The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

ON RECORD
‘A gigantic task still remains’
— Vijay Bahuguna, Uttarakhand Chief Minister, says the wounded state needs all the help it can get
Raj chengappa and SMA KAZMI talk to vijay bahuguna, Uttarakhand Chief minister

Ever since the Himalayan Tsunami struck Uttarakhand in mid-June, causing in its wake death and enormous destruction, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has been in the eye of a storm over his government’s role in the response to the calamity. The embattled Bahuguna spoke to Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief, and SMA Kazmi, Special Correspondent, at his residence in Dehradun, explaining the constraints and the big challenges ahead in providing relief and rehabilitating the wounded state. Excerpts:

What is your assessment of the current situation in Uttarakhand?

The magnitude of this calamity was such that it made the task very difficult despite the magnificent combined effort of the Army and Air Force. But the worst is over. About 1,10,000 people were evacuated, of which about 90 per cent were pilgrims and tourists. The local people exhibited tremendous character in allowing pilgrims to be helped first. While precious lives have been lost, the number of missing people as per my administration’s briefing is 3,000-4,000. We have decided those who do not return home by July 15 will be presumed dead for the purpose of compensation, which we will begin giving out after July 16.

Will the compensation be for residents of Uttarakhand or others too?

The Prime Minister has given us Rs 1,000 crore and announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for each of the dead. As per this announcement, we can give the Rs 2 lakh for the dead from other states. But for the people from Uttarakhand, we have decided to give another Rs 3 lakh to make it Rs 5 lakh. I am told other Chief Ministers too would similarly enhance the compensation.

The flow of tourists has to be regulated so that the load on the infrastructure is restricted and we know how many people are where. There has to be a master plan for every point, depending on the infrastructure and connectivity. I have put up a State Disaster Advisory Authority to advise me on disaster management.

How many are confirmed dead and what is likely to be the final toll?

The number of bodies spotted is only about 500-600. But the flash floods have swept away a number of people and many are buried under the debris and the estimates of the toll are 3,000-4000 based on the missing persons report. The Army and NDRF are also finding it difficult to reach the bodies. We are trying to give as many an honourable cremation as possible. A DIG with a team of 200 persons is doing the job. But they are hardly able to cremate 10-12 bodies a day. We are trying to clear the Kedarnath area as fast as we can, but disposing of the debris is a challenge. We are seeking technical advice from the GSI and the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (Dehradun). I think in another 15 days Kedarnath would be cleared of the bodies.

Why is this being called a manmade disaster?

The day man can control a disaster of this magnitude, he would have conquered nature. There were glaciers and there was a lake above Kedarnath at a height of 13,000 feet. The average depth of that lake was 3m, but it swelled to 27m and flowed over. And the rainfall was 300mm on those days, which was four times the average. Is this manmade? All we can do is planning to mitigate the suffering of people. Protection and rescue of people and land has to be part of that planning. To say that illegal constructions brought about the 'Himalayan tsunami' does not make sense.

When did you realise the extent of this calamity?

The Met Department generally sends advisories every day on ‘heavy rainfall’, ‘light rainfall’, ‘showers’. On June 15 they warned of 'heavy rainfall' across Uttarakhand. In such a situation, no state can ask people to evacuate. The Chief Secretary on June 16 gave a press release with photographs saying heavy rain was expected. People were advised to be cautious and not drive. But over 3 lakh tourists were already there at different places. On June 16 at 2.30 pm the Met Department said there was a very serious warning of heavy showers. That was taken note of. The Rudraprayag SP immediately sent wireless messages to the police station to stop movement of vehicles and tourists towards the hills.

Were tourists prevented from going up?

Yes, from Rishikesh, following the Rudraprayag SP’s messages. Kedarnath had always been a safe place. In hundreds of years nothing had happened there. It is at a height of 11,000 feet. Movement towards Kedarnath was stopped. But there were people already up there. People go by foot or helicopter. The helicopters were stopped by the government on June 15. So the only way back was on foot, a distance of 20 km. Nor can you expect those who are living in Kedarnath to leave their homes.

When the calamity struck, why did you fly to Delhi?

