The Valley - grim news

The Valley will recover and rebound if left alone, what was more alarming to me was the news regarding the villages, villagers, the development activities and the cutting down of rare trees.

A series of articles by Vibha Varshney, who seems to have visited the Valley roughly around the time we did last year.

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/lost-valley-flowers

Floods have washed away the village that cared for the upkeep of the precincts around the World Heritage Site. Will its residents get a chance to rebuild their lives?

The river that passes through the Valley of flowers has reportedly wiped out the meadows and the flowers endemic to the landscape (Photos: Vibha Varshney)
News about the floods in Uttarakhand revive memories of my trip to the Valley of flowers last year. I am glad I could make it then, for this year this picturesque place in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand has been ruined by the extreme rains. Sanjay Rawat, sarpanch of the van panchyat (village forest council) who had guided me around the World Heritage Site last year, called to tell me about the devastation in the area. He said the river that passes through the heritage site had washed away the beautiful meadows. The flowers, too, have been wiped out. His information was hearsay as nobody can go near the area. Rawat and other people stranded in the valley were airlifted to safety recently.
But the Valley of flowers was not the reason Rawat called. The rains had washed away Pulna and Bhyundar—two small village settlements that had been in existence for about a century. Pulna is the winter residence of people of Bhyundar valley panchayat, and during summers, they move higher up to Bhyundar. These settlements had survived for at least a 100 years. The elders in the village say that the last time rains of this magnitude had hit the area sometime in the 1940's, the destruction had been minor. This time round, there is no way that the place can be rebuilt. Rawat said that now the community wants to be relocated to Joshimath.
The route to Hemkund Sahib before the floods
But the authorities have never been sympathatic to the needs of the people. During my visit, I had gone to Pulna to meet the former gram pradhan, Jagdish Chauhan. He had a story to tell – the forest officials in the area had cut down two trees of endangered Taxus wallichiana. The trees were just an excuse. The community was waging a war against the forest department to gain rights over the land where their hotels were built in Ghangaria. These hotels were the only livelihood option available to them since grazing animals had been stopped in the areas after it was declared a World Heritage Site (see Rift Valley).
Instead of supporting the van panchayat, the forest department seemed more amenable to ousting them and leasing out the land to outsiders. The community had got a taste of such an experiment on an earlier occasion. In 1960, the department had leased out land to the Hemkund Sahib gurudwara for a rest house. After 50 years, though 53 structures existed in the area, only 10 were given on lease by the authority. Last year, there were talks of taking paved roads right up to Ghangaria so that vehicles could ferry the tourists. This meant that more hotels would be needed. The community wanted some assurance that they would have a stake in the profits. They did not get this despite the fact that the van panchayats in the area are supposed to have control over development. People of Ghangaria have been taking good care of the area. Despite the huge number of tourists, a community organisation has managed to keep the plastic menace in control to an extent).
The valley has many rare plants. The Himalayan poppy
But the bigger question at the moment is whether fragile ecosystems like these should be put through haphazard development. Both the Valley of flowers and Hemkund Sahib are accessible only between June and September, and even during this time, landslides are common. My bus ride from Dehradun to Joshimath took me through areas where huge boulders jutted out of the mountainside and loomed over the road. These were accidents just waiting to happen – a slight tremor, a little rain could easily dislodge these and my co-passengers seemed to hold their breath all though the 10 hour journey. The only conversation that happened was when we crossed a place where a landslide had crushed a car and killed everyone in it a few days back. The driver concentrated on the road while the conductor focused on the mountainside, hoping to catch a signal in case boulders showed the slightest sign of movement. As he stared at the mountainside, the conductor told me the destruction to the landscape was because of the dams being built on the Alaknanda river.
As the area also houses Hemkund sahib gurudwara, religious tourism is likely to restart as soon as the paths are made navigable. This would be the time to set up a better system in place to protect the area. Climate change will bring in more such events. In the absence of a plan, letting people go there is akin to homicide. And for people like me who love plants, losing the valley would mean losing precious biodiversity.

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/rift-valley

The rift valley | Down To Earth

With no income options, Ghangharia residents want forestland for hotels

Ghangharia is a base station for people heading to Hemkund Sahib and Valley of Flowers (Photographs: Vibha Varshney)

Every year between June and September, Ghangharia becomes a busy place. Pilgrims going to the nearby Hemkund Sahib gurudwara and those visiting Valley of Flowers, a World Heritage Site, have to spend at least one night in this small settlement in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. Residents have cashed in on the influx of tourists by opening hotels, restaurants and small shops. But they live in constant fear of losing their means of living.

