India Inights: How Much Can the Himalayas Take? Uttarakhand’s Development Paradox
Bisesh Gurung
The hilly state of Uttarakhand is a serene tourist spot for the entire country and international tourists in search of spirituality. It is the site for the holy pilgrimage of Char Dham, comprising four religious centres, and houses many important temples. Thus, tourism is an important aspect of Uttarakhand’s economy. However, due to the wintery nature of the region, it remains a summer destination for most tourists, while winter months leave it in a “slump”. This encourages the need for development projects in the state to ensure year-round tourism, including road construction projects, ropeway construction plans, helipad infrastructure, etc. Unfortunately, the state is also in quite a vulnerable position due to climate change, heavy tourist footfall and rapid construction projects that the weakened mountain land is unable to carry the burden of. Heavy tourist footfall adds to the local economy; however, the tourism also entails overcrowding, traffic jams and pollution. This points to the dilemma between the desire for progress and the environmental limits in the Himalayan region.
The Desire for Progress
Due to its religious importance and geography, Uttarakhand is the site for various developmental projects, from road widening to hydropower. The waterbodies of Uttarakhand have the potential of generating 24551 MW of electricity, and to utilise that, 37 hydropower projects are already in play. Tehri Dam is the most important in the region and is the highest dam in India.
Moreover, road, ropeway and rail projects are in motion to boost tourism. The local economy is reliant on tourists; thus, the state prioritises the creation of hotels, homestays, and travel infrastructure. Along with encouraging tourism, the state is also being advertised as an up-and-coming wedding destination. Prime Minister Narendra Modi even visited Uttarakhand on March 6, 2025, to highlight the state’s tourism potential. Under his leadership, the Central government is collaborating with the State government to promote tourism development of the region. They have devised schemes such as the Tehri Tourism Calendar, which demonstrates the state’s potential as a winter adventure destination. Another initiative is the Central Government’s Swadesh Darshan 2.0, which focuses on sustainable tourism practices. All these initiatives promise to boost the local economy, create more jobs and push Uttarakhand into the age of progress and development.
The Dark Side of Progress
While the rapid development projects bring a promise of progress, they put Uttarakhand’s fragile geography in jeopardy. The hydropower plants, railways, and road projects are leading to the state’s environmental and ecological degradation. This is especially affecting the Joshirmath region, where the land is sinking, making over 850 homes uninhabitable due to cracks. Flash floods have also increased in the region due to the presence of substantial hydropower projects in the soft slopes of Joshirmath.
In the tourism sector, the once holy pilgrimage to Kedarnath and Badrinath done on foot is being sped up with SUVs and helicopters. More and more people are rushing to destinations in Uttarakhand to enjoy the cool air of the Himalayas as a respite from the hot tropical weather of the plains. Kedarnath, a holy site in Uttarakhand, had a footfall of 1.65 million in 2025, while Mussoorie, a popular hilly leisure spot, had 1.47 million visitors. Even the villages of Uttarakhand have become popular among tourists wanting to explore the peaceful valleys of the state. Due to such a heavy tourist footfall, the narrow roads of Uttarakhand get choked on any long weekend, leading to more traffic and air pollution. While tourism does boost the local economy, overtourism has revealed fault lines between the visitors and the locals. Many cases emerged of locals unable to access critical help due to traffic jams. Moreover, overtourism has also revealed a paradox wherein the fear of being stuck in traffic is preventing tourists from coming to these destinations, leading to empty hotels during peak season.
Impact on Locals
The tourism economic model is unstable due to peak and off-peak seasons, leading to seasonal jobs. More often than not, these jobs are more beneficial to investors and outsiders than the locals. Other sources of income, such as agriculture and pastoralism, are limited due to climate change, land degradation and lack of interest of the youth, leading to undue pressure on the tourism industry. Migration statistics reveal that many villages in Uttarakhand have been partially or fully abandoned, and the ones remaining are often older and impoverished.
Some rural areas are struggling with water supply due to heightened tourism. People in villages rely entirely on aquifers for water, and with the upsurge of outsiders, there is not enough water for the locals to consume. During summers, which are peak season, the locals are pushed to buy water due to dried-up aquifers. People of Uttarakhand also allege that pipelines are diverted to supply more water to hotels than the villages.
Water supply is also impacted by the deforestation conducted to build roads and hotels for tourism. These trees help recharge groundwater, and in their absence, the issue of disappearing water sources is exacerbated. Furthermore, soil erosion increases, contributing even more to the problems emerging from climate change.
The case of Uttarakhand reveals the paradox of progress leading to degradation of the environment and the lives of the locals. While on one hand, tourism is very important to the state, its excess is contributing to the uninhabitability of the region. The narrow roads and the vulnerable mountains of Uttarakhand are not made for heavy plain-style infrastructure. The state is already struggling with the issue of climate change, ice caps melting and frequent floods; thus, the prioritisation of overtourism and developmental projects has made it more vulnerable.
Development in the Himalayan region can no longer be about building more but rather about how much the mountains can tolerate. Locals are increasingly forced to choose between survival and displacement. While the path of progress through developmental projects boasts benefits for the locals as well, the advantages are not reaped by everyone evenly. The on-ground reality is that the communities of Uttarakhand are bearing the ecological and social costs of decisions made from the top level.
If progress is actually the aim of infrastructural and development projects in Uttarakhand, then they must be dealt with with a certain ecological sensitivity, local participation and stringent focus on resilience. The question is no longer if the state should develop but more about how it can develop without undermining the environment and communities that make Uttarakhand what it is.
