Joshimath land subsidence: Construction of ‘All Weather Char Dham Road’ in Joshimath halted
People living in Joshimath, the last stop to reach the holy Badrinath Dham and Hemkund Sahib in Uttarakhand, are in panic. The reason for this is cracks have developed in the houses here. In this city called the Gateway of Himalayas, water has started coming out from places after from underground. In such a situation, people are leaving their homes and shifting here and there. At the same time, the Disaster Management Department has banned the stay of passengers in the hotel here and has made preparations to complete the drainage plan and sewer system. Although the people of Joshimath consider the government’s negligence to be the reason for this disaster, they say that when the Mishra Committee in its report in 1976 made it clear that Joshimath was slowly sinking, then why the subsequent government’s still didn’t take any action.
Significantly, Joshimath in Uttarakhand has been sinking for decades. An 18-member committee was constituted under the chairmanship of MC Mishra, who was the commissioner of Garhwal at that time. It was named as Mishra Committee, which confirmed that Joshimath is slowly sinking. The committee had advised to fix the areas prone to landslides and landslides and plant saplings there. The committee consisted of the Army, BKTC including ITP and local public representatives. A meeting was also held in this regard on May 3, 1976, in which it was said to take long term measures.
Although the sinking of Joshmath has started many years ago, but reportedly since 2020 the problem has increased more. In February 2021, hundreds of houses developed cracks due to the floods that followed the rains. In September 2022, a team of experts conducted a survey on behalf of the State Disaster Management Authority of Uttarakhand. Poor sewerage, seepage of rainwater and domestic waste water into the ground is said to have created high pore-pressure conditions in the soil, besides erosion in the left bank of the Alaknanda is believed to be the reason for the adverse impact on Joshimath town. Scientists said that there is no drainage system in Joshimath city. The city is on the surface of the glacier. Removal of soil by glacier or sewage water going into the ground, due to which the movement of rocks, lack of drainage system has increased the subsidence of Joshimath.
In view of the problem of landslide in Joshimath, the district administration has stopped the Helang Wai Pass construction work under BRO, construction work under NTPC Tapovan Vishnugad Hydroelectric Project and construction works under municipal area with immediate effect till advance orders. Along with this, the operation of Joshimath-Auli ropeway has also been stopped till further orders.
To shift the affected families, the district administration has also issued orders to NTPC and HCC companies to prepare 2-2 thousand pre-fabricated buildings in advance as a precautionary measure.