I was in the affected district and went straight from there. As the calamity struck, we had two issues — the extent of relief and the allocation of debt due to various departments. So I sought time from the Prime Minister and decided to take along the Revenue Minister, who also has the Disaster portfolio. When you brief the Prime Minister directly, you get more. We got Rs 1,000 crore. The entire compensation is to be paid to the state. Normally, we get only part of the relief package. Compensation for other programmes has not been clubbed with this relief. Money to be spent on border roads would also not come from this package. The two hours I spent in Delhi was not shying away from responsibility, but an effort to get the maximum funds for relief.

Your rivals in the party are accusing you of not being effective during the calamity. Why?

Their vision is blurred and they have pre-conceived notions. Experts in various fields will be better commentators on my performance than people who have personal ambitions. All I request is a moratorium on politics. Now is the time to act we can debate all issues after three months.

Was there any effort to have you replaced during the crisis, as it happened to the Orissa Chief Minister in 1999?

Not to my knowledge. In politics, there are always uncertainties. Those who worry about the future do not enjoy their today and thus cannot perform. So long as I am in the chair, I have complete liberty to act, and I do not fear tomorrow. Today I am at the helm of affairs and have complete control of the situation and the backing of the bureaucracy.

In the response to the disaster, the state seemed helpless; only the armed forces were out.

This calamity affected an area of 37,000 sq km, not just a city or block. There were cloudbursts at many places. No state has the manpower to tackle such a calamity. Even after 15 days, the Army and ITBP are still struggling to enter the Kedar valley. Even mountaineers find it difficult to reach there. The civil administration people are not equipped or trained to handle such tasks. Whether in the earlier Gujarat or Odisha calamities, the state apparatus is only part of the relief operation.

Was the National Disaster Relief Force effective?

The NDRF team had 300-400 people. They don't have a large force. We are now setting up a unit of the NDRF in Haridwar. In such a calamity you cannot treat state and Central governments separately. All instruments of governance have to come together. The job of evacuating 1,10,000 people was carried out without a law and order problem, without people dying in relief camps. This is an achievement of the civil administration also — repairing link roads, plying buses to rescue people.

What is the truth in the claim about Narendra Modi's effort of rescuing 15,000 Gujaratis stranded in Uttarakhand?

Is it possible? I do not know how such a figure came out in the media. But Gujarat officers were there. Modi gave me a cheque for Rs 5 crore. He also offered to reconstruct the temple. I thanked him, but said Kedarnath was a symbol of our pride, and the state would do it. Kedarnath should not be made a political issue. The primary responsibility of restoring it lies with the state.

What about the incident of a Punjab IAS officer, KS Pannu, being assaulted by pilgrims?

People were stranded from all over the country and if you try to give preference to people of your area, caste or religion, naturally discontent and disputes would arise. There are some incidents which happen and we should forget and ignore them.

What has the government been doing to provide relief and rehabilitation?

Relief and rehabilitation is a gigantic task. As many as 4,200 villages were cut off. We have been able to restore connectivity to more than 3,000. For villages that still do not have even a mule track, we are dropping ration by choppers. There are about 500 such villages. Each district has a chopper. There are some villages which need evacuation of about 600 local residents, but for the past two days choppers have not been able to fly. A committee of five persons has been set up for each district — comprising a minister-in-charge, the MP and MLA concerned, commissioner and the district magistrate — to monitor the relief work. Sixty per cent of drinking water and 70 per cent of power facilities affected have been restored and we expect by the end of the month all the villages affected would be taken care off.

Nearly 200 bridges have been washed away and these have to be rebuilt in a scientific manner. The extensive damage to roads will take some time as realignments have to be made but we are asking for at least mule tracks to be made to send supplies to those villages cut off. The Borders Roads Organisation — which maintains the main link roads — is addressing the Gangotri, Badrinath and Pithoragarh connectivity. The PWD is looking after the link roads, which made the possible evacuation, as major roads have still not opened.

After the initial relief, there will be a long-term rehabilitation programme. I have set up a statutory authority under my chairmanship for rehabilitation and reconstruction. We have to move in consultation with environmentalists and the GSI. Some road alignments have to be changed in view of the identified disaster-prone areas. As the Himalayas are not very old, they are not stable. It is important to have the correct engineering so that structures last at least 100 years.

A decision has already been taken that construction on riverbanks will not be allowed. To ensure river does not change its course, flood control protections will have to be built, for which the state government does not have the money.

How do you propose to address the issue that several of the constructions washed away had been raised in violation of the law?

