JNU glaciologist blasts NGT order

Kuldeep Chauhan 

Tribune News Service 

Shimla, July 12 

Mahila mandals, hoteliers, tribals and taxi operators have demanded alternative sources of livelihoods after ban on tourism in the Marhi-Rohtang circuit.

They have got the support of a glaciologist and NGOs. Dr Milap Chand Sharma, Professor of Glacial Geomorphology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, has asked the people to challenge the observations that the tourist activities have resulted in melting of any glacier.

“There is no glacier within 10-km radius of Rohtang Pass as it melted 15,000 years ago,” asserted Dr Milap, who has 

traced the history of glaciers in the Himalayas, including Rohang and others. "Secondly, there is no evidence that carbon level in Rohtang has impacted the snow,” he observed in his study.

“The CO2 level is less than 0.04 in Rohtang and it is wrong to say that vehicular and tourism activities in Rohtang Pass is having a negative impact on glaciers in the higher reaches,” Dr Milap told The Tribune after visiting Rohtang Pass and Lahaul, his home district. 

“I am pained to know that after 67 years of Independence, people of Lahaul-Spiti and Ladakh have to take permit from the SDM, Manali, to go back to their homeland as if we are going to China,” he rued. 

Dr Milap said the annual discharge into the Beas had recorded a perceptible drop. Had the increased commercial activities resulted in fast melting of snow in Rohtang Pass, the discharge would have also increased accordingly, he said. "We are submitting the study findings to the Supreme Court," he added.  

“By banning tourism in Rohtang, locals will lose their livelihood which can have serious consequences for the state and the country,” Dr Milap warned. “We will challenge the findings of the NGT,” he added. 

“Earlier, the NGT ordered the demolition of khokhas and asked the Director, Transport, to ply  CNG buses and proposed a 

ropeway on the PPP basis,” said Guman  Singh, coordinator for the Himalayan Niti Abhiyaan (HNA), which is supporting the locals who have lost their source of livelihood.