Taking suo motu cognisance of a science article on the higher Himalayas, suggesting that due to constant damage and deterioration of natural conditions of the area, it must be declared as an “Eco Sensitive Zone,” the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has formed a joint committee for a factual report on the issue.

The members of the committee will be a senior representative of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, an expert nominated by the Director of GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Studies, and a Professor nominated by the Director of IIT Roorkee, who is an expert in the field of Civil Engineering.

The Committee shall examine the matter, if necessary, visit the site concerned, collect relevant information, study the matter, and submit a detailed factual report with all relevant materials within three months, said the NGT.

The science article published in a magazine pointed out that the recent disasters in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have reignited the debate about the anthropogenic impact on higher Himalayan valleys and the potentially increased impact of disasters in the region. It is feared that under the impending climate change scenario, the sustainability of the geologically fragile Higher Himalayan Eco-System would be threatened, endangering the safety of infrastructure such as habitation sites, roads, and hydropower projects.

The NGT observed that the Himalayas have a large number of glaciers that sustain millions of people inhabiting the Indo-Gangetic Plains. It is now being increasingly considered that similar to the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone, the river stretches between the head-waters till the southern flank of Main Central Thrust (MCT) covering a stretch of 125 km should be declared as an Eco-Sensitive Zone.

The science article further said that an outcome of continent-continent collision was the maximum horizontal shortening of the Higher Himalayan domain along the MCT, for example, extreme topography developed with an elevation range of <1000–>7,000 m as in Uttarakhand and Himachal Himalayas.

“This is manifested by the over-steepened topography, the presence of convexity along the river longitudinal profile, and the development of stationary knick points. These features suggest that uplift (convergence) is outpacing the incision (downcutting by the river), thus implying that the slopes of the Higher Himalayan valleys are unstable,” said the NGT.

The Himalayan rivers contribute 10% of the total global sediment budget, where 44% of total sediments are stored in the glacially scoured Higher Himalayan valleys. “Therefore, it is considered that the Higher Himalayan valleys are sediment-surplus and transport-limited,” observed the NGT. Studies in the Satluj basin indicated that the Higher Himalayan paraglacial valleys have been the source of sediments for the last 14,000 years.

These sediments sometimes damage the hydropower project gates constructed in the Higher Himalayas. “For example, the radial gates of the Vishnuprayag Hydropower Project in the Alaknanda Valley were damaged during the June 2013 floods and, more recently, during the July 2023 Beas floods, the Malana dam gates were obstructed by sediments in the Parvati Valley,” observed NGT.

“Unusual weather events in the Himalayas are showing an increasing trend. This is manifested by the rise in the frequencies and magnitude of springtime forest fire events, avalanches, flash floods, and landslides,” added the NGT.