Only a fool learns from his own mistakes,” said Otto von Bismarck, “the wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” It is now time for the Himachal Chief Minister to demonstrate his wisdom and imbibe some lessons from the horrendous tragedy of Nepal. And the lesson is simple — the Himalayas have had enough. Back off!“Development” has gone berserk in Himachal — 12,000 hectares of forestland diverted in the past 20 years for various projects, 174 hydel projects sanctioned or commissioned, 50 lakh trees felled, construction rules relaxed to permit even 10-storey buildings, the Shimla Development Plan 2041 approved to deregulate the city’s precious Green Belts, an epidemic of unnecessary four-lane highways criss-crossing the state, tunnels planned under the fragile mountains, efforts to increase tourist footfall from 20 million per annum to an unsustainable 50 million. And all this in a state which comes under the highest seismic zone.The Himalayas are now pushing back, with increasing intensity. The not-so-natural disasters between 2022 and 2024 have caused financial losses of Rs 13,500 crore to the state and claimed 800 lives. The natural features that hold the fragile mountain stratas together — trees, glaciers, snowfields, permafrost, river drainage — are being decimated. The Himalayas are warming at twice the average global rate, and this is being amplified by local “heat islands” caused by emissions from heavy machinery and labour camps, deposit of black carbon on the ice fields, pollutants from the ever-increasing number of vehicles intruding into high-altitude fragile ecosystems on the new roads, and the removal of green cover.Dumping of muck in the rivers is reducing their capacity to carry excess water, resulting in regular flash floods. Many red lines have been crossed.The Himalayas have been warning us for some time now — there was Kedarnath in 2013, Chamoli in 2021, Sikkim in 2023, Dharali in 2025, and now Nepal.Among the most dangerous impending threats to Himachal is the growing number and size of glacial lakes. The state had 107 glacial lakes of noticeable size with a total area of 5.54 sq km in 1990; the numbers are 669 and 11.2 sq km now. Some have reached dangerous proportions, like Ghepan in Lahaul, which has grown six times to almost 100 hectares. All the major rivers emanate from the glaciers above these lakes and the hydel projects on these rivers are extremely vulnerable to Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) events.Any damage to these projects would also endanger the lakhs of people living in towns and villages below them, as Nepal has so tragically shown.Himachal is also naturally susceptible to other high risks: the state lies in the highest seismic zone, it has 20,000 landslide-prone hotspots, and EWEs (Extreme Weather Events) caused by climate change have increased by 40 per cent in the past few years.The time for studies, seminars and only monitoring is over. What is needed urgently is decisive action and a drastic change in the model of development.Impose a moratorium on all new hydel projects, and stay those sanctioned but where actual construction has not yet started. Scrap the dozens of projects approved/planned for the high-altitude Chenab and Chandrabhaga basin in Lahaul-Spiti, and in Kinnaur and Pangi areas (which the local people have already been protesting against).Exhume the 2010 report on environmental impacts of hydel projects by the then Additional Chief Secretary (Forests), which the High Court had accepted but the then government opposed and subsequent ones moth-balled. Consider its major recommendations — a ban on hydel projects in high-altitude, alpine, glaciated, forest catchment areas; a minimum distance of 5 km between projects; ensure minimum perennial flow of rivers.Vigorously oppose the Centre’s proposal for a 8.7-km tunnel below the Pir Panjal range to bring the waters of the Chandrabhaga in Lahaul to the Beas in Kullu. This Chinese-style project would rip out the heart of the Himachal Himalayas and would be a disaster of unprecedented proportions: it would destabilise the geology of three districts, generating tens of millions of tonnes of muck which can only clog the rivers, waterways and drainage of these areas. It would disturb the underground aquifers, and the additional water now added to the Beas would amplify the river’s destructive potential, which already causes havoc in Kullu every year.Reconsider the mindless focus on increasing tourist numbers to 50 million. The state’s environment cannot support such numbers; the infrastructure needed for it and its effects — roads, buildings, vehicular pollution, sewage and garbage, water supply — would result in huge damage to the natural environment and cultural identity of the state. Learn from Bhutan. Limit the numbers, improve the quality.Discontinue and put a halt to the four-laning epidemic. They fracture the geology of the areas they pass through, destroy properties, deprive people of livelihoods, encourage even more polluting vehicles to contaminate our pristine ambience. Both the Parwanoo-Shimla and Kiratpur-Manali highways are continuing (and very expensive) disasters that prove this.The time to act is now. The Himalayas have tolerated our arrogance for centuries, but their patience is now wearing thin. Even the Supreme Court has advised the state to be more sensitive to the environment, or else it “would disappear from the map of India”. We proudly call Himachal ‘Dev Bhoomi’ but ravage and pillage it shamelessly for votes and profit. This must change.We are proving right the words of Hubert Reeves, a French astrophysicist and environmentalist: “Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he is destroying is the God he is worshipping!”Respect Nature. That is the true worship of God.— The writer is a retired IAS officer