problem. The state does not keep a check on the numbers flowing in and then, when the disaster occurred, it just raised its hands expressing its inability to do anything," Thakkar said.
Officials Saturday put the death toll at 557 and said 20,000 people were still stranded while 70,000 had been evacuated.
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Gopal Krishna, of NGO Toxics Watch Alliance, said all ongoing developmental projects in the hills must be reviewed and revisited and their carrying capacity and cumulative impact on the Himalayan ecosystem should be studied.
"Advocates of indiscriminate urbanization, industrialization and tourism must restore the ecological integrity of the Himalayan watershed and comprehend its geological reality to prevent such occurrences in future," Krishna told IANS.
"This is not development, it is vandalism. The government and agencies are being myopic," he said.
The experts said the biggest concern is whether the government will learn its lesson.
"This is not the first time floods or landslides have hit the Himalayan state. Why doesn't the government learn its lesson?" questioned Thakkar.
A similar flood in Uttarkashi in August 2012, one of the main centres of devastation this year as well, left 29 dead, many more missing and the collapse of houses like card board boxes.
The Uttarakhand State Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC) report of this disaster in October 2012 concluded: "It is therefore highly important to strictly regulate developmental initiatives in close vicinity of streams and rivers."
It suggested "appropriate legislative intervention" to formulate a policy in the matter and "firm executive action in accordance with the letter and spirit of this policy" to ensure compliance.
However, no action was taken. In April 2013, a Comptroller and Auditor General report said the Uttarakhand state disaster management authority, which was set up in October 2007, has never met till date.
Thakkar added that in another tragedy in September 2012 in Okhimath in Rudraprayag district, one of the epicentres of the current tragedy, monsoon-induced landslides killed 69 people besides causing other damage.
"The state Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC) report of this tragedy in October 2012 said the use of explosives in the fragile Himalayan terrain for infrastructure developmental works introduces instability in the rocks, and therefore use of explosives should be banned," said Thakkar.
"This provision would automatically ban habitation in close proximity of seasonal streams and rivers. In case people are already residing in such areas, provision has to be made for their timely relocation. But the report was never implemented," he added.
Experts also blame a large number of dams constructed in the region for the disasters.
"It must be understood that the entire Himalayan watershed is an eco sensitive zone, and deforestation in this zone has led to landslides and floods. Huge increase in building of dams, tunnels, roads and townships along with religious tourism has gone beyond the carrying capacity of the Himalayan watershed," added Krishna.
(Anjali Ojha can be contacted at anjali.o@ians.in)