This is my 15th month in office, and I have not cleared any project on the river bank. In fact, no hydro project has also been cleared by me. Some of the structures that collapsed were very old. The entire habitation in the hills is only along the riverbanks since ages. New constructions were not on the banks, but rivers changed course and hit them. Mining of silt has been prohibited, which causes a rise in the silt level on the riverbed, which leads to flooding.

A holistic study of all these aspects is required. But a decision has already been taken that construction on riverbanks will not be allowed. To ensure river does not change its course, flood control protections will have to be built, for which the state government does not have the money. Funds will be required from the Government of India. As 70 per cent of the land in the state is under forests, only 30 per cent is available for cultivation. So we cannot afford to lose any land to floods.

How will the state’s economy be affected?

Uttarakhand is an economically viable state. We have a potential to generate 27,000 Megawatt of hydro-energy. Then there is tourism and pilgrimage. We also have forests and wildlife. Balancing economic activity and environmental considerations is a challenge. The economy cannot be brought to a standstill. I am not in favour of big dams, but run-of-the river projects can be considered, which do not engulf much land. If environment constraints come up, then the Centre has to compensate us. There has to be scientific planning. Now all construction activity in the Char-Dham area will be controlled by the state government. There have to be scientific studies of the threat to environment. But once projects have been started after clearance and investment has taken place, these should not be stopped because of sentimental issues or some activists.

Different areas have different requirements. The entire ecology of the Himalayas requires serious planning. We must have a Himalayan Development Authority to prepare a long-term perspective, planning to include hydro projects, tourism, national security, border roads, etc.

Is there any rethink on certain power and irrigation projects after the disaster?

No. The National Ganga River Basin Authority has constituted a subcommittee under the chairmanship of Planning Commission member B.K. Chaturvedi. Seventy hydro power projects are proposed in the state. They have done a review of the environmental impact with experts from IIT, Roorkee. We will go by the report of this study. The cloudbursts, shifting of glaciers, earthquakes are not because of any dam or construction.

The calamity is a warning from nature that you cannot tamper with it too much.

When we talk of Gross Domestic Product, we also have to consider the "gross environmental product". It is a global issue. When glaciers melt or develop cracks, they come down and lakes swell. You cannot do anything. Earlier there was one rivulet behind Kedarnath, now there are two because of the melting of glaciers. One more road to Kedarnath is needed. All this requires a holistic study. We will do nothing in haste.

How do you expect other states to help out?

Our economy rests on tourism. I would like people to maintain links with the state. There are certain areas that have not been affected, like Mussoorie and Nainital. Flights are coming to Dehradun. Restoring connectivity to Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri will take two months, but the season lasts till October. I will urge people to return back to the state as tourists – that will give us confidence. Central ministries will also have to help us. There is a shortage of engineers, doctors and manpower resources for rebuilding. A number of state governments have come forward to adopt some villages and this is a good gesture. We are planning to hand over five to six villages each to different states so that they can rebuild the infrastructure.

What are the lessons we have learnt in disaster management?

Different areas have different requirements. The entire ecology of the Himalayas requires serious planning. We must have a Himalayan Development Authority covering all states concerned, with the Prime Minister at the helm, to prepare a long-term perspective, planning to include hydro projects, tourism, national security, border roads, etc. There has to be funding from the Centre too, so that states do not think of only development but also environment.

In Uttarakhand, policing for 61 per cent of the population is done by revenue officials, as we don’t have sufficient regular police force. We do not get funds from the Centre for modernisation of the police because of this anomaly. Had there been regular police stations, there would have been some manpower and systems for quick response.

What can you do to regulate tourists?

The other thing we learnt is that in view of the topography, the flow of tourists has to be regulated so that the load on the infrastructure is restricted and we know how many people are where. There has to be a master plan for every point, depending on the infrastructure and connectivity. Shelters have to be created, even if temporary, food has to be available on the trek routes. This can happen anywhere in the state. So there have to be contingency plans. We have to consult experts on this matter. I have put up a State Disaster Advisory Authority consisting of a committee of experts — not of political persons — to advise me on disaster management.

What are the key guidelines you expect from the proposed Himalayan Development Authority?

There has to be connectivity among all hill states that promotes tourism. A uniform housing policy is also required for the Himalayas — on the type of construction, materials used, environment, etc. We have to treat the entire area as sacred, and work for sustainable development.