GS4 · UPSC Mains

Nestled in the lap of the Himalayas, Purabkashi is a town located on the way to major pilgrimage destinations. The town is traversed by a section of the Panch-Dham Road Project, whose objective is to improve connectivity to the five major pilgrimage centers in the region. The project aims to develop and widen nearly 900 km of national highways in the Himalayas, making journeys to these centers safer, faster, and more convenient. The project is being constructed at a very high cost and is expected to boost tourism in the region and reduce road accidents occurring in the hilly region. The project is also important from a security point of view, as these roads can act as strategic feeder roads that connect the border with the Army camps in the nearby areas. The roads may facilitate quicker movement of troops and supplies and can serve as a strategic asset in connecting the border regions. However, from the conception stage of the project itself, various NGOs have raised several fault lines regarding its environmental sustainability. It has been noted that the project may destroy about 690 hectares of forests, and an estimated 20 million cubic meters of soil need to be removed. Experts raise concern that such a high-impact activity may aggravate erosion and destabilize the slopes. Large-scale uprooting of vegetation can prove to be perilous for biodiversity and regional ecology. Indiscriminate blasting during road construction creates cracks in soil and rocks that may enhance the possibility of landslides and associated disasters in the future. In 2018, the project was challenged in the Supreme Court by an NGO for its potential impact on the Himalayan ecology due to felling trees, cutting hills, and dumping excavated material. The Supreme Court then constituted a high-powered committee that warned against widening the road by 12 meters. It had suggested that the widening stay between 5.5 and 7 meters. However, this recommendation by independent experts was opposed by government officials and ultimately sidelined. The worst fears of the local and scientific communities came true when about 40 workers got trapped inside a tunnel after the under-construction tunnel structure collapsed in Purabkashi. Overnight, Purabkashi became the talk of the country. The project was awarded to the contractor, PQR Enterprises. Mr. Vinay Kumar, who has experience completing many such projects in the past, was appointed as Project Director, overseeing the smooth completion of the project and monitoring the contractor's work. Mr. Vinay is known for his honesty and dedication. Prior to the mishap, he had successfully overseen this project to meet its timeline. But after the mishap, the higher authorities are privately requesting the project director, Mr. Vinay, to take responsibility for the mishap. To manage the growing resentment in the locality and nationwide, he is being asked to step down as project director. But Mr. Vinay feels that he is being unfairly blamed. To alleviate the pressure from the public, he is being scapegoated. The project had issues right from the conception stage, given the ecological fragility of the region. Various ecological experts and geological scientists think that the incident has exposed not only the project's vulnerabilities but also the lapses in the safe tunnel construction mechanisms carried out, like the failure to construct an escape tunnel. Several experts have pointed out this incident as a warning for future disasters, as now questions have been raised about the fragility of the Himalayas in sustaining massive infrastructure projects like the Panch-Dham project. The government, despite many voices against the project, is treating the incident as an isolated incident and moving on with the further construction of the project. There is a protest happening in the state with a demand by the people to consider the project's environmental consequences and also the operations of the contractor, PQR Enterprises, in the particular project. a) What are the various ethical issues involved in the above case study? b) As the head of the Panch-Dham Project, what are the options available to Mr. Vinay? Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each. c) In your opinion, between the twin objectives of development and conservation, what should be given more priority and why?

20 marks · 20 words · 4 toppers answered this · seen 2025

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