Construction Industry is a Big Culprit

THE RECENT TRAGIC happenings in Joshimath have brought into sharp focus the follies of the construction industry. The mistakes of this crucial sector of the economy – wilful or otherwise – are causing widespread harm to the ecology.

- Krishan Kalra

The Joshimath tragedy points to why it is absolutely necessary to check the ways of this sector for the sake of sustainability.

Unfortunately, Uttarakhand is not the only state where such disastrous ‘sinking of the earth’ has happened. Latest reports bring out horror stories from across the country. Apparently, Shimla and McLeod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh, Darjeeling in West Bengal and Chamoli (again Uttarakhand) have serious issues of a similar nature.

These are all hilly areas with a fragile ecology and what is happening in these places bear some similarities by way of ignoring early warning signals. However, the curse of illegal and irresponsible construction is spread almost all over the country and, in fact, is more blatant and more damaging in our bigger cities and metropolises. Yes, one factor is common – the rapid increase in population – leading to huge pressures on land prices and emergence of a sort of ‘cult of unholy nexus between builders and civic administration’. Let me first look at a tier-1 town.

Our Towns

Gurgaon – that sleepy little town south of Delhi till the 1970s, 1980s and even early 1990s – has seen explosive growth in the last 20 years. Current estimates put its population figure at 12.5 million, which also seems to be less than the actual figure. The place was given the sobriquet of ‘Millennium City’ mostly by the builders. Despite warnings of a looming water shortage, they kept on building as if there was no tomorrow and land prices kept zooming up.