Editorial: Man-made disaster

The crisis in Joshimath comes as a grim reminder of how governments messed up with the environment to an extent that it has become irreversible.

Hyderabad: The land subsidence leading to wide cracks in roads, homes and fields in Uttarakhand’s temple town of Joshimath, a spiritual doorway to the holy shrines in the Himalayas, is the result of a man-made disaster. Unbridled construction activity and commercialisation of the geologically fragile region have resulted in an environmental crisis. All developmental projects must be halted and a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impact must be undertaken immediately to arrest further damage. Amidst growing alarm, over 4,000 people have already been evacuated from the ‘sinking’ town. In fact, scientists and geologists have been sounding the alarm for decades. Way back in 1976, a panel, set up under the chairmanship of Garhwal Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Mishra, had recommended that major construction works should not be carried out in the city and in the Niti and Mana valleys as these areas are situated on moraines — a mass of rocks, sediment, and soil transported and deposited by a glacier. Joshimath, a strategic pitstop for the pilgrims bound for Badrinath, Kedarnath and other temples, is located on the site of a landslide and cannot support a high rate of building activity. The location is also significant since the Army Cantonment here is close to the China border. Despite the warnings from experts, the region has been witnessing haphazard construction activity including, the hydropower projects and the widening of the national highway for the ambitious Char Dham project. The entire region from Chamoli to Joshimath had faced disasters in the past. The floods of 2013 and 2021 caused major devastation.

A glacial lake-burst two years ago led to the loss of 204 lives, mostly migrants working on a hydropower project. An Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) study flagged that perennial streams, snow in the upper reaches and highly weathered rocks with low cohesive characteristics made the area prone to landslides, a vulnerability further worsened by several floods in recent years and bursts of torrential and unseasonal rainfall. There are demands from citizens and experts alike for assessment of the rock strength, seismic microzonation of the town, replanning of its drainage system and rainwater outlets, and even shelving an under-construction power project. Joshimath is also prone to sinking due to tectonic activity. That adds to the urgency of taking remedial measures. Keeping in view the present crisis, there is a need for mapping other hill towns facing a similar situation and a relook at the demand for the creation of eco-sensitive zones in Uttarakhand’s valleys. The crisis in Joshimath comes as a grim reminder of how successive governments messed up with the environment to an extent that it has become irreversible now. The land subsidence in the region must be declared a national calamity and all developmental projects be halted till a report by experts and environmentalists is submitted on the issue.