Denuded, eroded and killed

Man-induced soil erosion is threatening the delicate ecological
balance of HP hills and flash floods are just one of its many
dangerous repercussions, says Romesh Dutt.

Man-induced soil erosion, termed by geologists as "accelerated erosion", today poses the single largest threat to the stability of the Himalayan ecology.

Due to the incessant depletion of forests, about 600 million tonnes of top, fertile soil, is washed annually into streams and rivers from the hills of Himachal Pradesh.

Accelerated erosion is considered dangerous for the ecological system because it is simply impossible to reclaim the eroded soil, after it has reached the ocean floors.

The erosion also chokes up rivers and streams as well as reservoirs of dams, thereby reducing their water storage and power generation capacities. As the dams are the very lifeline of agriculture and power-based industries, any reduction in their output will only prove to be disastrous in the years to come.

Another disconcerting factor is that soil conservation has always been taken lightly by man. He has always taken the availability of soil for granted, forgetting that some of the most powerful civilisations have perished due to soil erosion.

The great Sumerian civilisation was wiped out by a flood which buried its kingdom under about 10 feet of silt washed by the Euphrates river down the slopes of Armenia and Asia Minor mountains.

In Himachal Pradesh, the important trading town of Chirgaon in Shimla district, was devastated by a flood on August 11, 1997. More than 200 persons lost their lives, while property worth Rs 150 crore was damaged. The flood was caused by a landslide, technically called "slip soil erosion", that diverted the course of the Andhra river. Similar soil erosion-related tragedies have been reported from Mandi and Solan districts in the last few years.

Recently, on August 18 and 19, flash floods caused by slip erosion decimated Monsoona village in Rudraprayag district and Malpa in Pithoragarh district of Uttar Pradesh. More than 226 persons were killed.

Both politicians and forests can be held responsible for such heavy soil erosion. A forest scientist once stated that the biggest problem of Indian forestry was that the trees did not have votes.

Himachal Pradesh imposed a ban on felling of green trees in 1994. This step came at least four decades late, when colossal, if not irrepairable, damage had been done to the state’s forest cover. The forest mafia had already taken a heavy toll of the forests. Apart from the ban of felling, other steps needed to stem the ecological rot were not taken.

According to experts, overgrazing, excessive extraction of fuelwood and herbs, unscientific lopping of trees for fodder, and forest fires are some of the factors contributing to the shrinking forest cover of the state.

As per the 1992 census, 50,65,610 animals were directly depended on the state’s forests and the so-called pastures. This reveals the unsustainable biotic pressure on the forests. Stall feeding of milch cattle was started in small pockets only recently.

Poor quality of the pastures in the state has also been responsible for the ruralites’ dependence on forests for fodder.

The low-yielding grassland caused the diversion of animals into forests where the villagers held usage rights since ancient times. While the Forest Department has always been in favour of a complete ban on the grazing of cattle in the forests, the government has taken no such step.

At present, a permit system exists under which 10.5 lakh animals have been officially allowed to graze in the different forests of the state. However, no fee is levied and there is still no check on unauthorisied cattle intruding into forest.

Dr P.K. Khosla, Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh Krishi Mahavid-yalaya, Palampur, and a co-founder of the Indian Society of Tree Scientists, says, "Grazing of cattle in the forests should never have been allowed in the first place. Permitting it without charging any fees amounted to giving the villager owning cattle a free hand to go on raising as many cattle as he could afford."

Dr J.A. Voelekar, an international expert invited by the Union Government to make a detailed survey of the Indian agricultural scenario, wrote in his report: "The forest must be closed to grazing. Damage done by cattle trampling down the seedlings, or by goats and sheep nibbling off young shoots must be avoided at all costs. Goats in particular must not have any place in forests."

Unfortunately, as per the 1992 census, 11,18,094 goats and 10,78,940 sheep were among the 50,65,610 animals dependent on forests in Himachal Pradesh. Goats have the ability to walk on extremely steep slopes, which means that grass and foliage growing even in impossible-to-reach places are under constant threat from these animals. "Permitting such animals to graze in the forests virtually amounts to committing ecological harakiri", a forest scientist stated at a seminar a few years ago.

Out of 3295 plant species, found in the state 155 are medicinal and aromatic. Some of these are found only in Himachal Pradesh and nowhere else in the country. Dioscorea detoidea, berberis vulgaris, valeriane, jatamansi and ephedra are some of the herbs that are being overexploited, say experts.

Berberis vulgaris, popularly called ‘Rasaunt’, a highly efficacious ayurvedic drug, which grew extensively in Himachal Pradesh, was uprooted in huge quantities. Similarly "Khair" trees were also callously uprooted for extracting katha and an alkaloid called ketkin. The uprooted plants leave gaping holes in the soil which becomes susceptible to erosion after having been robbed off the soil-binding roots.

As the ancient rights enjoyed by the villagers permitted lopping of fodder trees growing in forests, reckless removal of foliage has been going on for ages. A tree robbed off its leaves suffers from impaired photosynthesis. Indiscriminate lopping ultimately results in the withering of the tree, due to malnutrition.

Forest fires are also responsible for causing erosion. As many as 3,615 fires broke out in forests of the state during the last three years. Besides consuming biomass and destroying precious fauna, the fires bake and harden the soil surface.

Burnt forests indirectly cause flash floods and discharge soil sediments down the slopes of the hills into the rivers and streams.

The practice of allowing villagers to collect fuel wood from forests has also taken a toll of the green cover.

The Forest Survey of India, in a recently conducted survey, stated that the per capita consumption of firewood per year in Himachal Pradesh was 5.23 quintals. This amounts to 28,76,500 metric tonnes of fuelwood consumed in a year by the people of the state. The destruction wrought by the consumption of fuel wood, wholly extracted from forests, can be imagined.

Forestry experts are of the view that the growing biotic pressures on the forests, the prime cause of soil erosion, can only be combated by banning grazing and limiting the extraction of fuel wood to biologically permissible levels.

The demand for fuel wood can be reduced by propagating simplistic techniques like drying of wood before burning and use of fuel-efficient hearths.

The present fuel efficiency of firewood in the state amounts to 5 to 8 per cent only. A study should be made to install gasifiers based on forest and biodegradable waste along with some percentage of regular fuel wood.

The grassland should be scientifically managed and effective steps should be taken to improve the yield and quality of the grass grown.

The State Forest Department should also take necessary steps to demarcate forest lands to prevent any transfer of land use. At present, out of 3,5401 sq km of forest area under the Forest Department, 11,559 sq. km is under the undemarcated category.