Himalayas are not collapsing, we are pushing them

For the Himalayan states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, disaster has become a grim routine. Intense rainfall unleashes floods and landslides, swallowing towns, destroying infrastructure and claiming countless lives. Yet each tragedy is quickly reduced to sterile statistics — “hundreds dead, thousands displaced” — numbers that erase the human stories within. Behind every figure lies a grieving mother, a father digging through mud, a child whose future was swept away. Unless we humanise these disasters, we risk looking away from the deeper causes — and the real solutions.

Calling these tragedies “natural” is dangerously misleading. Nature’s fury becomes fatal when compounded by human actions: deforestation, unchecked construction and reckless riverbed mining. Highways are carved through fragile slopes with little ecological regard, while climate change is too often used as an excuse to deflect accountability. True development should strengthen resilience — not erode it.

The mirage of high-tech planning

Despite expensive studies and glossy maps, official “solutions” often remain detached from ground realities. Public consultations are reduced to formalities, while critical local knowledge is ignored. Dharali village, built on unstable terrain without proper risk assessment, now stands as a tragic reminder of the gap between science, governance and lived experience.

Real change demands a democratic model of development rooted in the wisdom of local communities. A People’s Plan Movement must empower villagers to map their own forests, rivers and biodiversity, blending traditional knowledge with modern tools like geological surveys and early warning systems. Such convergence produces solutions that are adaptive, resilient and far more effective than top-down technocracy.

Call for a people’s commission

To institutionalise this vision, a people’s commission for the Himalayas is essential — independent of government control, inclusive of scientists, civil society and community voices. Its mandate: assess vulnerabilities, guide sustainable planning and ensure that development serves people, not profit. Central to this framework must be strong Gram Sabhas, with women, indigenous groups, farmers and youth at the forefront of decision-making. NGOs and grassroots organisations must move beyond critique to active collaboration. By bridging communities with institutions, they can embed equity, ecological integrity and public participation into the very DNA of development.

From exploitation to restoration

We cannot undo decades of extractive development overnight, but we can choose a new path — one where ecological restoration takes precedence over reckless expansion and where science is placed in service of people and ecosystems. Himachal Pradesh and other Himalayan states must lead by rooting their future in democratic participation, ecological wisdom and social equity.

Lessons from Kerala

Kerala’s participatory weather-warning system in Wayanad offers a powerful model. Local villages operate their own monitoring stations, feeding real-time data into district-level planning. Built on trust and cooperation, this system saves lives — and proves that participatory governance is not just aspirational, but practical.

Time for action is now

Justice, resilience and sustainability must no longer be afterthoughts in policy. They must be foundations. The Himalayas cannot wait for the next tragedy to force action. The power to build a resilient future already exists. The only question is whether we will place it where it truly belongs: in the hands of the people.

Himachal Tribune