Severe floods underline perils of deforestation

THE Supreme Court’s observation that illegal felling of trees has led to the disasters in Himachal Pradesh and other states is rooted in ground reality. Striking visuals of logs swept away by floodwaters leave no room for doubt that the timber mafia has been at work, possibly in connivance with officials and local residents. The court has rightly issued notices to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, the National Highways Authority of India as well as the governments of Himachal, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. The onus is on these stakeholders to spell out what steps they have taken to strike a balance between infrastructure development and environmental protection, and why the results have been so dismal.

The close link between deforestation and a higher risk of flooding has been well established by research in India as well as abroad. The absence or paucity of trees makes the soil far less capable of soaking up rainwater; this leads to more runoff into rivers and streams. The inevitable outcome is a sharp rise in the frequency and intensity of floods. A stark example is that of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, popularly known as the “Earth’s lungs”. Alarming tree loss has undermined its key role in climate regulation. No wonder the South American country is witnessing a surge in extreme weather events, especially during the rainy season. In India, the hill states of Himachal and Uttarakhand are paying the price for the brazen plunder of their forest and tree wealth.

Amid the monsoon mayhem, the Centre has notified the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Amendment Rules, which expand the scope for states to divert forest land for infrastructure projects and apparently weaken the safeguards regarding compensatory afforestation. Such moves run counter to the core objective of the Green India Mission to increase and restore green cover. The massive human and economic losses in recent weeks should rouse Central and state governments to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to deforestation and illegal logging.