Editor,
Ladakh’s climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has asked the Centre to safeguard the fragile ecosystem of the Himalayan mountains in Ladakh. The fragile ecosystems in both Ladakh and Uttarakhand demand careful environmental impact assessment before undertaking an excavation for building a tunnel or a high-rise.
The Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi had collapsed, trapping 41 workers, for 17 days in November last year. The project has again restarted. Recently, an operator, Govind Kumar, was killed when a machine on which he was sitting fell into a 25-feet-deep trench near the mouth of the Silkyara tunnel.
Was there proper evaluation of safety and environmental issues before resuming the project?
Sujit De,
Kolkata