India, May 23 -- Earlier this week, the Centre told the Supreme Court that it will not allow the building of more dams in the upper reaches of the Ganga in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. Dam building in recent decades has transformed the Garhwal region, affecting the flow in the majestic Alaknanda, the Bhagirathi, and their feeder streams, such as the Mandakini. State-promoted pilgrimage tourism and related construction have disrupted the harmony of life in the mountains. Bill Aitken's Footloose in the Himalaya is a fine volume of essays that offers a peek into the "timeless sublimity of the Himalaya". Aitken was a naturalised citizen of the Himalayas, having lived and died there. These essays offer views available only to an insider - someone who has walked and climbed the mountains. IfAitken's The Nanda Devi Affair is an ode to a peak worshipped across Uttarakhand, these essays capture the spirit of the mountain, and the people and wildlife that make up the Himalayan ecosystem....