One year after Dharali: The growing cost of building in a fragile Himalaya

A year after the Dharali disaster, the reconstructed road leading to Gangotri has been shifted a few metres away from the banks of the Bhagirathi river. The market, once bustling with tourists during the yatra season, now wears a lifeless look. Most shops and houses still remain buried under debris. Apart from a handful of shops that have reopened, there is little sign of life. People are trying to piece together their lives, but they continue to face challenges.

The disaster occurred in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on August 5 last year, after continuous rain on the almost vertical slopes caused a massive landslide in a village situated just about 20 kilometers from Gangotri. That day the Kheerganga, a tributary of the Bhagirathi, suddenly flooded and swept away a major part of Dharali – its market and homes. More than 50 people died and about 150 buildings were destroyed, including homes, hotels, and homestays. 

Newslaundry had extensively covered the disaster last year. Only one body was recovered in Dharali, and that too on the day of the disaster. 

“The relief workers were here only for a month. They had neither the will nor the equipment or expertise to search for those buried under the rubble. After they left, our dogs did more digging than they ever could,” Dharali resident Pradeep Panwar told me with a wry smile. 

Residents said compensation for house reconstruction is yet to reach everyone. District Magistrate Prashant Arya, however, said the process is ongoing. “It is a continuous process. We are releasing compensation as people submit documents proving ownership of their land. The total compensation of Rs 5 lakh is being paid in two installments.”

One year after the disaster, the question is bigger than financial compensation or Dharali. There have been several other disasters in the Himalayan region, from Uttarakhand to Himachal Pradesh to Sikkim to  Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. These are not merely natural disasters, and their impact is not only economic loss but also mental health. Newslaundry had covered some of them, including the Joshimath land subsidence and the Himachal Pradesh floods. 

These calamities served as grim reminders of ecological fragility, unsustainable development, and the increasing impact of extreme weather events. This year, the role of unusually intense rainfall in pockets of the hilly state of Nagaland was evident, as it not only devastated parts of the state but also aggravated the floods in neighbouring Assam. 

What makes these events particularly striking is that they have unfolded during a deficient monsoon linked to the El Nino effect. The overall monsoon has been around 16 percent deficient so far, and rainfall over the next two months will be below normal. Despite this, flash floods have occurred not only in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Jammu and Kashmir, but also in Assam and some states in Northeast India.

According to Madhavan Nair Rajeevan, former secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences and Vice Chancellor of Atria University, Bengaluru, this apparent contradiction is a well-known feature of deficient monsoon years.

“In years with a deficient monsoon, we normally receive more rainfall over the Himalayas and the Northeast because the monsoon trough and monsoon activity remain confined to these regions for a longer period. This is an observed phenomenon. There is nothing unusual about it.”

But many experts argue that unsustainable development, deforestation and rampant riverbed mining have significantly aggravated the impact of disasters in the Himalayas. In recent years, Uttarakhand has witnessed several public protests against large-scale deforestation, while a rising incidence of forest fires has further degraded fragile mountain ecosystems.

Dr S P Sati, a geologist who has spent decades studying the ecology, geomorphology and geology of the Himalayas, underscores the critical role of dense forests, healthy wetlands and intact catchments in reducing the impact of extreme rainfall. According to him, rising temperatures are causing clouds to condense at higher altitudes, exposing vulnerable mountain slopes to more intense rainfall events. At the same time, deforestation, the degradation of wetlands and extensive mining in riverbeds have further weakened the natural resilience of these landscapes.

“In many parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the Himalayan slopes are extremely steep, with near-vertical rock faces. Many of these areas also have hanging glaciers, making them even more vulnerable. Such fragile mountain slopes do not require very heavy rainfall to trigger landslides, as we witnessed in Dharali last year. That is why healthy catchments – with dense forests and well-functioning wetlands – are so important. They help absorb and retain rainwater, slowing its movement downslope instead of allowing it to rush immediately into rivers. This natural buffering capacity can significantly reduce the intensity of floods and landslides.”

Scientists and researchers have issued similar warnings following the Assam floods. IIT Guwahati professor Arup Kumar Sarma has cited riverine mining and boulder mining in the hilly states surrounding Assam as a cause, while some experts have pointed to unplanned development.

Prof Anjal Prakash, an author contributing to many IPCC reports and associated with FLAME University, Pune says what we are seeing this monsoon is not a contradiction. 

“Overall rainfall deficits and devastating floods in J&K and Nagaland can coexist because seasonal averages no longer describe how rain actually falls. The monsoon is compressing into shorter, more violent bursts, so a district can be rain-deficient for weeks and still see a cloudburst that overwhelms its rivers in a single night. Hill states magnify this risk,” he said. 

Professor Prakash said that decades of unplanned construction, road-cutting, and deforestation have stripped slopes of the vegetation and soil structure that once absorbed and slowed runoff. 

“When forest cover thins and hillsides are cut for roads or buildings, rainwater moves faster and carries more debris, turning a rainfall anomaly into a landslide or flash flood. Climate variability is loading the dice, but it’s unsustainable development in fragile terrain that is turning that variability into disaster. Building resilience means restoring natural drainage and slope stability, not just adding rain gauges.”

One of the biggest challenges after a major disaster in the Himalaya is identifying geologically stable and safe land for rehabilitation. Unlike the plains, landslides and flash floods often permanently alter the landscape, leaving very few suitable locations for resettling affected communities – a challenge repeatedly acknowledged by the Uttarakhand government and highlighted by researchers studying disaster-prone mountain regions. 

Arya says the administration follows the state’s rehabilitation policy while trying to keep affected families as close to their original settlements as possible. He adds that local communities often play an important role in identifying suitable land for resettlement.

“Under the state’s rehabilitation policy, every effort is made to resettle affected families within their own village. Where suitable land is not available, we explore options in a nearby village or elsewhere within the same tehsil. Eligible families are provided up to 180 square yards of land for constructing a house. In many cases, support from the local community is crucial in identifying suitable land and ensuring that the rehabilitation process moves forward.”

While acknowledging that natural disasters in the mountains cannot be completely prevented, Prof Pradeep Srivastava, geologist at IIT Roorkee says the scale of destruction can be reduced with the help of science and a clear policy roadmap. 

According to him, the engineering knowledge, advanced construction materials and technology needed for more sustainable development already exist; the challenge lies in ensuring that science, policy and implementation work together.

“Whether it is Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim or the mountains of Northeast India, climate change is making these regions increasingly vulnerable. We understand the challenges posed by fragile geology, steep physiography and changing rainfall patterns at high altitudes. The real challenge is whether lawmakers, bureaucrats, planners and technologists can work together. We already have advanced technology and construction materials to build more sustainably in these fragile landscapes. What is needed now is the commitment and honesty to apply that knowledge in the way our mountain ecosystems demand.” 

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