P RELIMINARY A - NALYSIS OF 2023 D ISASTER A

Land Use and Disaster Mitigation The losses in this disaster demonstrated that the location and site of the buildings, ignoring the geological vulnerability of the area exacerbated the damages leading to landslide and subsidence, sinking of roads and loss of agricultural and horticultural land across rural habitations. [...] The time has come for the state and central governments and their respective agencies to immediately reconsider the Hydropower Policy in the Himalayan region which includes Himachal Pradesh where all the major rivers are saturated with HEPs and most of the hydropower potential has already been achieved. [...] The resulting scouring of banks and crumbling of embankments from this action led to the diversion of the river into town areas and the four-lane highway. [...] Unscientific and illegal mining of riverbeds for sand and grit; mountain foothills for stones and limestone (particularly in Sirmaur, Nalagarh and regions adjacent to the state that border Punjab and Haryana), are leading to landslides, diversion of river course and thus aggravating loss and damage to bridges, road, groundwater and human habitation. [...] Forest Management and Arresting Deforestation The Forest Rights Act has placed the onus of forest conservation and management upon the communities and its implementation must be undertaken on the basis of the language and spirit of the Act.