Digging up trouble: Rampant hill cutting puts Dharamsala’s environment at risk

The rampant excavation of hill along the road heading from Gaggal to Dharamsala has set the alarm bells ringing among environmentalists and local residents, who claim that the unchecked digging is causing irreparable damage to the fragile ecosystem.

The stretch of road, which connects Dharamsala to rest of the state, has witnessed widespread hill cutting, with massive chunks of earth and rocks being extracted for construction of projects.

This has led to landslides, soil erosion, water contamination, loss of biodiversity, blockade of age-old kulh network, while increasing the risk of floods, fear farmers living on slopes down the hill.

Balbir, a progressive farmer from Gaggal, has raised his concern against unwanted sludge reaching his agricultural fields. Villagers and their representatives from Chaitru and adjoining panchayats have approached Kangra Agriculture Produce and Market Committee (APMC) and Himachal OBC Chairman Nishu Mongra, who has assured them that he would bring the matter to the notice of the district administration.

Hemraj Bairwa, Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kangra, taking a strict note of the complaint has instructed the SDM to take immediate and appropriate action against defaulters.

It is pertinent to mention here that Charan and Manjhi rivulets flowing along the road feed many kulhs, which are the primary source of irrigation for farmers residing in Jamanabad, Ichhi and Sahora, the vegetable belt of the district. The excavated loose soil flowing down below during present rains has started blocking the smooth flow of water in channels at many places. Farmers and vegetable growers have depended on these perennial streams for irrigating their crops for generations.

Mongra strongly feels that it is duty of all villagers to protect precious agricultural fields which supply vegetables and foodgrains to the entire area. The fields according to him are getting polluted due to silting and deposition of debris in the fertile top soil through the canal network.

“The present spell of intermittent rain in the region has also made these opened up hills vulnerable to landslides. Being in close proximity to the road, landslides can lead to human and material loss if not checked on time,” said Kuldeep Chaudhary, a resident of Maned village, who commutes daily to Dharamsala.