Map not to scaleGhangharia lies in a reserve forest and is part of the van panchayat of Bhyundar (see map). The van panchayat, which is responsible for managing forests along with the forest department, has been active in Ghangharia since 1965. Over the years, the community has been fighting with the forest department over land rights. The residents want some part of the forest to be earmarked exclusively for livelihood through tourism—to which the authorities have paid scant attention. The authorities maintain that the existing hotels, restaurants and shops are illegal since they have been built on forestland.

Events in December 2011 underlined the increasing tension between the two. Forest officials cut down two trees of endangered Himalayan yew to build an additional hut for an information centre. Residents, who need to obtain a series of permissions from the forest department to cut even one tree, filed a complaint with the district magistrate, the divisional forest officer and the state and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), saying the tree should be protected because it is home to an endangered bird (see ‘Proof at its best’). In a letter dated June 27, 2012, MoEF asked the sarpanch of the van panchayat to verify the residents’ claims. The sarpanch, Sanjay Rawat, through whom the complaint was filed, is yet to respond.

When Down To Earth enquired about the tree felling, the forest department said it was necessary because the trees were growing in the middle of the construction area. “We can cut down trees for work related to protection and development of forests,” says S R Prajapati, the divisional forest officer. Madal Lal Sah, the local forest guard, adds the trees were small and unlikely to survive. “We will compensate by planting 10 similar trees in the region,” says Prajapati.

Proof at its best

 

Felling of trees led to construction of a hut for an information centre on the Valley of Flowers (Courtesy: Jagdeesh Chouhan)

 

Residents of Ghangharia claim the forest department is not protecting the forests. The officials cut down two Himalayan yews in December 2011 (Taxus wallichiana). Following this the residents filed a complaint with the authorities. As evidence, they sent a photograph of the trees before they were cut down. The photograph was taken by former gram pradhan Jagdish Chauhan.

Himalayan yew or thuner, as it is locally called, is the winter home of the state bird "monal". The bird (Lophophorus impejanus) is protected under schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.

IUCN classifies the Himalayan yew as endangered. It is also included in the Red Data Book of Indian Plants and is part of the Convention on International Trade of endangered species of wild Fauna and Flora, restricting its trade. Regeneration of the tree is difficult as the seeds take two years to germinate and the tree grows slowly. Traditional uses of the Himalayan yew do not put the tree at risk. People used to drink an infusion of the bark to keep the body warm in the coldest of winters. With the easy availability of tea in the market, only its fruits are now used.

In the 1990s, 90 per cent of Himalayan yew trees were cut to derive an anticancer drug from the bark and leaves.

Both Prajapati and Sah believe residents filed a complaint on such a trivial matter because a powerful faction of the Ghangharia community is in a legal tangle with the department. In November last year, the department had filed cases against five hotel owners in the district court for illegally extending their hotels. The owners, including gram pradhan Devendra Singh, claim the officials have arbitrarily marked the boundary for forestland. Still, the hotels are within limits, they add. The next hearing of the case is on August 10.

Former sarpanch of the van panchayat Vijendra Singh Chauhan explains the boundary issue. Till the 1970s around 8,000 hectares (ha) was under the control of the van panchayat (land under van panchayats is revenue land). “But in the 1980s, the department took over 650 ha, saying the area was too big for us to control,” says Chauhan. At the time of land transfer, the department did not mark any boundaries. “In 2007, the officials haphazardly installed pillars to mark the limit. They did not even consult the van panchayat as required under law,” he adds. What’s more, the van panchayat has not been given a map that shows land under its jurisdiction. In April 2012, Rawat filed an RTI demanding the map. Reply is awaited.

Better to know boundaries

Ghangharia residents, who have been traditional grazers, say they have no other income source besides running hotels and restaurants. Under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), forest dwellers can use their land for agriculture, not tourism. In Uttarakhand, where FRA has not been implemented, agriculture is difficult because of rocky terrain and extreme weather conditions. Resident Raghubir Chauhan says his hotel is the only source of income for him. “If they take away this, I will have to leave my village and learn a new trade,” says Chauhan, who earns between Rs 2-Rs 8 lakh annually. Devendra Singh demands that 8 ha of forestland should be diverted for hotels.

In 2011, more than 700,000 tourists flocked Ghangharia.

In 1960, the first construction on forestland started when the department leased out land to the Hemkund Sahib gurudwara. At present, there are 53 structures within the forestland, of which only 10 have leases. Singh alleges the gurudwara has been given preferential treatment over the local community.

Others have backed the demand of the residents. In 2005, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, which was commissioned by the state tourism department to prepare a master plan for ecotourism in the Valley of Flowers-Hemkund belt, had recommended that land should be diverted to ensure residents’ land rights.

