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social issues
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Endangered Uttarakhand by Hiranmay Karlekar (The Pioneer) |
The new Government needs to give a sharp, critical look at the existing pattern of development
The complaint was frequent and loud in 16th and 17th century England, "sheep are driving out men". The reference was to the enclosure of arable land for sheep farming for wool, and the throwing out of peasants. In the 21st century, the cry in Uttarakhand's Nainital district may well be, "men are driving out leopards and destroying trees".
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When we first bought land in Ramgarh, there were not many people from the plains around. The road in front of the house was a rough track, unpaved, cratered and littered with large stones. Cars had to be parked a couple of hundred metres away and people had to leg it for the rest. Now a cement concrete road stretches in front of the house, which is doubtless very convenient for us. But it symbolises a pattern of development, which raises questions.
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The road was meant to help the transport of fruits like apples and peaches from orchards downhill to mandis. It is, however, used more by carloads of people looking for land in the areas it has opened up than lorries carrying fruits. New buildings, some of them architectural monstrosities, are sprouting almost everywhere, as those who can afford to are increasingly flocking to the hills for respite from the heat, dust and stress of increasingly unliveable cities in the plains.
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It is not just single houses. Entire hillsides are being denuded of trees and shrubs to make way for resorts, hotels and complexes of cottages and apartment buildings. When we first came to Ramgarh there was only the establishment of the Neemrana Hotels comprising the Writers and Old Bungalows. Now several others are functioning and more are under construction. Trees, including majestic Oaks, are disappearing. Huge water tanks are being built for hotels and resorts, as more cars snake up and down winding hill roads.
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There is, doubtless, a positive aspect to all this. People are selling land all over the place and middlemen are making tidy sums. One sees prosperity writ on freshly painted houses and the scooters and motorbikes in which people zoom around. Dish antennae are mushrooming. Mobile telephone connectivity has arrived - albeit with periods of truancy; so has the Internet. Broadband, one is told, is not far behind.
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The questions relate to the future. What happens when money from the sale of land runs out? Most people have been splurging with little thought for tomorrow. There are, no doubt, the orchards. The yield, however, is not always good; a hailstorm has played havoc with the yield this season. Ramgarh apples, introduced by the Brits, are slightly sour and require an acquired taste for appreciation. In the plains, people increasingly prefer sweeter varieties like the Golden Delicious and Red Delicious grown in Himachal Pradesh.
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Besides, hard work in orchards does not quite appeal to the younger generations whose members prefer to work in offices or as middlemen. Unfortunately, there is not a great deal of saleable land left. Employment opportunities are not increasing fast enough. People in Ramgarh have always wanted a cider factory for which its apples would be ideal raw material. None has been set up. There is much building activity. But construction labourers, masons and carpenters are mostly from Nepal and Bihar; the same goes for orchard hands.
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Ramgarh is not an isolated example. The same pattern of development is visible as one travels uphill from Bheem Tal towards Mukteswhar and beyond. Leopards are becoming fewer as wildlife habitats are shrinking. Further denudation of forests will increase soil erosion, adversely affecting riverbeds downstream. There will be resentment among the locals as water shortage results from huge drawals by resorts and developers' colonies.
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The consequences will stretch beyond the ecological. In most places, one finds groups of able-bodied men lounging around idly in public spaces. They constitute explosive social material. Boredom, as history shows, often finds release in violent action. Discontent will grow as money from the sale of land runs out and former landowners become employees of outsiders. Nepal, where Maoists are strongly entrenched, is next door, separated by a highly porous border. Vigil has been enhanced along it. But while movement of people can be restricted, ideas flit easily across borders. Besides, India has its own Maoists.
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The new Uttarakhand Government must revive the orchards, critically reappraise the State's tourism policy, and regulate the activity of the developers to protect its environment and social harmony. It must actively promote units utilising the produce of local orchards. Otherwise, it will be courting trouble.
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