Shivang Satya Gupta
Every few months, a new doomsday headline lands about the Himalayas, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. The latest is the reports in The Wire and The Economic Times warning that the 197 glacial lakes in Kishtwar could spell catastrophe for downstream communities and wipe out hydropower projects. It paints a serious picture of fragile mountains, unstoppable floods, and a future we can’t control.
However, as any keen observer worth his salt would know, such a picture is nothing, but half-truth. If you read closely, you’ll notice what’s missing. There’s plenty of fear, very little balance. The unspoken suggestion is that India’s development in Jammu & Kashmir is reckless, even dangerous. That’s a familiar refrain, and it deserves a closer look.
I am not denying that the Himalayas are sensitive terrain. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are real, and climate change is melting ice faster than in decades past. But risk isn’t the whole story. By focusing only on threats—and skipping over how India has prepared—these pieces leave readers with a sense of helplessness that simply isn’t accurate.
Kishtwar’s big hydropower projects—Pakal Dul, Kiru, Kwar, Dangduru—aren’t just concrete and turbines. They are the backbone of local development and part of India’s energy security strategy under the Indus Waters Treaty. Pakistan has fought these projects at every stage, often claiming, without much evidence, that they harm its downstream flow. When our own media amplifies fears about glacial lakes without mentioning safeguards, it unwittingly bolsters Islamabad’s objections.
Let’s make one thing clear. Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi knows the mountains are changing. Agencies like the NDMA and Central Water Commission are tracking glaciers and running early-warning systems. The Border Roads Organisation, SDRF, and Indian Army have a solid record of rapid disaster response in high-altitude zones. Modern hydropower projects are engineered with spillways, drainage systems, and seismic designs precisely because risks exist.
To leave all that out, as some reports do, is like telling half the story. Yes, we must watch the lakes. But no, India isn’t blindly gambling with the Himalayas.
And then there’s Pakistan’s side of the line. Gilgit-Baltistan’s forests have been cut down at alarming rates. Dam safety and glacier monitoring are patchy at best. Yet, there’s little outrage in international columns. Why is scrutiny so intense on Indian projects, and so forgiving elsewhere? That imbalance shapes perceptions—and narratives matter.
A sensible approach accepts the risks but refuses paralysis. That means admitting glaciers are dynamic and monitoring them relentlessly, talking openly about the safeguards already in place, framing hydropower as both an energy necessity and a sovereign right, and finally, expecting our media to inform, not just alarm.
For policymakers, it also means treating glacier monitoring as part of national security, publishing regular updates to build trust, calling out Pakistan’s ecological lapses, and making sure Kishtwar’s communities have resilient roads, schools, and hospitals so they’re partners in progress—not just bystanders to it.
Of course, climate change is a challenge and vigilance is non-negotiable, but it should not become a weapon to stall India’s growth. The glacial lakes of Kishtwar are a challenge to manage. They are a reason to strengthen our resilience, not a reason to abandon hydropower.
Through this column, let me set the record straight.
The bigger danger isn’t just the lakes, or the water trapped in those lakes. Instead, it’s the quiet narrative, rather it would call it the soft propaganda that India’s projects, especially the strategic ones in Jammu and Kashmir, are inherently reckless.
That narrative weakens national confidence at exactly the moment we need clarity and resolve. Bharat must call it out, expose the narrative, and march ahead with clarity.
For The Wire and The Economic Times, they must know that Development in Jammu & Kashmir is not a privilege to be begged for or negotiated upon. It’s a sovereign right, which is being exercised responsibly under the current dispensation at Centre, under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
