Context

• This article discusses the meaning of carrying capacity and the way forward regarding the carrying capacity of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR).

What is carrying capacity?

• Carrying capacity of a region is based on the maximum population size that an ecosystem or environment can sustainably support over a specific period without causing significant degradation or harm to its natural resources and overall health. 
• It is crucial in understanding and managing the balance between human activities and the preservation of natural ecosystems to ensure long-term sustainability. 

What’s in the news?

• The environmental devastation caused in the Himalayan States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim has reinvigorated the debate on the “carrying capacity’ of the regions. 
• The Supreme Court of India, in response to a petition filed by a retired Indian Police Service officer, has asked the Union government to suggest a way forward regarding the carrying capacity of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), which includes its towns and cities. 

Government’s response

• Assess the carrying capacity: The Union government’s affidavit filed by the Ministry of Environment states that the Director of the G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment should be the lead in assessing carrying capacity and that the carrying capacity of all 13 Himalayan States and Union Territories (UT) should be determined. 
• Technical support group: The affidavit adds that there can be a technical support group comprising nominees of the National Institute of Disaster Management, Bhopal; National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee; Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun; National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur; Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun; Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun; Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun; and School of Planning and Architecture. 
• The affidavit further suggests that representatives of State disaster management authorities, the Geological Survey of India, Survey of India and member secretaries or nominees of the Central Pollution Control Board and Central Ground Water Board should also be its members. 
• Himalayan states to set up a committee: The government has requested the Court to direct the Himalayan States/UTs to set up a committee headed by the Chief Secretary of the respective State, with its members being inducted as the Chief Secretary feels appropriate. 

Government efforts in overall development of IHR

• • There have been initiatives by the Union government regarding overall development in the IHR. Some of them are the 
    • National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (2010)

• Aimed at protecting the Himalayas, it has mapped institutes and civil society organizations working on the Himalayan ecology for ease of coordination between governmental and non-governmental agencies.

• It is the only area-specific mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

• • • The Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme 

• It aims to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities in the Indian Himalayas by strengthening the capacities of Indian institutions in climate science, with a specific focus on glaciology and related areas.

• • • Secure Himalaya Project

• Funded by Global Environment Facility, it supports the government’s efforts for conservation of snow leopard and its habitat by developing and implementing a landscape-based approach for Himalayan ecosystems, and addresses key issues of habitat degradation, threatened livelihoods and illegal trade in wildlife.

• • Recent guidelines on ‘Carrying Capacity in the IHR’ circulated on January 30, 2020. 
  • There was a reminder by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on May 19, 2023, asking all the States that if such a study had not been undertaken, then States should submit an action plan (carrying capacity) at the earliest. 

What is the issue?

• Despite past initiatives especially since the January 2020 guidelines, there is no report on the total number of States that have been able to prepare action plans on carrying capacity of their regions. 
• Failures in the past have been on account of the following reasons. 
  • The recommendations made by the Ministry in forming such groups are flawed. 
  • The same set of people responsible for the havoc and devastation in the mountains are now being made responsible in finding solutions. 
  • The suggestion made by the Environment Ministry focuses on one institution, i.e., the G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, while others are just a part of the technical group.

Way forward

• People centric process: The focus has to be on sustainable development that encompasses the larger canvas of carrying capacity, and the process should be people-centric. 
• Include all domains in policy making: Almost all the other institutes in the technical group are important players in their respective domains and should be equal partners in policy making. 
• The emphasis should be on the “Sustainable Population” of the Himalayan States, and the focus of the current inquiry should be the “carrying capacity for the sustainable populations for the different Himalayan States.” 
• Assess sustainable capacity: There is a need for assessing the overall sustainable capacity of the environment of the whole State (which includes all biological species, food, habitat, water including ecology and agriculture). The expert committee should be asked to focus on the social aspects or population sustainability of the respective States. 
• Involve the local population and grass-roots bodies (from panchayats and other urban local bodies)in determining the carrying capacity of the Indian Himalayan Region instead of a bureaucratic or technical group.
• In order to evaluate the social dimension of sustainability, it is necessary for the expert committee to direct each panchayat samiti and municipality to present its recommendations by responding to the population sustainability criteria which is well established and should be circulated immediately to each local government center. 

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/restoring-the-ecological-health-of-the-himalayas/article67450260.ece#:~:text=Some%20of%20them%20are%20the,circulated%20on%20January%2030%2C%202020.