The Joshimath

Joshimath is all over the news. Situation there is heart-breaking. Joshimath is an ancient spiritual town which is strategically located not far from  China border. It is enroute to famous Char Dham Yatra and home to the monastery of Adi Shankaracharya. It is also gateway of the famous Badrinath temple. Serious wide structural cracks & settlement have been noticed in around 750 buildings mostly houses and people are now being evacuated and structures demolished. Cracks are also on roads. Narsingh Mandir which is winter seat of Lord Badrinath is also sinking rapidly. Apparent reason is subsidence of the ground/hill. Recent ISRO images indicate around 5.1 cm subsidence in last 10 days and it is progressing. ISRO report says that it settled 9 cm from April to November in 2022. Such settlement is significant. There are reports of cracks from other towns as well.  As per one survey approximately one fourth of Town with around eight thousand people  is affected. Another important scientific fact is that Josimath town is situated on an old deposit of landslide and not on rocks. This area also falls in seismic zone V which is severest category as per Bureau of Indian Standards.

It is not that it happened suddenly. In past several institutions, activists, residents, scientists & government reports had expressed serious concerns about it. Mishra Committee in 1976 also gave similar report. Lot of infrastructure & development projects such as NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad Hydro Power plant, Char Dham Helang Bye-Pass, and unplanned rampant construction in the fragile mountains of the region were always matter of debate. Pace of construction increased manifold in last decade or so. There was major disaster in   the region in 2021 because of glacier burst which caused flash flood and damage to Tapovan project (approx.6 Kms away from Joshimath) and more than two hundred people died while they got trapped in under construction Tapovan tunnel. However, this tail race tunnel is said to be around I kms away from Joshimath town. Things are getting worse since then. Scary images of damaged houses and misery of the affected residents is truly heart breaking. Many people have lost their entire life saving. Many have lost source of livelihood. Residents are financially, physically, mentally, emotionally & psychologically wracked. Their future is uncertain. Pain of getting uprooted from their ancestor’s home is unimaginable.

I know there will be lot of politics on it. Leaders will issue statements, sympathetic words, promises, politically motivated allegations and counter allegations. There will be several meetings & so-called high-level meetings. Of course, there will be announcements of some compensation & relief package also. But larger question is if such packages & compensations will be to the satisfaction of affected people. How long will it take to settle down and start a fresh life for the affected and displaced people. Will governments make serious efforts in this direction? Do they have will, intention & resources for it? Why were concerns & warnings of experts ignored earlier? Why remedial steps were not taken on time?  Was geological condition of the region considered seriously before pushing such mega infrastructure projects? Were such considerations ignored while finalizing such projects. Few years back when I visited these places, I was worried the way hills were being cut and natural topography & ecological balance was being disturbed. I was fearful of any major disaster. But they are happening since 2021.

 There must be high powered independent probe in all such matters. Accountability of the people/officers/Institutions must be fixed in addition to finding root cause and remedial measures. Demolitions, Evacuations & Rehabilitations are important but not enough.  It is good that government has roped in several institutions e.g., CBRI, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute, ISRO, NIDM, GSI, NDMA etc. Being a Civil & Structural Engineer I earnestly hope that they will do their work professionally without getting influenced by politics/bureaucracy or media pressure.  They ought to do it to save Himalayas. I wonder if it is correct model of development. Just my random thought.