Can India Progress if Uttarakhand Lags Behind?

My recent visit to Badrinath, one of the holiest shrines of Hindus, after a gap of eleven years has been highly reinvigorating, mentally satisfying and spiritually uplifting. This time I was in the company of Hemant Tiwari and Siddharth Kalhans, two talented and gifted journalists of Lucknow, who have razor-sharp analytical mind and possess wonderful information about politics, history, religion, spiritualism, society and social mores.

It goes without saying that Uttarakhand is amazingly beautiful; replete with high hills, deep vales, dense forests and breath-taking scenic places. It can be made the most attractive and alluring tourist destinations in the world. If necessary facilities and infrastructures are provided, Uttarakhand itself can generate many times more money from domestic and foreign tourists than even Switzerland. It can be the haven of trekkers’ delight. Lakhs of pilgrims visit the four most sacred places of Hindus, known as the ‘Chaar Dhams’- Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. But pilgrims are pilgrims. They are never demanding for facilities. In fact, most of the pilgrims consider that the suffering and arduousness is the concomitant with the pilgrimage.

While Badrinath is one of the original four dhams set up by Adi Shankaracharya. The other three are Jagganathpuri, Dwarika and Rameshwaram.  Badrinath presents a unique example of national integration, where Hindus from all parts of the country, nay the entire world assemble, have a dip in the icy cold waters of Alaknand and the hot water spring at the feet of the temple before the Darshan of the Lord. Kedarnath, on the other hand, is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, which assumes the highest reverence for the Hindus across the world. 

Another most significant aspect of developing the tourism to an unprecedented level in Uttarakhand is that five holy rivers - Bhagirathi, Mandakini, Alaknanda, Pindar and Dhauli Ganga flow from this Dev Bhoomi and confluence of these rivers are known as Panch Prayags. Prayag means ‘place of sacrifice’, where one river loses its identity after merging with the bigger one. The confluence of the Holy Ganga, Yamuna and invisible Saraswati is at the Prayag Raj, where Kumbha mela is observed every twelve years.  Similarly, the confluences of the rivers of Uttarakhand are also named as Prayag. At Vishnu Prayag, near Joshimath, river Dhauli Ganga merges with Alaknanda, which originates from Satopath glacier and passes through Badarinath. The second one is Nand Prayag, the meeting point of Alaknanda and Nandakini.  Then comes Karn Prayag, where the Pindar originating the Pindar glacier joins Alaknanda. Fourth in the line is Rudra Prayag, where Mandakini meets Alaknanda and the last is Dev Prayag, which is the confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi.  The Holy River Ganga takes its name from this place. Bhagirathi, as the legend goes, is another name of the Ganga as it was brought on earth by the sage Bhagirath after thousands of years of Tapasya.

Needless to say, that the proper taming of the river giants for generating hydroelectricity can increase the income of the state manifold. The economy of the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand can be significantly enhanced by the River Bed Mining (RBM). One can find the stone boulders ranging from few kilograms to hundreds of quintals in the river beds obstructing the free flow of waters, particularly during the rainy season, causing floods and havoc. The calamity that was caused in 2013 by river Mandakini, due to the fall of the avalanche of the glacier of lakhs of tons is too horrifying to recall. One trembles at the very thought of the disaster that was brought by the river Mandakini, which had taken the toll of thousands within a few days.

Although, such natural calamities cannot be fully prevented yet it could certainly be reduced and mitigated by clearing the path of the mighty rivers through river bed mining. The stone boulders lying on the beds of these rivers can be converted into tons of money by properly utilising them for the production and pebbles to be used all over the country. However, the mindless exploitation of Jal, Jangal and Jamin will destroy the ecology and bring more misery for the people in its wake. It is good to see the construction of all-weather roads going on in full swing. It will, without doubt, transform the state of Uttarakhand into a very vibrant one. Conservation of forests, herbal agriculture and by increasing the areas of orchards and tea plantations etc; can make Uttarakhand as one of the most developed and the wealthy states of India. There is an immense scope for the development of aviation, which can provide cheap services to the remote and intractable areas of the state. The problems of far-flung areas, which are deprived of proper health facilities and good educational institutions, must be addressed with all sincerity.

The High Court of Uttarakhand is situated in Nainital, which is very inaccessible for a person from Uttarkashi or Chamoli. In view of the difficulties of the hilly people, it will be highly desirable to have a Bench of it, either in Pauri or Srinagar, which incidentally is in the Pauri district but is well connected by road. The capital Dehradun is quite distant from both regions of Garhwal and Kumayun but because of easy accessibility, it cannot be shifted for now to any other place. Moreover, gigantic expenses have been made for the construction of offices and other necessary buildings.

One often wonders why the rail connections cannot be laid out across the state for the better transportation of the passengers and goods. After all, most of the developed countries have got railheads in the hilly tracts. Indian Railways have also gained enough expertise in laying the rails in Jammu and Kashmir and Konkan regions. The same expertise can be used for connecting the different places of Uttarakhand by making deep and long tunnels in the mountains. The recent example of connecting Beijing with Lhasa by rail can be an eye-opener. China is reported to have the plans to rupture the high Himalayas for connecting Kathmandu with Beijing with rails. If this can be done, then why different places of Uttarakhand should be not connected with rails?

The development of the Uttarakhand is closely linked with the development of the country. Uttarakhand can be made the driver of the development by making proper use of the resources available in the state.

Today, unfortunately, Uttarakhand is more known for its large-scale migration and dependence on the remittances from outside because there is not much scope for employment or self-employment. This trend can be reversed with help of technology. Can the country progress, if Uttarakhand lags? Obviously not.