Joshimath land sinking

Make Joshimath a No New Construction Zone, Expert Committee Tells Government

The experts assessed that land subsidence was caused by constructing buildings beyond the load-bearing capacity, lack of a drainage system, deforestation and obstruction of paths of natural water sources

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.

No Reason to Keep Reports on Joshimath Subsidence ‘Secret’: Uttarakhand HC to State Govt

The court made these remarks when reports prepared by eight Union government institutes tasked to study Joshimath’s subsidence were placed in a sealed cover.

New Delhi: The Uttarakhand high court on Wednesday (September 20) criticised the state government for not making the reports on the Joshimath subsidence public.

“We see no reason that the state should keep the reports prepared by the experts secret and not disclose the same to the public at large,” the bench comprising Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Alok Kumar Verma said, according to the Times of India.

It further said: “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 made these remarks when reports prepared by eight Union government institutes tasked to study Joshimath’s subsidence were placed in a sealed cover.

In January this year, the high court, upon reviewing a petition, had directed the state government to involve certain experts in the study of Joshimath’s subsidence.

But it found that even after eight months, the government had not complied with its order.

Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town has a history of experiencing subsidence (the sinking of its land) due to a combination of having been built on weak land and being a construction hub.

Over 300 families in Joshimath were displaced in January this year after subsidence caused cracks to appear in hundreds of buildings.

Soon after the cracks were reported, eight Union government institutes began analysing the reasons for the town’s land subsidence.

Also Read: Uncontrolled Construction, Ignored Warnings: How Joshimath Sank

The newspaper also reported that it had accessed the eight institutes’ reports.

It said that the Central Building Research Institute, the nodal agency among the eight institutes, had found that out of 2,364 houses it analysed in Joshimath, 20% were ‘unusable’, 42% needed ‘further assessment’, 20% were ‘usable’ and 1% needed to be ‘demolished’.

The bench was hearing a recall application by the state government over the chief secretary’s personal appearance. During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, Snigdha Tiwari, pointed out that the reports were placed in a sealed cover.

More Buildings Develop Cracks in Uttarakhand Towns, Forcing People to Leave Homes

The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti has announced that it will hold a ‘tiranga’ yatra on Indpendence Day and sit-ins every day from August 16 to protest the situation in the town.

New Delhi: Five families from Sunil ward in Joshimath taluk of Uttarakhand have been relocated to relief camps in light of fresh cracks appearing in the area.

Chamoli district disaster management officer Nand Kishore Joshi told the Hindustan Times of the families’ relocation and said the administration has been “monitoring the situation regularly”.

A six foot-deep hole presumably caused by monsoon rains appeared in a field in Sunil ward last month, HT reported. Local authorities told the paper that a technical team would inspect the hole soon.

The Hindi newspaper Amar Ujala reported last week that incessant rains were causing landslides in the ward, posing imminent danger to 15 families.

Locals also told the New Indian Express that cracks had appeared in Joshimath town’s subsidence-affected areas as well as in the Joshimath-Auli road, and that a new walkway built in the town had started sinking.

‘Subsidence’ refers to the sinking of something – usually part of the Earth’s surface – to a lower level.

Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town has a history of experiencing subsidence due to a combination of being built on weaker land and being a hub for construction.

Also Read: Uncontrolled Construction, Ignored Warnings: How Joshimath Sank

Over 300 families in Joshimath were displaced in January this year after subsidence caused cracks to appear in hundreds of buildings.

Monsoon rains tend to exacerbate the problem. Even in October last year, the BBC found that locals were leaving their homes in the town after existing cracks began to widen following heavy rains.

The state has experienced flooding this monsoon season, causing the deaths of at least six people and the closure of 362 roads.

And Joshimath is not the only area affected. HT reported that families in a village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garwhal district have fled their homes as of Monday (August 14) after more than 50 buildings developed cracks amid heavy rainfall.

An organisation called the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti has announced that it will protest the situation in Joshimath by holding a tiranga yatra (tricolour march) on Independence Day (Tuesday, August 15) and and hold sit-ins every day starting Wednesday (August 16), HT reported.

It also reported that locals in Joshimath felt the government was being apathetic to the town’s current situation.

As Heavy Rains Lash Uttarakhand, Fresh Cracks Appear in Joshimath

The incessant rains for the last 15 days in Uttarakhand have also damaged several highways in the state, affecting the movement of vehicular traffic.

New Delhi: After January, fresh cracks are once again appearing in Joshimath town, raising fear among the residents of the Uttarakhand town.

According to the New Indian Express, a new walkway built by the municipality in the town has also started submerging.

Locals say new cracks have started appearing again in the land submergence-affected areas of Joshimath and a new crack has also surfaced on the Joshimath-Auli road.

The cracks first appeared in January in the town’s Manohar Bagh ward, and spread to the Singhdhar ward. In January, residents complained of cracks on the walls of houses, fields and roads splitting open, and some oozing brown and muddy water.

Residents of Joshimath blame the excavation work being undertaken as part of the construction of the Tapovan Vishnugad hydel power project – a 520-megawatt dam – as one cause for the sinking of their town. The construction of the Char Dham project – an ambitious 900 km-long all-weather road through the state to promote religious tourism – is also a cause, according to experts.

However, this time around the incessant rains in Uttarakhand for the last 15 days have also contributed to the latest episode of cracks. “The situation has become even more fragile during the rainy season and the administration and the government should take steps on a war footing towards Joshimath,” said Ved Prakash Pant.

Highways in the state are the worst affected due to rains. Badrinath National Highway near Kalimati was damaged in landslides near Gauchar and Kameda. The authorities concerned closed a total of 362 roads, including four national highways across the state, to avert accidents and to carry out repair works.

The rains have also badly affected the movement on the Joshimath-Malari highway, which connects to the China border area. Chamoli district authorities said the road is in bad condition at several points, and vehicular movement is being affected due to debris coming into the Tamak drain near Jumma village every day. The movement on the highway was suspended for about six hours on the highway, even bringing the movement of the army, ITBP as well as local vehicles to a standstill, the authorities added.

According to the state disaster response force, a 32-year-old man was swept away in a drain in the Raipur area of Dehradun on Tuesday evening due to a strong current of rainwater. The local police and SDRF are searching for the youth.

The Met department has predicted heavy rains with lightning in many areas of Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Bageshwar, Champawat, and Nainital districts. It warned against traveling on the highways, and said a journey should be planned only after obtaining accurate information about the weather.