SHIMLA/DEHRADUN: At 6000 ft Joshimath, a gateway to Char Dham and the idyllic UNESCO's heritage site, Vale of Flowers is sinking. Home to over 20,000 people, this news has sounded a wakeup call to all stakeholders and those who are in corridor of power in Uttarakhand.
Locals stage a protest march in the sinking hill town, red flagging their concern and fears, seeking immediate remedial measures.
They demand a STOP to all big constructions and a scientific investigation to unearth the real causes of sinking.
The Joshimath Bachao Samiti and Civil Society Groups have urged Uttarakhand authorities to move in quickly and fast, expediting the remedial measures to mitigate an otherwise imminent disaster.
Time is precious & Uttarakhand is a state known for its frequent disasters & casualties. Hope & pray that this will pass and Joshimath will be as beautiful, as spiritual & as majestic as ever.
The town holds strategic importance with the presence of substantial numbers of army personnel stationed in the region, said Anoop Nautiyal, President, SDFC, an active civil society group in Uttarakhand.
what has heightened concerns of its residents is that parts of Joshimath have been witnessing cracks in the walls & ceilings of homes, hotels, resorts & various other business establishments.
"This has resulted in a state of panic its resident" .
In fact, Joshimath has had a history of sinking with the Mishra Committee reporting this the first time in 1976.
The sinking has exacerbated in recent months prompting the state government to constitute a committee of experts from the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA), CBRI Roorkee, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute, Dehradun & the Geological Survey of India.
The expert committee that was tasked to undertake geological & geotechnical investigations had visited Joshimath in August this year.
It found that the town was built on an unstable foundation which can give way in case of heavy rains, tremors, unregulated construction or far more footfalls than the towns carrying capacity.
The team attributed the sinking to the numerous homes, hotels & resorts that have mushroomed on Joshimath-Auli route. Poor drainage, sewage & erosion by rivers have aggravated the situation, the committee found.
In the recent flashpoint, a key stretch of the Joshimath-Helang highway has caved in, with several hotels and homes also developing fresh cracks, said Nautiyal.
Alarmed & panicked, this has prompted the citizens and local businesses to protest against the sinking of the town.
A march was organized under the banner of Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti.
The group has demanded that the town be saved based on recommendations made by the expert committee, banning of large scale constructions, stopping the construction of the bye-pass road, putting a stop on the hydropower projects in the region.
They also demand rehabilitation of the impacted families.
In a fresh series of initiatives targeted at resolving the situation, the state government has ordered a detailed bearing capacity study, ordered the Irrigation Department to make a drainage plan and conduct a geological study of the town.
A meeting has also been called next year on January 15. The District Magistrate Of Chamoli has received a slew of instructions from his Dehradun based seniors.
