Dethroning the Queen of the Hills

The uncontrolled and unscrupulous construction activity in and around Mussoorie in the name of development over the past decade has wrought havoc with the fragile ecosystem of the mountain resort, putting tremendous pressure on its resources. The depletion of non-renewable natural resources and the increase in the population of the town has not only transformed its layout but has also changed the climate pattern of the region.

The day temperatures during June now touches a maximum of 32 degree celsius and ceiling fans are common a sight unseen even 20 years ago. Mussoorie’s maximumtemperature in contrast was 24.8 degrees celsius in 1960 and 28.1 degrees celsius in 1986. The total rainfall recorded in 1981 was 1714 mm as compared to 2368 mm recorded in 1960. Consequently, snowfall has also receded over the years depriving the soil of its nutrients. The pressure on the civic amenities of the town such as water supply, sewage disposal and electricity supply has increased by 60 per cent over the last decade.

Interestingly, the destruction of forests in and around Mussoorie has been on an upward spiral since 1990, a period when the judiciary, bureaucracy and the environmentalists were most active in saving forest cover. Uptil 1990, 79 per cent of the total area of 67.75 sq km of the town was under forests. By 1997, this was reduced to 72.4 per cent. In other words, a total of 7 per cent of the Mussoorie forest was lost in just seven years.

The total built up area in the town was approximately 10 per cent of the total area in 1990, which rose to approximately 18 per cent by 1997. Thetotal built up area of the town was 6.74 sq km in 1990. By 1997, an additional 5 sq km of built up area emerged. Mussoorie now is spread over an area of 11.74 sq km.

All this was going on when there was a total ban on the felling of trees. The Uttar Pradesh government had notified 216 estates in and around Mussoorie as far back as 1966. All non-forest activities were banned in these estates. But the ban was violated with impunity. After the Supreme Court banned mining in the Mussoorie hills in 1984, there was a boom in construction activity in the region which brought even more destruction to the forests.

Forest officials played a role in this by issuing no objection certificates at random in open defiance of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 and the Supreme Court directive. The act says that no non-forest activity would take place in the forest without the prior permission of the central government. While the Supreme Court directive of banning the cutting of rocks above a gradient of 30 degrees wasalso flouted as 4.45 sq km of construction between 1990 and 1997 was done at a level between 30 degrees to 50 degrees gradient.

One of the biggest reasons for Mussoorie’s degradation is linked to the ever increasing rush of tourists during the three-month summer vacation period. That is when a mad race to earn quick money begins in right earnest. Besides its resident population of 40,000, Mussoorie attracted an additional 16 lakh tourists in 1997.

But the ever-increasing number of tourists has also conspired to make Mussoorie much less appealing. The overload factor seems to have taken a toll on the local hotel industry. Devraj Kapoor, president of the Mussoorie Hoteliers Association, points out that many of the 152 hotels in this hill resort are on sale as business has been reduced to just two months in summer.Laments Kapoor,“Lack of parking places, the mushrooming growth of apartments and rising costs have made our business unprofitable.” An old resident of the town, Kapoor is also worried about thehaphazard growth of Mussoorie eroding its pristine glory. The pressure on hill station has led to water shortages because of the clogging and drying up of water sources and springs which used to supply drinking water to the town. Most of the 17 springs which supply water today, are choked by construction debris, plastic waste and garbage.

With not even a single modern sewage treatment plant, there has been an unprecedented growth of septic tanks in every new hotel, building and apartment block. Most of these septic tanks do not have any soak pits. During the rains, the tanks are opened so that rain water washes away the excreta accumulated in them. This waste water in turn pollutes the natural springs in the area.

Environmentalists point out that the Douglas Dale spring has been particularly affected by this as also the Bhilaru water stream, which provides 60 per cent of the water requirements of the town. Vipin Kumar, who is doing yeoman’s service in collecting the solid waste of the town through hisvoluntary organisation, `Self Help Environment Programme’, feared that if something was not done immediately on waste management Mussoorie would, sooner or later, be in the grip of a waste-generated epidemic. According to him a total of 10,62,079 kg of non-degradable solid waste is generated in Mussoorie every year, out of which 2,86,678 kg was plastic waste and 1,68,367 kg construction debris. Kumar has been able to collect some of this solid waste through rag pickers mobilised by his organisations, which collects waste from 17 schools, 72 hotels, and 140 households every day.Alok Mehrotra, a leading lawyer of the town, believes that a powerful lobby of builders has been instrumental in encouraging the construction boom in the area. This has, in turn, created multi-dimensional problems for the local residents. “We are not allowed to carry out even minor repairs on our old houses following the banning of all construction activity by the Supreme Court, while huge buildings have come up all over town,” hesays.

The biggest scandal is that the local authorities of the Mussoorie-Dehradun Development Authority have allowed the construction of multi-storeyed buildings in Mussoorie, which lies in a seismically sensitive zone. Experts like Professor Kirsten Larson of Colorado University and Professor Rolland Bergman of the Stanford University have predict a catastrophe of unheard of proportions in the central Himalayan region between Kathmandu and Dehradun. Already three major earthquakes have rocked these areas three times already in this century 1916, 1934 and 1991.

Truly, Mussoorie is heading for difficult times. And the short-sightedness and greed of the people who control its destiny have not helped any.