DEHRADUN, Jan 6: A town on the way to Badrinath in Uttarakhand, Joshimath is
sinking. Hundreds of houses have developed cracks due to the land subsidence.
Authorities have started relocating the affected residents.
The residents have been holding street protests for days against the Government
alleging that the construction of the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydroelectric project
and a bypass from Helang for Badrinath shrine underway is causing the subsidence
and demanding that the works be stopped forthwith. Later the construction works
were halted.
On Thursday, a bandh was observed against the administration and NTPC projects.
A Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti has been formed to press for immediate rehabilitation
of all the affected people.
As many as 561 houses have suffered cracks. Three thousand people have been
affected. Sixty six families were moved to safer places till Friday evening.
They have been put up at a school building, a Gurdwara, Nagar Palika Bhawan
and the local ITI. Evacuation is contnuing.
The Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC) and the National Thermal Power
Corporation (NTPC) have been directed to build 2,000 prefabricated houses to
shelter the victims.
According to the district disaster management, 127 houses have been damaged
in Gandhinagar, 153 in Ravigram, 71 in Manoharbagh, 50 in Parsari, 52 in Singhdhar,
29 in Upper Bazar, 28 in Marwadi, 27 in Suneel and 24 in Lower Bazar.
Even as the people living in the area are being evacuated, the homestays and
other tourist businesses have come to a stop. The town is a halting point for
the pilgrims and tourists. The ropeway to Auli has also been closed.
Engineers from the Geological Survey of India and IIT Roorkee are investigating
the subsidence. Joshimath falls in a high-risk seismic 'Zone V'.
Joshimath is located at a height of 6,150 feet in Chamoli district. It is the
gateway to Badrinath shrine, Hemkund Sahib, another pilgrim centre, and the
Valley of Flowers, a tourist spot.
Joshimath is also a holy place for the Hindus where the Jyotir Math is located.
Jyotir Math is one of the five 'pithams' established by philosopher-saint Sri
Adi Sankaracharya, who propagated Sanatana Dharma and propounded Advaita Vedanta.
Uttarakhand is dotted with religious and pilgrim sites. Lakhs of tourists trekking
to the Himalayan hills every year and new constructions of highways and hotels
have damaged the geography of the region and is contributing to a climate disaster,
ecologists claim.
Especially dams create deep geological vibrations threatening the hills, subsidence
and frequent landslides. In the last couple of years landslides and subsequent
casualties have become the order of the day in Uttarakhand.
