Roots torn loose: Narogi landslide turns spotlight on ropeway project

Residents of the Kharal and Manikaran valleys are on edge after viral videos showed nearly 50 uprooted trees in the Narogi area, just beneath Bijli Mahadev hill. Whole patches of slope appear to have given way, tearing trees from the ground along with their roots. The sudden collapse damaged Narogi’s school building and the Panchayat Bhawan, deepening fears that unchecked construction has provoked both ecological instability and, in the eyes of locals, the “wrath of the deity.”

The flashpoint is the Bijli Mahadev ropeway project, a 2.4-km link connecting Pirdi, on the Beas’ right bank, to the hilltop shrine. Backed by the Central Government and budgeted at Rs 284 crore, the project has long divided the valley. Heavy machinery and materials have already reached the Pirdi site, and widespread reports of pine and deodar tree felling have inflamed anger. To residents, the damage is not abstract. It is visible in uprooted trees, cracked slopes and destabilised soil. For environmentalists, it represents a deeper warning: once the natural anchors of these steep mountains are stripped away, the risks multiply.

Geologists and ecologists caution that large-scale felling and excavation in such fragile terrain can set off chain reactions destabilising slopes, amplifying surface runoff and accelerating the chances of landslides during extreme rains. Early cracks and subsidence observed after tree clearing are viewed by activists as proof that construction should halt until a comprehensive geological and hydrological review is independently carried out.

Project officials, however, dismiss the viral visuals as exaggerated. They insist all environmental safeguards and compensatory measures are in place and that necessary clearances were secured before work began. But assurances have done little to quell the unrest. Kardars of local shrines, resident bodies and traders have staged shutdowns and protests, insisting the ropeway undermines both the ecological balance and the sanctity of traditional pilgrimage trails.

At stake is more than engineering. It is the fragile compact between community, environment and development. The ropeway’s backers argue that the project will ease the climb for elderly devotees and significantly boost tourism revenue. Opponents counter that no economic gain justifies irreversible ecological loss or risks to lives, schools, and civic structures.

The Narogi slope failure is a stark reminder that Himalayan infrastructure cannot be built with routine playbooks. Transparent, independent investigations are now critical to assess whether site-specific recommendations were respected and whether mitigation is adequate. Until then, residents argue, the priority must be prudence, not progress. Development in the Himalayas, they say, can only endure if ecological wisdom and local consent form its foundation.