As Himalayan towns continue to grow haphazardly without development plans and carrying capacity assessment, how does one secure their future?
Joshimath in Uttarakhand reported large-scale subsidence in 2023, putting homes and infrastructure at risk. Rampant development in and around the region, known to be ecologically fragile, has often been criticised for adding to the fragility of the terrain The Supreme Court on January 11, 2024, gave approval to Shimla’s first development plan in over four decades. Prepared by the Town and Country Planning Department of Himachal Pradesh, the Shimla Development Plan 2041 lays out blueprint for sustainable growth of the Himalayan city and its fringes, also known as Shimla Planning Area, over the next two decades. The plan has been prepared based on the city’s potential of tourist destination and its capacity to accommodate future residents and floating populations. The document estimates that by 2041, Shimla will be home to 498,000 people and host another 127,000 floating population, mostly tourists—this is a 60 per cent jump from the total population staying and visiting the city in 2021.
Analysts say the development plan is flawed. The document has been mired in controversy since it was published for public comments in February 2022. In April that year, Yogendra Mohan Sengupta, a septuagenarian environmental activist from Shimla, moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT), saying that the “plan is contrary to the sustainable development principle and destructive of environment and public safety”. The NGT termed the plan “illegal”, and ordered a stay on its implementation.
The Town and Country Planning Department moved the apex court against the stay order of NGT. In its January 11 verdict the court has quashed the NGT orders and stated that the Shimla Development Plan 2041 appears to have “sufficient safeguards to balance the need for development while taking care of and addressing the environmental and ecological concerns”. Reacting to the verdict, Sengupta says, “Shimla is already facing destruction. So this decision of the Supreme Court will create even more trouble for the city.”
At the heart of this controversy is the increasing vulnerability of Shimla to hazards and disasters. Just last year, three days of incessant rain during August 14-17, resulted in flash floods and the collapse of a temple, reportedly claiming more than 20 lives. Nine buildings and a section of the Kalka-Shimla railway track also collapsed. A landslide led to the destruction of buildings in Krishnanagar area and left two dead. In 2022, the region recorded 15 major landslides and the year before, an eight-storey building collapsed after heavy rains triggered a landslide. Local residents say landslides are on a constant rise in recent years. Because of acute shortage in water supply and insufficient sewerage infrastructure, Shimla reported jaundice outbreaks almost every year between 2007 and 2016; in 2016 alone, more than 9,000 people tested positive for the disease and over 30 succumbed to it.
Experts say these disasters are glaring consequences of a city that is at a high risk of earthquake and landslides and has grown haphazardly in the absence of a master plan or comprehensive development guidelines. Until now, Shimla has largely been guided by an interim plan, notified in 1979. Though the interim plan was to end in 2001, its provisions were in force with amendments from time to time until the apex court gave the go-ahead to the new plan.
Map: Pulaha Roy / CSE
In 2014, Sengupta approached the NGT against non-forest activities and land-use changes in forested or green belt areas. The NGT restrained construction activities in the areas and in 2015, set up an Expert Committee to submit a comprehensive report on the matter. The findings of the Expert Committee were alarming. “This city...has been surviving on the crutches of Interim Development Plan since 1979. Authorities and all successive governments found an easy way to play with bylaws by resorting to an easier Interim Development Plan route where an amendment can be made without calling for any objections/suggestions of general public whereas on the contrary, development plan requires a full-fledged public hearing before proposing any change,” states the NGT in its 2017 order. As many as 18 amendments have been made to the interim development plan between 1979 and 2016, which shows adhocism, anarchy and arbitrariness in functioning and decision making, it adds.
NGT’s 2017 order further states that amendments were made to dilute regulatory regime and building bye-laws with respect to height, number of storeys and maximum floor-area ratio (FAR). Frequent changes in by-laws have affected the safety of buildings adversely in Shimla. Through the amendments the authorities have also allowed constructions in the 17 locations identified as forest areas or green belts, which is in direct conflict with the National Forest Policy, 1988. NGT’s 2017 order thus prohibited new construction of any kind in any part of the core and green or forest area of the Shimla Planning Area.
The order further states that the hills having gradient of more than 40o and having plantation on it were cut into flat land. Then the plans for construction were submitted, additional floor were constructed and in some cases excess construction was also raised for such areas without submission of an application for sanction of plans. “From a disaster risk management perspective, Shimla has far exceeded its carrying capacity,” said the NGT, while recommending a slew of measures for sustainable development of the town. It also directed the state government to finalise the development plan within three months.
The Himachal Pradesh government was ready with the Shimla Development Plan 2041 by February 2022. However, the plan was not in accordance with the NGT recommendations for which the tribunal declared the development plan “illegal”.
For instance, the development plan permits two storeys with attic in the core area of the Shimla Planning Area and three storeys with attic in non-core areas. In the green belts lying between constructed areas, single storey with attic is permissible. NGT’s 2017 order banned new construction in the green or forest areas as well as in the core areas. In non-core areas, it allowed only two storeys with attic, with the exception of public utility buildings like hospitals and schools. The order was overturned by the Supreme Court’s January 11 judgement.
Mitashi Singh, programme manager, sustainable habitat team at the Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi, highlights that the new floor-area ratio (FAR) guideline in the Shimla Development Plan 2041, has a higher base FAR, which will lead to more construction in the already congested areas. FAR is the most important component of building by-laws, because it directly determines the dwelling density, household density as well as population density in a city. Currently the FAR in core and non-core area of Shimla is 1.5 and 1.75. But the development plan aims to keep the base FAR at 1.75, saying that even at this rate “the population density will not exceed the carrying capacity of Shimla”.
Singh identifies another gap in the development plan. “In a warming world, cities need climate resilient master plans. They need to integrate adaptive and mitigative measures in their development vision. The plan falls short on this, she adds.
Shimla’s former deputy mayor and member of Kerala Urban Commission Tikender Singh Panwar says the development plan is not suitable for the hill town. “The very premise of the plan is flawed. It categorises Shimla into core, non-core, green and sinking areas. Whereas, being a mountainous region, the zonation should be made from the perspective of geology.” Shimla is a cone-shaped topography. In the southeast part, the rocks tend to be stronger and therefore, most British bungalows were constructed in the southeast part of Shimla. Given the fragility of the region, the authorities should have created just construction and no-construction zones, Panwar says.
This was first published in the 1-15 February, 2024 print edition of Down To Earth
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