: Making environment a campaign issue for the upcoming polls, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has pitted himself against the Centre over the development of a 100-km stretch along the Bhagirathi river in Uttarkashi into an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ).
Mr. Rawat, who is opposed to the implementation of the ESZ notification in its current form, has been accusing the Centre of using the notification to “stop” development activities in a backward State such as Uttarakhand.
The notification issued by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA-II) government in December 2012 declared the 100-km stretch of the Bhagirathi from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi, covering an area of 4,179.59 sq.km, as “eco-sensitive”. The notification met with massive protests by the local people as they feared that the 88 villagers that came under the notified area would suffer on the development front.
Not ‘pro-development’
While the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been opposed to the notification, Mr. Rawat has projected it as a Congress issue for the polls. He went on a daylong fast in New Delhi recently to register his “anger” over the inflexibility of the Centre in amending portions of the notification to make it more “pro-development”.
The Rawat government had sought amendments to the notification to gain permission for the construction of hydropower projects of up to 25-MW capacity in the area, against the 2-MW capacity projects that have been allowed, as per the notification.
However, the Centre rejected the request.
Bachan Singh of Jaspur, a village in the Gangotri constituency, said, “The ESZ notification must not be implemented for it will put a ban on the collection of wood [for burning] from the forests. No roads would be constructed in the region and building a small house would become impossible.”
Confusion over content
A “false notion” of the notification is what the local people have been hearing about, say environmental activists, blaming politicians for the “misunderstanding” created around the notification.
Many in Uttarkashi complain that even four years after the notification was issued, they are unaware of what it actually contains.
Krishna Nautiyal from Uttarkashi said that a few activists had recently visited his locality in Uttarkashi to explain that the notification was not anti-development.
Pradeep Ram from Gangori village near Uttarkashi, said, “Why didn’t he [Harish Rawat] protest against the notification in 2012 when his own party [which was at power at the Centre] had brought the notification? This protest in the name of development is just a sham to attract votes.”
