Joshimath land subsidence: Science is not informing the politics and policies of the day, says expert

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also held a meeting with the National Disaster Management Authority regarding the Joshimath crisis today.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary SS Sandhu said every minute is important, as buildings, houses and roads developed cracks in the town. The district administration has put red cross marks on over 200 houses in the town that are not safe to live in. Sandhu conducted a meeting with officials to review the Joshimath situation and asked them to speed up evacuation to ensure the residents' safety.

The district administration is distributing necessary assistance funds for essential household items for the affected families. The administration has told residents to shift to temporary centres or rented accomodation, for which the state government would in the next six months pay the families assistance of Rs 4,000 per month for six months.

Prakash has written about how not just Joshimath, but the entire stretch from Chamoli till the town has been facing disasters over the last few decades. Uttarakhand witnessed 23 natural disasters in 2021, according to some reports and 308  lives were lost, according to a recent piece by Prakash.

"The scientific reports have categorically been saying that these are very high risk zones. The mountains are the most fragile in the world. Whenever we are planning any large scale development projects, especially large infrastructure projects such as hydro power, we must rethink,"  he said.

Reports of cracks in Joshimath's infrastructure were first reported in 2021 after landslides occurred in Chamoli district. All nine municipal wards of Joshimath have now been declared as landslide subsidence zones.

A government-appointed committee's report had predicted land subsidence in the town as far back as in 1976. According to the 1976 Mishra Committee report, Joshimath lies on a deposit of sand and stone, it's not on the main rock. It lies on an ancient landslide. The report added that undercutting by river currents of Alaknanda and Dhauliganga are also playing their part in bringing landslides.

"When we see what is happening today, we see that it was mentioned in the 1976 report. Everyone knows that Joshimath has been developed on moraine," said Kalachand Sain, director of Wadia institute of Himalayan Geology.

Sain said the town has been assessed from time and again. "When you look at Joshimath, it is a gateway to the Himalayas, whether you go to Badrinath or Hemkund Sabih, Auli, Valley of Flowers.. people halt at Joshimath and then go in different directions," he said.

Sain added that the town is a tourist attraction, there are a lot of development activities, as well as hydro power projects. "In course of time, because of people's point of income and other sorts of commercial point of view, this town has grown much rapidly compared to other Himalayan towns," he said, adding that it is also seismically very active.

On being asked about what he thinks is the correct way forward, Prakash said that the residents should be evacuated to a safe zone and provided a dignified way of living. He also added that all hydropower projects and infrastructure projects in the Himalayan region need to be re-evaluated.

Talking about hydropower projects, Prakash said that they are creating a havoc not just in Uttarakhand but across human regions. "Hydropower projects environmentally-benign. Green energy is a misnomer. The return on investment on hydropower is actually miniscule, if you really look at the social and ecological concept you have at hand," he added.