In the last few days, the issue of land sinking in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, has been in the news, on which CM Dhami gave his take and said he will provide all the possible help to the citizens of Joshimath. So far, more than 273 houses have been damaged, and many roads have developed cracks.
The recent situation
Up until now, two hotels, the Mount View and Malari Inn, have been ordered to be demolished due to land sinkings. Though the work of demolition of the hotel Malari Inn was to start tomorrow, due to people’s protests over compensation, this work could not be started. Now, the work of demolition of Malari Inn has started. It is being said that it may take a week to demolish it. Significantly, there was a protest against the demolition of the hotel. But SDRF has started the work of demolishing the hotel by removing those “protesters” from there.
CM Dhami meets the residents.
Dhami reached Joshimath on Wednesday and talked to the affected families; since then, he has been in Joshimath, where he is holding a meeting with the officials today. Prior to the meeting, Chief Minister Puskar Singh Dhami performed “puja” at Joshimath’s Narasimha temple on Thursday morning, where he prayed to God to protect the state and resolve the crisis. Along with this, he took stock of the situation by going to the relief camps, where he also assured all possible help to the affected. But it is a matter of regret that the people of Joshimath have to live in relief camps.
Along with this, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced compensation at market rate to the affected people. Dhami also mentioned that an interim assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh is being given to the affected families, and an immediate assistance of Rs 45 crore is being provided to 3000 families who have been shifted out of their homes.
What are the core reasons for this crisis?
According to the villagers, the reason for this is the tunnelling work being done on the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Rail Project and the dynamiting taking place for the expansion of Char Dham Road. Residents have blamed that large infrastructure projects like the National Thermal Power Corporation’s Tapovan Vishnugad hydrogen project built around Joshimath are also one of the reasons for this tragedy.
People also said that a tunnel was being dug under Joshimath that damaged their houses badly. The residents also pointed fingers at the construction of the Helang Bypass.
But the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) denied all these allegations and issued a statement on Thursday, January 5. Which says, “The tunnel built by NTPC does not pass under Joshimath Town.” “This tunnel is dug by a tunnel boring machine, and no blasting is being carried out presently.” Uttrakhand State Disaster Management Authority Secretary Ranjit Kumar cited “loosening of soil” as the reason behind the land sinking.
In the words of experts…
Environment Expert Vimlendu Jha took to Twitter to explain that the Joshimath disaster is the result of the puncturing of aquifers by the NTPC engineers’ tunnel-boring machines through tunnelling under Joshimath. Muddy waters seeping out from homes and the ground are a testimony to the engineered crime leading to aquifer breaches.
Garhwali geologist Dr. S. P. Sati gave a horrific statement in which she said, “Joshimath cannot be saved; it is too late.” “The entire public needs to be evacuated immediately.” “Any day, the entire town can collapse.”
“The government knew the town had been built on a moraine, which are para glacial sediments that are not static.” These moraines get mobilised due to heavy rainfall events. “All our warnings against heavy construction on these unstable foundations went unheeded,” says Dr. Sati.
Why is Joshimath so important?
Established by Adi Guru Shankaracharya, Joshimath is a pilgrimage site along with a hill station. It is the gateway to the renowned pilgrimage sites like Badrinath, Hemkund Sahib and international skiing destination Auli. Adi Guru Shankaracharya attained enlightenment in a cave around Joshimath.
It is the need of the hour to protect this sacred and ancient land so that it doesn’t become history in the coming years.
