The recent news of Sikkim being in chaos was an expected catastrophe, yet the government, civil society, and markets were unprepared for it. Teesta originates in the Sikkim Himalaya, and it houses many glacial lakes, including the largest and fastest-growing South Lhonak Lake. This particular Lake has been under the lens of researchers and a study published in Elsevier titled ‘Future Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Hazard of the South Lhonak Lake, Sikkim Himalaya’ studied it using tools like a glacier and hydrodynamic modelling. It studied the lake’s future volume and its impact along the valley. The study concluded that the volume of the lake was increasing significantly and had called for glacial lake outburst flood management. As per the study, Chungthang would experience heavy disruption.
Less than two years after the study was published, Sikkim is undergoing a glacial lake outburst flood, and there has been a breach in the Chungthang hydro dam, releasing 5.08 million cubic meters of water, which has severely affected the lives of people and infrastructure in the region and people living downstream.
The ongoing calamity is a combination of natural and man-made activities. Climate change and its impacts are the prime factors for the ongoing calamity, and challenging development projects against nature, such as the proposed and functional six dams spread across the river, railway projects, etc., act as a burden for the ongoing and upcoming hazards. Various stakeholders of the sarkaar (government), samaaj (society), and bazaar (market) should come together to mitigate risks of hazards and market failures. The essential tools that can be deployed and developed by various stakeholders to eradicate and mitigate risks are as follows:
Effective consultations: The state, which is in service of the people residing within the boundary, should act with the people’s collective interest and their welfare. Any projects and policies undertaken that deprive the public of public goods should be open for consultation since leading policymakers believe effective policies can only be made through public consultation. As the land and water bodies have already been exploited, the government should develop effective supply chains to tackle future hazards so that the people of the state are not deprived of basic necessities. Sikkim shares borders internationally; the government should develop an alternate transport facility so that required resources can reach the borders in times of natural hazards. The government should set realistic climate conservation and restoration goals and encourage a community participation approach that enhances accountability and is sustainable in the long run.
Strong society: Civil societies should redesign themselves as human-centric development with the vision of the institution aligned with this mission. Civil societies should act as a bridge between the government and the people, and encourage participation when projects and policies are up for consultation. Civil society should serve as an effective medium of communication to convey the government’s messages to the laymen and take their voices back to the government. New civil societies should be formed in the fields of research and development to forecast uncertainty in the future and develop tools to tackle it. When governance adopts a community participatory approach, civil society will play an important role because when resources fall into the hands of the common people, there is a likelihood of the tragedy of the commons. To mitigate such risks, civil society will have an integral part in guiding citizens towards desired outcomes.
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Regulating Markets: Existing market players should act as a self-regulatory body to restrict challenging projects brought up by existing or new players that adversely affect the geography and demography of the region. The bazaar should be adjusted to meet the needs of the citizens, not just the market players. The market should promote self-sustainability in the fields of basic necessities so that when uncertainty arises, no citizen is deprived of basic necessities.]
Views expressed are personal. The author is a Scholar at the Indian School of Public Policy.
Also Read | Sikkim: Here’s why the Chungthang Hydro-dam breach is a big deal