The majestic Himalayas overlooking pristine rivers, lush green forests with a variety of animals and reptiles rustling through the woods towards natural springs and lakes, the air is filled with the burble of rivers and chirpy rare birds. An idyllic setting where nature has a deep resonance with local myths and religion. This is dev bhoomi, but Uttarakhand’s breathtaking beauty has a deep undertone of ecological fragility.
Scientific and cultural values often intertwine across the hills of Uttarakhand, but for long they have been ignored and nature has been plundered often due to ignorance and at other times for development.
But in our myopic understanding of economic growth of the state, its natural resources have been sacrificed and local communities have been alienated. None of this growth touch the lives of the locals, as they leave their villages in hordes to crowd cities in the foothills of the Himalayas; putting immense pressure on urban cities and its resources.
Rapid tourism and mindless infrastructure building has ravaged its landscape rendering this dev bhoomi into a vulnerable state of frequent cloud bursts causing landslides, a hotspot of erratic climate events.
While tourism and pilgrimages are a source of employment and economy for the state, but as environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna had famously said “Ecology is permanent economy”. So preservation of this ecology and biodiversity should be prioritised by policymakers. Failing which would mean devastation not only for the state but also for the entire northern India. Uttarakhand’s biodiversity gives ecological stability to North India, regulating its climate and supporting nutrient cycling.
All economic activity in this state needs to be evaluated through the prism of conservation of natural heritage, the local community needs to be co-opted into the ethos of sustainability and biodiversity. Work has started towards biodiversity conservation involving communities but a lot more needs to be done.
This special edition brought out in collaboration with Reckitt showcases the stunning natural heritage of Uttarakhand, presents the current dangers facing it and the urgency of action that is needed to conserve the bhoomi that is truly fit for dev.
It also touches upon Reckitt’s work on biodiversity and climate action in the state ranging from setting up climate resilient schools to developing an atlas of lost rivers.
We hope such examples prompt more corporates to do their bit for biodiversity and our well-being.
