Travel Responsibly...

I just urge everybody to wherever and whenever they travel, travel responsibly. Please read and gain some knowledge about the place; its history, culture, tradition, language, and people. We shouldn't try to offend these things in anyways. People may be too simple, sensitive and emotional somewhere while they may be completely opposite somewhere else. A trend has emerged recently of overcrowding places of great religious and spiritual significance like Chardham Yatra, without having any sensitivity of fragile Himalayan environment and ecosystem. This overcrowding has attracted government and businesses alike, in a big way. They see money here. Recent laser lighting show on the sacred walls of Baba Kedar Dham reminds us that they just don't care. They want to attract even more crowd, and make it a tourist place at 3600 meters above their policy making rooms. And when some calamity happens, it’s all because of Mother Nature. Mother punishing its child really? Or have Mother left with any other choice? A complete destruction of Nature means extinction of humans and we are headed for that or so called shrewd businesses in the disguise of Politicians and Policy makers want to make it happen very soon, because these immortal fools want this world so badly and desperately, that when it soon becomes like Mars, they will grow some trees. To mint more money, All Weather Chardham Road construction is in full swing, only time will tell, whether it proves to be all or no weather. Why they are so eager to make it all weather when the doors of these shrines are closed for six months? Widening to the extent of, 10 meters as proposed, will cause enormous destruction of Himalayas. Millions of trees will fall, hills will be blasted and already unstable slopes will become completely shaky and unsafe, so much muck gets disposed to the below flowing Bhagirathi and its tributaries. It means complete disregard for mountain we call Himalaya, The Devta and its Bhumi, The Devbhoomi. They advertise and sell Uttarakhand always as Devbhoomi, where people come in large numbers to witness this ripped off completely of its divinity by these invaders. There is a regulation, that to collect toll roads must be of certain width, even in the most mountainous European countries, they are hardly 6 meters wide. So soon we will see Toll Booths set up, collecting huge amount from pilgrims. It also means transporting more and more folks very near to the highly sensitive zones of Himalayas. These shrines are all located around 3500 meters above Delhi, where glaciers just start. Few years back Gangotri Glacier used to flow till Bhojbasa, some more years back it was very near to the Gangotri Dham itself. Now it’s receding at the rate of almost 35 meters/year. So in just 25 years, it left Bhojbasa and shifted to 5 kms towards Gomukh, now even Gomukh has disappeared. I wrote a blog about Gomukh Calling in blog section of this website, just click here to reach there.

What I mean to say here that bringing too many near this highly fragile environment is just not ok. It means risking their lives, damaging Himalaya and inviting a disaster to strike.

So many new Hotels are coming to accommodate the increased traffic, so many trees being cut to make way for these roads and Hotels, increased vehicular movement and thus smoke is badly affecting these glaciers, these tar roads are contributing to the temperature rise in these regions, construction activities have dislodges so much dust in the pristine atmosphere of the Himalayas that sometimes it feels like in plains. And all these factors have, and are adding to the rapid glacier melting.

In the various sections of this website like Chardham Yatra, I also wrote about the big dams coming every few miles to harvest water energy, as they consider it free, may be free for them, but very costly for the Nation. Huge reservoirs are created, where great quantity of waters is evaporated, and when mixed with clouds, and warmer climate, creates bursts. Warmer climate and dams are all created by man, not nature, all these activities have created global warming, so why blame nature for a disaster, and when so many lakes have formed due to rapid melting of snow and ice, very near to the glacier snout, at such great heights, and when some big chunk of ice falls or some cloud burst happens, bursting these lakes, the great kinetic energy of this downward falling water brings tsunami like disasters. Like what we witnessed in Kedarnath, and it just destroys anything coming in its way, and the only thing that tries to hold is dam, and they are just smashed by the power of this water, and their accumulated water and debris just adds to the potential energy, and its compounded many times with each such event, and there are just too many dams, at every few miles, and all make this otherwise a somewhat low potential event to a disaster like 2013.

These dams are so near, and warning systems are so poor, that they don’t get any time to open their doors, and now you may know why building dams very near to these glaciers is a disaster itself, other than making harm to the sensitive Himalaya. Even just touching or even inside the boundary of the Nanda Devi Biosphere, very near to the Badrinath Shrine, at Vishnuprayag, at DhauliGanga and Rishi Ganga, near Tapovan and Raini ( destroyed by lake/glacier burst in Feb. 2021), dams are just built everywhere even obtaining environment clearance, a big question ?

To free Ganga of these dams, many notable scientists, environmentalists and sages, have sacrificed their lives, but to almost deaf ears to those in power, and one such shining name is, “Swami Sanand”. Swamiji was a professor at IIT Kanpur, a notable environmentalist, guest professor at various reputed institutes, first member secretary of Central Pollution Control Board, and so many accolades to his name that it’s just not possible to write here, you just enter his name Prof. G.D. Agarwal or Swami Sanand, and Google will open his life for you.

Though a saint by nature, he officially became a monk in 2011 and adopted the name, Swami GyanSwaroop Sanand. He was a great devotee of Mother Ganga and nature, in his own words, “This is not ordinary water, it’s a matter of life and death of Hindu faith.”

He did many fasts; one in 2009 at Uttarkashi and one 101 days long fast in 2013 to free Ganga of dams from Gangotri to Uttarkashi and like in other parts of hills where Ganga water is still pure and pristine. But due to government Apathy, three members of National Ganga River Basin Authority, Water Man – Rajendra Singh, Ravi Chopra and Rashid Siddiqui resigned.

