Chilly winter awaits thousands of homeless households following Himalayan disasters

By Bharat Dogra*
Starting from Delhi on a hot afternoon, I could feel the first chill of cold weather on reaching the lower hills of Himachal Pradesh in the evening. Winter has arrived early here, I felt. By the time I was resting in my home, I could not manage without a sweater and a quilt.
In such conditions one’s thoughts invariably go to the disaster affected homeless people in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jammu, Kashmir and other parts of the Himalayan region. The worst damage has been in Himachal Pradesh, where 2,944 houses have been entirely destroyed and 12,304 houses have been partially damaged. 7,250 cowsheds have also been destroyed or seriously damaged.

Himachal Pradesh has experienced as many as 72 flash floods during this year’s rainy season. Even in the last days of October big landslides were still being reported, as the one on NH 5 connecting Kinnaur, near Nathpa dam, when rocks and boulders covered a nearly 200 m stretch.

Disasters in other parts of the Himalayan region have also resulted in many households becoming homeless, most of them for the first time in their life. In other cases, as in Joshimath (Uttarakhand), homelessness has also been caused by cracks appearing in houses as a result of recklessly executed construction projects. Then there are also the people displaced by civil strife, as in Manipur.

With the long and harsh winter ahead, one shudders to think about the difficulties including serious health risks thousands of households are going to face this year unless very substantial help can reach them very quickly now. As is well-known, the Himalayan winter can be much more harsh here, like the the flash floods are.

It can be much more expensive to reconstruct houses here. The government help or compensatory payment is likely to be only a small fraction of what the affected people will need to get back a safe shelter again. In fact many people are still living in tents and cowsheds.
In addition over 600 school buildings have been damaged in Himachal Pradesh and students of many schools are now attending classes in make-shift places which lack essential facilities and where students have to sit on cold floors. These conditions, uncomfortable today, will become much more difficult and risky as the winter advances.

Worst damage has been in Himachal, where 2,944 houses have been entirely destroyed and 12,304 houses have been partially damaged

Clearly much more funds are needed for the relief and rehabilitation effort. The Himachal Pradesh government, a state already much indebted and in financial difficulties, has announced a package as best as it could manage but it is not adequate.

The Centre should clearly be more generous to the disaster affected Himalayan regions in their hour of great need. There should be no delay in announcing more funds. The state governments should also ensure that funds reach the needy as early as possible.

In Himachal Pradesh there can be a 2 to 5% deduction on all salary payments and at least a 2% deduction on all contractual payments from November to January and this money should be sent to a dedicated fund from which it should be quickly transferred for disaster relief and rehabilitation.

The dam and construction companies in whose case the responsibility for causing disaster situations can be clearly established should be asked to pay adequate compensatory payments and these should also be deposited in this fund.

This is in addition to the normal funds for relief and rehabilitation. The union education ministry should be asked to release a separate payment for disaster affected schools and students. This is stated in the context of Himachal Pradesh as well as other parts of the Himalayan region badly affected by disasters.

---
*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include "Planet in Peril", "Protecting Earth for Children" and "India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food"

Comments

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Labour unrest in Manesar trigger tensions: Recently enacted labour codes blamed

By A Representative A civil rights coalition has expressed concern over recent developments in the industrial hub of Manesar in Haryana, where a series of labour actions and police responses have drawn attention. A statement, released by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), said it stood in solidarity with workers in IMT Manesar and other parts of the country, while also alleging instances of police excess during ongoing unrest.

Search This Blog