Ex-civil servants warn of ecological disaster, demand fiscal support for Himalayan states

By A Representative  

The Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), a collective of 103 former civil servants, has written to Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, urging that the Commission give special consideration to the ecological fragility and economic vulnerability of India’s Himalayan states. The group has called for the creation of a substantial “Green Fund” or “Green Bonus” to compensate these states for their contribution to the country’s environmental stability and national well-being.

In its letter, the CCG expressed grave concern over the escalating environmental degradation in the Himalayan region—particularly in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Sikkim—due to climate change, unregulated development, and overexploitation of natural resources. Citing official data, the group noted that in the past four years (2022–2025) Himachal Pradesh alone had lost 1,200 lives and suffered economic damages worth ₹18,000 crore due to cloudbursts, landslides, and flash floods. In Uttarakhand, 18,464 disasters recorded over a decade until 2022 resulted in 3,554 deaths, excluding the large-scale casualties from the Kedarnath disaster of 2013.

The former officials observed that these mountain states, already constrained by limited revenue sources, are being driven to exploit forests and rivers for hydropower projects and tourism to bridge fiscal deficits. This has led to extensive deforestation—Himachal and Uttarakhand have diverted 11,000 and 50,000 hectares of forest land respectively for non-forest uses over the past two decades—and widespread ecological damage. They warned that without corrective measures, the destruction of the Himalayas could jeopardize the survival of North India’s rivers and agriculture, threatening nearly 400 million people dependent on Himalayan water systems.

Referring to a 2025 report of the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, the CCG highlighted that the total forest wealth of Himachal Pradesh was valued at ₹9.95 lakh crore, with an estimated annual Total Economic Value (TEV) of ₹3.20 lakh crore. This included ₹1.65 lakh crore for carbon sequestration, ₹68,941 crore for ecosystem services, and ₹32,901 crore for biodiversity. The letter argued that such contributions, which benefit the entire country, remain unacknowledged in the current system of fiscal devolution.

The CCG urged the 16th Finance Commission to rectify this by substantially increasing the weightage for “Forests and Ecology” in its allocation formula from the current 10% to at least 20%. It suggested a corresponding reduction in weightage for Population (from 15% to 10%) and Income Distance (from 45% to 35%), arguing that the existing framework penalises states with higher per capita incomes while failing to reward environmental preservation.

The group also recommended that the methodology for calculating forest area be revised to include regions above the tree line, such as alpine pastures, glaciers, and snowfields, which serve as vital habitats and natural water reservoirs. Excluding these areas, the letter said, was “illogical and self-contradictory,” given their central role in sustaining river systems and biodiversity.

While strongly advocating enhanced financial support, the CCG cautioned that any Green Bonus or Fund should be performance-linked, tied to improvements in environmental indicators, sustainable tourism practices, river protection, and control of illegal construction and mining. The letter echoed recent observations of the Supreme Court on the environmental crisis in Himachal Pradesh, warning that the state risked “vanishing from the map of India” if current trends continued.

The CCG emphasized that safeguarding the Himalayas is a national responsibility, not merely a regional concern. “If the Himalayas lose their forests, rivers and glaciers,” the letter concluded, “it won’t be long before North India goes the way of the Indus Valley civilisation.”

The appeal was signed by a distinguished list of retired officers from the IAS, IPS, IFS, and other central services, including former Foreign Secretary and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, former RBI Deputy Governor Ravi Vira Gupta, and several former Chief Secretaries and Ambassadors.

The group urged the 16th Finance Commission to build on the modest “Green Bonus” initiated by the 12th Finance Commission—then only ₹1,000 crore nationwide—and consider Himachal Pradesh’s pending request for a ₹50,000 crore Green Fund for all Himalayan states. They stressed that such fiscal recognition would not only ease the financial distress of these regions but also help reverse the ongoing ecological decline that threatens the subcontinent’s environmental and economic future.