New Delhi: Two out of every three houses in Joshimath have felt the effects of land subsidence, which an expert committee says was caused by constructing buildings beyond the load-bearing capacity, lack of a drainage system, deforestation and obstruction of paths of natural water sources.
The Uttarakhand hill town functions as a gateway to trekking routes in the Himalayan mountain range and also to holy sites such as Badrinath which are part of the Char Dham circuit. It is also of strategic importance for access to parts of the disputed Indo-China border.
There was a sinking of land in the town in January this year, which the expert committee said affected 1,403 houses out of a total of 2,152. The experts assess that 20% of the houses are unusable, 42% require a further valuation, 37% are usable and 1% need demolition.
The committee was led by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and constituted experts from United Nations agencies, the Central Building Research Institute, the National Geophysical Research Institute, the National Institute of Disaster Management and others. In total, 35 experts conducted a “post-disaster needs assessment” from April 22 to 25 to assess the damage and paths to long-term recovery.
It says that around 65% of houses in Joshimath have been affected by incidents of land subsidence, resulting in property damage worth Rs 565 crore. The report estimates that the total cost of reconstruction will be Rs 422 crore, according to Business Standard.
According to the New Indian Express, the committee has advised the government to declare the area as a ‘No New Construction Zone’. “The important thing is that future reconstructions are green building-based, with proper technology and limited concrete,” the report said.
It said that because Joshimath is built on moraine – an accumulation of unconsolidated debris, the ground is likely to collapse.
The rise in the permanent population in Joshimath – from 16,000 to 25,000 in the past decade – is adding pressure, which the committee said is “worrisome”.
Also Read: Uncontrolled Construction, Ignored Warnings: How Joshimath Sank
The Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) warned against indiscriminate construction, not just in Joshimath but other hill cities and towns, and recommended a review of the principles of town planning in the Himalayan region.
Meanwhile, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) gave a “clean chit” to the NTPC’s 520 MW Vishnugad hydroelectric project on the Alaknanda River in Chamoli district. Locals and experts had said that work for the project – along with drilling and using explosives for the Char Dham highway project – destabilised the region.
According to the New Indian Express, the National Geophysical Research Institute found that “evidence of land submergence has been found in Joshimath up to a depth of 20 to 50 meters”. It added:
“The surface conditions observed there have been found to be up to a depth of 50 meters in many places. The main reasons for land submergence include the construction of buildings beyond the ‘load-bearing capacity’ of the city, lack of drainage, deforestation, obstruction of paths of natural water sources, and expansion of buildings.”
The soil structure of Joshimath was also a reason for the land slipping, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said, noting that the soil “is a complex mixture of boulders, gravel, and clay, the boulders here are also made of gravel and clay brought from glaciers”.
Internal erosion in such soils causes “instability in the entire structure”, the report said. However, the report also noted that Joshimath’s expansion has disrupted the flow of the natural drain flowing from above. “Drain water is continuously seeping into the ground which has increased the level of damage due to excessive rainfall over the past 10 years”, the report highlighted, according to TNIE.
The reports by various bodies were kept under wraps by the Uttarakhand government until recently, when the high court said there was no reason to keep them secret. “In fact, circulation of the said reports would provide vital information to the public, and the public would have confidence in them that the state is serious about dealing with the situation,” the court observed.