UPSC Mains 2019 GS Paper 1 Q15: model answer

Mountains cover about a quarter of Earth's land and supply fresh water to half of humanity; the UN made 2022 the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development.

The damage

• Development: roads cut with blasting, tunnels, dams and transmission lines destabilise slopes (Char Dham road, Joshimath).
• Tourism: crowds, hotels on riverbanks, waste on trails (Everest, Rohtang, Kedarnath).
• Results: landslides, loss of forests and springs, polluted rivers, habitat fragmentation and loss of traditional livelihoods.

Ecological restoration

• Afforestation with native species (oak, deodar) instead of pine monocultures.
• Spring-shed revival: Sikkim's Dhara Vikas recharged dying springs.
• Slope stabilisation using bio-engineering (grasses, vetiver, coir mats).
• Restore wetlands and alpine meadows; control invasive species like lantana.
• Treat glacial lakes at risk of GLOF.

Planning and regulation

• Carrying capacity studies for towns (as ordered for Himalayan towns by the Supreme Court in 2023).
• Eco-sensitive zones and strict EIA for roads and dams.
• Hazard-zonation and building codes.
• Smaller hydro projects; no projects in paraglacial zones, as the Chopra committee advised after the 2013 Kedarnath floods.
• Roads built with cut-and-fill balance, proper drainage and muck disposal sites.

Tourism reform

• Caps and permits (Sikkim's Tsomgo lake, Bhutan's sustainable development fee).
• Eco-tourism and homestays; spread visitors across seasons and places.
• 'Carry in, carry out' waste rules, plastic bans.

Community and finance

• Van panchayats in Uttarakhand and Joint Forest Management.
• Payment for ecosystem services to hill communities.
• The National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem and the Green Credit Programme.
• Traditional knowledge: terrace farming, kuhls in Himachal.

Conclusion

Restoration is slow and costly, so the cheapest restoration is not to damage in the first place. Mountains need development designed for slopes, not imported from the plains.