Development and Disaster

Roads and High-Rises Have Made Himalayan Towns Prone to Disaster

Darjeeling’s case is not an isolated one. Its problems are visible from Kashmir in the western Himalayas to Sikkim in the eastern Himalayas. From Nepal’s Melamchi to Uttarakhand’s Joshimath, the trend repeats itself across the Himalayas.

In Shimla, hotels collapsed during the 2023 monsoon. In June this year, Gangtok and Sikkim’s Teesta valley, cloudbursts tore apart dams and towns. On the other side of the border in Nepal, flooding of the Melamchi valley, which was compounded by unchecked construction, entombed homes and land in mud and slush. From Manali to Mustang, from Joshimath to Darjeeling, the cycle is the same: weak slopes, flouted laws, muffled voices.

What endures is the silence of the government and the tenacity of the common people.


Why does our Disaster Management System Fail? Reflections from the Tupul landslide, Noney district, Manipur 

The proposed railway project to address the transportation needs of the region turned out to be an invited disaster. The lacuna is not only in having appropriate regulations, but also in the implementation of the plans, sometimes in the plan itself.  Still, most of the disaster management plans are post-disaster oriented, as in the case of a landslide at the railway project site. The project should have been timely planned and technically equipped to reduce the risk of human forces involved.