Land conversion would imply diverting forestland under the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980. The Act considers only those areas for conversion that the state had identified before the Act came into existence. In 2004, the revenue department along with the forest department created a database of the land on which construction has taken place in Ghangharia. They found that buildings had been constructed on 1.99 ha before 1980 and petitioned the nodal officer in Dehradun to convert it into revenue land for hotels. The authorities are yet to take a decision on the petition. In the absence of regularisation, buildings are growing stealthily in Ghangharia. By 2002, nearly 3 ha was occupied by hotels, shows a study by Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

Officials say despite no response to the petition, all the 53 structures within the forestland have been allowed to stay. “As long as the resident community maintains a status quo, there is no problem,” says Prajapati.

Forest officials have installed pillars (circled) to mark boundary of forestland

Rawat says there are many instances where the department has interfered in the smooth running of the settlement. The forest officials created hurdles in the van panchayat’s recent efforts to lop a few trees to make way for electricity transmission wires, says Rawat. The officials also do not allow any construction material because the department does not want any additional construction in the area. “While the department allowed a helipad in the area, it objected when the panchayat leased out land for setting up tourist tents,” adds Rawat.

A far-fetched dream

It seems the residents’ demand of revenue land for forests would remain unheeded. A July 2012 report of the Central environment and forests ministry on the action taken on all proposals from Uttarakhand for land conversion between 1980 and 2012 does not mention anything on hotels in Ghangharia. Among the approved proposals, 0.99 ha is for integrated development of Hemkund Sahib and Govindghat, 0.04 ha for a reporting police post and 1.3 ha for a path from Ghangaria to Hemkund.

Forest right activists say instead of giving the land to outsiders for hotels, it is better to let the residents use it. “These people are the original residents of the area and should get land rights,” says Roma of National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers.

If the situation is not defused quickly, the future of community forestry would be at risk, says Hem Gairola, founder of the Himalayan Community Forestry Centre in Chamoli. “Van panchayats have worked well,” he adds.

However, Gairola blames the changes in the van panchayat rules for the deterioration of working relationship between the forest department and the community. The first set of rules came out in 1931, since then it has been revised four times. “With each set of rules, the powers of the van panchayat have been diluted,” he says. For instance, before the rules were amended in 2005, the van panchayat could decide how it wanted the land to be used. “If the community wanted a part of the land for hotel construction, the van panchayat would have allowed it if necessary,” says Gairola. The government should work with the community and set down rules as per requirements, otherwise conflict would start in sensitive areas, he suggests.

Guman Singh, coordinator of Himalaya Niti Abhiyan in Himachal Pradesh, suggests political involvement as a solution. Under existing laws, it would be easy to label the ongoing commercial activity in Ghangharia as encroachment. “The residents cannot now go back to traditional grazing activity and should be given land for alternative livelihood,” says Singh. The community needs to petition the government and appeal for its livelihood. “The fight over settlement of land rights is a national phenomenon. The resolution will come from this fight,” he says.

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/redemption-litter?quicktabs_1=0

Redemption from litter

Uttarakhand non-profits have taken responsibility for clearing tourists’ plastic waste

Sacks full of plastic waste thrown by tourists are collected along the path to Hemkund Sahib and the Valley of Flowers

Neat piles of white sacks greet people as they enter Govindghat hamlet in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. The sacks are full of plastic bottles, food wrappers and remains of raincoats made of thin polythene, thrown by pilgrims and tourists along the trek to Hemkund Sahib gurudwara and the Valley of Flowers National Park. The 13-km pathway, that bifurcates at a small settlement called Ghangaria and leads to the two centres, is crowded during peak tourist season—June to September. Mules that tourists ride on also leave a trail of dung. Yet, the area is reasonably clean. All the plastic waste thrown by pilgrims and tourists along the path are picked up, packed in sacks and kept at places assigned for the purpose along the path.

This organised system of waste collection started in 2002. Before that, the pathway was a mess, says Jyotsna Sitling, former director of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, who was then working to get the Valley of Flowers recognised as a World Heritage Site. At least 400 illegal shops had sprung along the pathway. But their owners did not take the responsibility of clearing the waste they generated. There are stories about a Canadian woman who tried to clean the area single-handedly by picking up plastic bottles and packets. “But nothing helped because the amount of waste was overwhelming and chances of the Valley of Flowers getting World Heritage Site status were bleak,” says Sitling.

It was around this time that the forest department took up the challenge. It roped in a non-profit at Bhyundar, the only village on the route, to collect plastic strewn on the pathway. In about three months, the non-profit Eco Development Committee (EDC) Bhyundar, had 4,000 sacks full of plastic waste, all brought to Govindghat on mules. The next year, it had 14,000 sacks. But all this waste stayed in Govindghat because the forest department had not yet formed a system to dispose it. In fact, the collection was as high as a three-storey building, says Sitling. In 2003, the forest department sent the waste to Dehradun, where it was segregated and then sent to Delhi for recycling. But transporting so much of waste was troublesome and expensive. The forest department collaborated with the municipal authorities in Srinagar town in 2004 to use its compactor machine that can compress plastic and make transportation easy. But after four years, the machine broke down and the forest department had to again take up the cumbersome task of transporting big, uncompressed sacks to Dehradun.

