Time to enforce carrying capacity of Char Dham

AS the mercury rises in most parts of the country, particularly northwest India, all roads lead to the hills in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Besides popular tourist destinations like Shimla, Kullu, Manali, Nainital, Mussoorie and Dharamsala, people also flock to religious destinations in the hills.The summer season coincides with the annual pilgrimage to the Char Dham — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. In view of the ecological disasters in recent decades — extreme weather events, devastating floods, landslides, subsidence — serious concerns have been raised about the environmental impact of unbridled tourism in the hilly areas. Many expert panels and petitions in courts have called for measures to prevent disasters in the hills.Several popular destinations, particularly the Char Dham, are located inside the higher Himalayas. The region consisting of narrow valleys and glacial basins is geologically young and tectonically active. The presence of the Main Central Thrust - an active tectonic zone where immense geological forces are still at work — is critical. The rocks and slopes are prone to landslides when under stress from rainfall or seismic activity.Major shrines are closely linked to glacier-fed river systems, making them highly sensitive to climatic variations. Alpine meadows, high-altitude lakes and fragile vegetation zones have low resilience to disturbance. Therefore, traditionally, the region has had low human activity. But the seasonal influx of humans disturbs the ecosystem, putting additional pressure on land, water and infrastructure, besides causing pollution due to the large number of cars and buses, and inadequate waste disposal systems.The threat to the Himalayan ecology due to growing human activity (tourism, construction activity, large projects, etc.) has now been well recognised among policymakers due to the pressure from courts and environmental groups, but little action is seen on the ground. For instance, several directives of the Supreme Court, high courts and the National Green Tribunal have talked about adopting the carrying capacity approach.State governments and local administrations initiate some measures as directed by the court and then retract. In the past five years, the Uttarakhand government has been issuing directives to limit the number of daily visitors to Char Dham, but it eventually kept withdrawing them. In 2021, the number of daily visitors was capped at 1000 for Badrinath, 800 for Kedarnath, 600 for Gangotri and 400 for Yamunotri. This was done due to pandemic considerations and not carrying capacity concerns.After the Joshimath subsidence episode, a quota was fixed for visitors to Kedarnath and Badrinath. It was subsequently increased and eventually withdrawn. This year too, the Chief Minister has announced that there would be no cap on visitors, and a publicity campaign has been launched to attract visitors from all over the country. The only requirement is mandatory online pre-registration.Such a policy response flies in the face of scientific evidence about the carrying capacity of the hill ecosystems. A 2025 study published by scientists from Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry and GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment worked out the carrying capacity for the Char Dham based on three key geological indices — elevation, slope, and vegetation cover. An analysis of the snow-covered area of glaciers (Chorabari Bamak, Bhagirath Kharak, Gangotri and Yamunotri glaciers) in and around the four shrines showed that all have retreated substantially during 2002-2020.The highest retreat was seen in the Gangotri glacier (22.36 m per year), followed by Yamunotri (20 m per year), Badrinath (17.32 m per year) and Kedarnath (14.14 m per year). Analysis of the climate data (1990–2020) indicated a significant increasing trend in the temperature in all the sites for three seasons — pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon.Biodiversity is also threatened as the Dham are situated inside or on the periphery of protected areas — Badrinath temple lies near the Nanda Devi National Park, Kedarnath in the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Gangotri in the Gangotri National Park, while Yamunotri is in the vicinity of Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary.Based on the analysis, the researchers arrived at the sustainable daily limit of visitors for the four Dham — Badrinath (between 11,833 and 15,778), Kedarnath (9,833-13,111), Gangotri (6,133-8,178) and Yamunotri (4,620-6,160). In addition, they have suggested other measures like the regulation of vehicles and waste recycling. The methodology developed by this group may be applied to calculate the carrying capacity of other sites and towns in the hills, according to the study. Similar studies have been done elsewhere too. Shimla, according to some assessments, has already exceeded its carrying capacity.The courts have done their bit in prodding state governments to wake up. In June 2024, the Supreme Court directed that all 13 Himalayan states and Union Territories should assess their carrying capacity in a scientific manner so that appropriate action can be taken. The environment ministry later informed the court that it had circulated guidelines for assessing the carrying capacity of hill stations, including cities and eco-sensitive zones, in 2020 itself.So far, state governments have been taking a piecemeal approach to this question by appointing expert committees or taking cosmetic measures like installing air monitoring equipment. Instead, hill states need to develop comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines and policies to address the problem.The cost of inaction would be huge, as already demonstrated in a series of disasters in the hills from the Kedarnath floods to the Joshimath subsidence. While climate change and geological fragility are important causative factors for extreme weather events, cloudbursts and landslides, etc., their impact gets accentuated due to human-induced factors like tourism beyond carrying capacity, unplanned urbanisation, deforestation and large projects. They are all interconnected, too.Policymakers and politicians must realise that climate action plans, sustainability goals and disaster risk reduction all need to work in cohesion. The focus of all planning and action should be preservation of the environment, sustainability and local livelihoods, and not encouragement of uncontrolled commercial and other forms of tourism.

Time to enforce carrying capacity of Char Dham

State governments have been adopting a piecemeal approach by appointing expert committees or taking cosmetic measures.

Dinesh C. Sharma

Time to enforce carrying capacity of Char Dham

State governments have been adopting a piecemeal approach by appointing expert committees or taking cosmetic measures.

Dinesh C. Sharma

Unlock Premium Insights in This Article