New Delhi: Former Union minister Uma Bharti has cautioned the BJP against committing the “sin” of destroying the Himalayas, the Ganga, and other ever-flowing rivers, as she sought to blame her own party-led governments at the Centre and Uttarakhand for the destructive flash floods in the state’s Dharali village.
In a series of posts on X in Hindi, she said it is imperative that “we immediately pause and maintain a balance between nature, environment, tourism, and faith in the development process in Himalayan states”.
On Tuesday afternoon, flash floods and landslides inundated the Dharali village in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, which is located 2,680 metre above sea level, causing a loss of lives and widespread damage to infrastructure. At least four people have died and dozens are missing.
The Dharali village is close to Gangotri and is a major stopover for pilgrims on the way to the Gangotri Dham.
Bharti referred to a 2023 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) report that Joshimath (also in Uttarakhand) experienced a land subsidence of around five centimeters in just 12 days, between 27 December 2022 and 8 January 2023.
The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister alleged the ISRO report that came after this was “immediately withdrawn by ISRO itself”.
“We ignored that warning,” she said.
ThePrint had reported in 2023 that as per an ISRO report released in January that year, Joshimath experienced the land subsidence. The ISRO report was taken down from their website after the government issued a gag order on sharing “confusing” information with the public at a time of crisis.
1) हिमाचल एवं उत्तराखंड में हुई भीषण त्रासदी हमे बहुत बड़ी चेतावनी दे रही है। हिमालयीन राज्यों की विकास प्रक्रिया पर हमे तुरंत थमकर प्रकृति, पर्यावरण, पर्यटन एवं आस्था का संतुलन बनाए रखना बहुत जरूरी है। @BJP4UK @ukcmo
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) August 6, 2025
Bharti said the “terrible” tragedy that happened in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand is “giving us a big warning”. While she did not specify the Himachal Pradesh tragedy she was referring to, the state witnessed devastating flash floods last year and also this year that killed scores of people.
On the Dharali flash floods, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said Tuesday night that 70 people had been rescued. The authorities are working to rescue others feared trapped in the debris.
Uma Bharti added, “We, the people of BJP, must not commit the sin of destroying the Himalayas, the Ganga, and other ever-flowing rivers during our time, and must ensure any such future possibility is also prevented.”
“The root cause of the tragedy in Dharali and Harsil was not just the cloudburst,” she said. “Natural lakes on the hills above Dharali were filled beyond their limits due to heavy rains and the water from some of them cascaded down the hills, carrying with it heavy debris, causing great devastation and a loss of lives.”
She said these were natural lakes but “now some power projects, some being built with permission and some in stealth, are leading to the creation of hundreds of such lakes in the mountainsdue to which people are facing loss of lives be it in Joshimath, Dharali or Harsil. And the invaluable heritage of the nation is getting destroyed”.
Bharti served as the minister for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation from 16 May 2014 to 3 September 2017. She then became the minister for drinking water and sanitation, and held the position till 24 May 2019.
“The Ganga Action Plan of the Ministry of Water Resources was prepared between October 2014 and September 2016 and it was also launched. It can be applied to the Himalayas and all the Himalayan rivers. But after that it came to a halt, which also includes the affidavit given by the Ganga Ministry (Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation) in the Supreme Court,” she added.
She urged the government to start it again. “The Ganga and its tributaries should be saved, the Himalayas should be saved, faith should be maintained, development should be done and employment should also increase in the mountains. But there should be no destruction in the name of development. This is the action plan which has become resultless after being implemented in instalments,” she explained.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)