SC gives 4 more weeks to the Centre for assessment of the carrying capacity of the Himalayan Region

Subject: Environment

Section: Ecosystem

Context:

The Supreme Court on Monday gave four additional weeks to the Centre to respond to a petition seeking an assessment of the carrying capacity and master plans of the Indian Himalayan Region across 13 states and union territories.

Details:

Due to non-existent Carrying/Bearing Capacity studies, grave geological hazards in the form of landslides, land subsidence, land cracking and sinking issues such as that in Joshimath are being witnessed and serious ecological and environmental depredation are taking place in the hills.
Almost all hill stations, pilgrimage places and other tourism destinations spread over the Dhauladhar Circuit, Satluj Circuit, Beas Circuit and Tribal Circuit in Himachal Pradesh also remain hugely burdened and are almost on the brink of collapse with no carrying capacities assessed for any of the places in the state.

Carrying capacity:

Carrying capacity is the maximum population size that a region can sustain without degrading the ecosystem.

National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem:

National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem is among the eight national missions in India’s first-ever National Action Plan on Climate Change.
Ecological significance of the Himalayas, as stated in the mission document:
- The Himalayan ecosystem is vital to the ecological security of the Indian landmass, which includes:
  - Preservation of rich biodiversity,
  - Providing water security as the world’s third ice pole after the Arctic and Antarctica and
  - Influencing weather patterns throughout the sub-continent.
The mission attempts to address some important issues concerning:
- Himalayan Glaciers and the associated hydrological consequences,
- Biodiversity conservation and protection,
- Wild life conservation and protection,
- Traditional knowledge societies and their livelihood and
- Planning for sustaining of the Himalayan Ecosystem.
Regulation of tourist inflows:
- The mission proposed measures to “regulate tourist inflows into mountain regions to ensure that these remain within the carrying capacity of the mountain ecology.”