In 2010, the authorities at Joshimath tehsil allowed the use of their compactor machine. But it was overworked and the authorities refused to compress waste the next year.

In 2011, a group of trekkers saw the sacks piled at Govindghat and informed their friend Anis Ahmad, a waste dealer in Dehradun, about them. Ahmad worked out a deal with EDC. Till now, EDC was paying the transportation cost. But Ahmad gave EDC Rs 3,000 for each truck of waste and transported it for free. He collected 111 tonnes of waste and sold it to a recycler in Delhi, for profit.

This year, too, he awaits a similar arrangement with EDC. By June-end, EDC had 9,980 sacks of waste. With the tourism department’s decision to install a compactor machine at Govindghat, transportation is sure to become easy.

Economics of cleanliness

To lend a helping hand to EDC Bhyundar, the forest department made efforts to create a similar non-profit in Govindghat. EDC Govindghat was created in 2004. Till now, the two units have disposed of 587 tonnes of waste.

Most of the fund is generated by charging registration fee from mule owners, and dandis and kandis. Dandis take people up to the hills in palanquins and kandis carry tourists’ load in baskets. With increase in tourism, the number of mules, dandis and kandis also increased, improving EDCs’ collection. In 2003, EDC Bhyundar had collected Rs 10.4 lakh. This rose to Rs 29.6 lakh in 2011. EDC Govindghat, which had collected Rs 6.5 lakh in its first year, raised Rs 17.2 lakh in 2011. The non-profits also tax shop and restaurant owners on the path. The amount is used to hire sweepers and manage waste disposal.

(Left) Around 70 sweepers clear litter at regular intervals; waste collected along the path that leads to Hemkund Sahib

The system works well for tourists and pilgrims also. Mule owners, dandis and kandis are more accountable because all of them are registered. Their rates are also fixed by the district authorities and reviewed every year.

The initiative has proved a big source of employment. EDC Bhyundar hires youngsters to provide information to visitors to the Valley of Flowers National Park. They are also trained to work as guides, accountants, cashiers and computer operators at both the EDCs.

Besides, many migrant labourers have found jobs here. EDC Bhyundar has 49 sweepers while the Govindghat EDC has 20. Most of them come from Uttar Pradesh where the monsoon is a lean work season. Dileep Kumar, for instance, has been given the task of cleaning the path outside the Valley of Flowers. Work at the brick kiln at Moradabad, his hometown, stops during monsoons. During his four months’ stay in Ghangaria, Dileep will earn Rs 2,500 per month, get food, a place to stay and medical care, all for free. The facilities are available to mule owners and head loaders as well.

The forest department’s efforts yielded results and in 2005, the Valley of Flowers was declared a World Heritage Site. EDC, however, admits that mule dung has not been taken care of because there is no space to collect it and turn it into manure.

Ideas big and small

What happens if the EDCs are unable to generate enough funds to hire sweepers? Satish Chandra Bhatt, chairperson of EDC Govindghat, suggests government could step in to supplement funds.

However, instead of collecting huge amounts of waste at a high cost, would it not be better to reduce its generation? wonders R N Okhal, a Mumbai resident on a pilgrimage trip across the country after retirement. “When I went to Gomukh, I deposited Rs 20 for each plastic bag that I carried. While returning, I got the money back when I showed the same number of plastic bags,” he says.

Another effective way to reduce litter would be to give tourists discount on water bottles when they return empty bottles, suggests Ranu Srivastava, a tourist who is program manager at Oracle India Private Ltd in Gurgaon. Ravinder Singh of Punjab thinks a difference can be made if people are fined for littering. There should be restriction on sale of cheap raincoats, says Vipin Kumar, Dehradun-based expert on plastic waste disposal.

But authorities believe implementing these suggestions could be a problem. “The number of people who come to Govindghat is huge. They come from far away places and bring their own plastic. It is not possible to regulate such a huge amount of waste,” says S A Murugesan, district magistrate of Chamoli. In fact, EDC Govindghat had tried to reduce waste by providing good quality raincoats on rent. But tourists were not ready to pay. In the masterplan for Uttarakhand, Kumar has suggested technologies that can be used to turn plastic into products that do not re-enter the waste cycle. Bread wrappers, for instance, can be turned into chairs, he says. He has also suggested charging tax from manufacturers who increase the shelf-life of their products by packing food products in plastic bags.

The forest department is making efforts to increase awareness about keeping the area clean, like painting messages on mountains and placing dustbins. Tourists need to do their bit, says S R Prajapati, divisional forest officer of Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve. “Just throw waste inside the bins,” he says.