In Feb. 2018 Swamiji sent an open letter to Prime Minister, urging him to stop environmentally unfriendly projects and ensure aviral flow of the river, he reminded him, “It will be four years in May when the central government completes four years in office but nothing has been done so far for the cause of Ganga”. He mentioned if no action is taken by Ganga Dussehera (22.6.2018) he will go on fast-unto-death. He wrote another letter to PM on 13 June, after receiving no response he began his fast on 22 June at Haridwar.

On 11 October (111th day of the fast), 2018, Swamiji left this world, aged 86. He successfully stopped the work on Loharinga Pala Hydro Power Project when the then government, in 2009 was forced to suspend it, when on the 38th day of his fast he came close to dying. Later that Dam was scrapped.

But how many of us really know about him? We go in large numbers to these Teerths and places, but just fail to notice, big and small dams are coming every few miles along the route, in entire Uttarakhand. In Srinagar, in 2013, the same day, the Dhari Devi Pratima was shifted; Uttarakhand witnessed the worst flood and disaster in its history. Dhari Devi is the patron deity of this region.

Coming back to the last lines of Para 2, have mother left with any choice? Even in every man made calamity, every event, mother is saving us from much deeper impacts. So, to save more, Mother has to give some... with tears in its eyes, it let go some of its sons and daughters. But how long before it all becomes just too big?

So too many saints have given their lives for mother Ganga and Nature in this region, but we still go there in large nos having very little concern for the nature and environment. Sadhus who roamed free and could be found on various places have moved deep due to lost peace. Only thing that is visible everywhere in Himalayas is lost greenery, avalanches, dust, construction, pristine rivers now filled with mud and muck, and, and, and traffic. Its May-June, vacation time, we got money, so let’s have some fun in Hills, have some picnic with our kids, enjoy cool weather and come back. But time is really near where these hills stop all of us entering in their sacred land, enough has already happened. Gomukh has disappeared but you will never know as the media and government doesn’t want you to know, Swamiji is gone but we never heard the news, A lake is formed near Gomukh but nobody just know, hundreds of dams are in the process and have been built but who knows, Glaciers are melting too fast at almost 35 meters/year but WhatsApp useless msg. forwarding continues, Highways have been overbuilt – tar all over, trees have been cut and now millions of miles of fields are taken, maybe we grow some wheat on it.

The only thing we hear is development- development and development but is it sustainable when we rob nature of its soul? With population still increasing and mars still that far, how long we march from here? When 70% of population uses ground water and is depleting to a level where it’s not suited for health, where pesticides and fertilizers have reached to the extent that a Cancer Express is running in this country and the yield is now even diminishing, will people eat and drink development?

Coming back to this No Weather road, that completely bypassed all environmental clearances, over 2 lacks trees are now about to be cut at the mesmerizing site of Harshil, these are mostly Devdar. Harshil is at one of the most beautiful stretches of Uttarkashi – Gangotri highway, famous for its Apples. But Union Minister for road cares little about it. Thing is that these fellows never traveled to these spots, even if some of them are travelling to these holy shrines, they are on air. Himalaya is Devta, and they consider themselves as the biggest devotees, even Ganga Ma has chosen them for, but certainly don’t know devotion for sure.

I am not here against anybody, because we just don’t matter in the vastness of this cosmos, but our actions do, so what is the way to Chardham?

This Yatra is open for about six months, and in those six months May-June period is having the most rush. Other four months are sort of lean, with monsoon starts the landslides and roadblocks, and they are now to the magnitude that one road in this No Weather section was closed for about one month, inviting sharp criticism from locals and environmentalists as usual.

There are congestion and bottlenecks at certain stretches, like near Barkot, Joshimath, Srinagar, Gopeshwar and Rudraprayag, that may be addressed, and these sections may be widened, nothing more is needed. And there must be restrictions on the numbers of pilgrims travelling there, otherwise the beauty, ecology and the environment of the entire Garhwal will be ruined.

Now commercial trekking is one more problem that needs to be addressed as they are now transporting huge no of trekkers to the inaccessible, deep and pristine often untouched territory of Himalayas. Batches after batches and there is no stopping them, family trekking is their new catchphrase. I read one of the advertisements, “Reach Tapovan by noon and chill! Enjoy scenery, food and camp. Getup by six next morning, descend to Gomukh and reach Gangotri by evening.”

Tapovan, Gangotri and Gomukh, the great land of penance, the spiritual centre of India for ages, the land of unmatched divine beauty and wisdom, where vibration are so strong that you get in meditative state almost instantly, where Bhagirath did Tapasya for ages to bring Bhagirathi on earth, where many sadhus still doing their penance in the deep Himalayas. This is the most revered section of Himalayas, and you know why when you get there. But you get there to chill or to feel something is up to you. If you can’t enrich those vibes, at least don’t harm them.

Same thing is true almost anywhere we travel, there are places suited for family travel and there are places suited for our own discovery. Decide before you go.

People in power will come and go, they just enjoy power and don’t care of future of this generation and country, they talk tall, fly and ignore the ground, but we can’t. The recent pandemic has shown that this behavior can’t be tolerated any more, before it come to a point of extinction, lets spread some awareness, live and travel responsibly…

Before I end, my obeisance to Swami Sunderanand (Sadhu who clicks), Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, and many unsung Heroes of the Himalayas, who made this country, that still seeks salvation and showers wisdom.

Let’s pray to the God of Nature: “शंकर संकट हरना”

ॐ नमः शिवाय |