Only a fool learns from his own mistakes, said Otto von Bismarck, the wise man learns from the mistakes of others. It is now time for policymakers in Himachal (who have so far refused to learn from either their own mistakes or those of Uttarakhand and Kerala/Wayanad) to imbibe some lessons from the horrendous tragedy in Nepal. The primary lesson is simple: the Himalayas have had enough. Back off!

‘Development’ has gone berserk in Himachal: 12,000 hectares of precious forest land diverted in the last twenty years for various projects, 174 hydel projects sanctioned/commissioned, 5 million trees felled, construction rules relaxed to permit 10-storey buildings, the Shimla Development Plan 2041 approved to deregulate the city’s precious green belts and allow construction even in heritage and core areas, an epidemic of unnecessary four-lane highways crisscrossing the state, scores of tunnels under the fragile mountains, plans to increase tourist footfall from the present 20 million per annum to an unsustainable 50 million.

The natural features that held the fragile mountain strata together — trees, glaciers, snowfields, river drainage — are being decimated and destroyed by these activities. No number of warnings or reports from environmentalists and scientists that the mountains simply cannot sustain this level of anthropogenic activities have made the governments (past and present) see sense.

The Himalayas are now pushing back, with increasing intensity. Not-so-natural disasters in just three years (2022-24) have caused direct financial losses of Rs 13,500 crore to the state and claimed 800 lives; indirect losses to business and livelihoods are much higher. In 2026, the losses have already amounted to Rs 1,400 crore and 200 dead.

The Himalayas are warming at twice the average global rate. This warming effect is being amplified by local ‘heat islands’ caused by emissions from heavy machinery and labour camps, carbon deposits on ice fields, pollutants from the ever-increasing number of vehicles intruding into high altitude fragile ecosystems, removal of green cover...

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The permafrost which holds together the fractured mountain soil is melting. Dumping of muck in the watercourses is reducing their capacity to carry excess water, resulting in regular ‘flash floods’. Too many red lines have been crossed.

The warnings have been many: Kedarnath in 2013, Chamoli in 2021, Sikkim in 2023, Dharali in 2025, and now Nepal. Among the most dangerous impending threats to Himachal is the growing number and size of the glacial lakes in the state, primarily responsible for the disasters above.

In 1990, the state had 107 glacial lakes of noticeable size with a total area of 5.54 sq. km. Now there are 669 lakes over 11.20 sq. km. Some have reached dangerous proportions, like Ghepan in Lahaul which has grown six times to almost 100........

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