India's 'sinking' sacred town near China border faces dark future

[beijingwalker]

India's 'sinking' sacred town near China border faces dark future​

Critics say ill-advised development compounds Joshimath's geological risks

A crumbling home in Joshimath on Jan. 13: Land subsidence is displacing families as well as raising potential security implications in the Indian town. © Reuters
QURATULAIN REHBAR, Contributing writerJanuary 28, 2023 12:01 JST

JOSHIMATH, India -- Davindra Singh Rawat was jolted awake by a loud rumble in early January. He felt that the earth beneath his home in Joshimath, a picturesque Himalayan town, was sinking.
The next day, the 65-year-old saw many of his fellow residents on the roads, leaving behind a place many consider holy.

Joshimath's location in north India's Uttarakhand state, at an elevation of about 1,875 meters, has made it a popular destination for skiers and sightseers as well as religious pilgrims. It is also strategically important as a waypoint toward the contentious India-China border.

But geology and, some critics say, poorly planned development have thrust the community of 25,000 into a full-scale crisis in recent weeks. Over 800 buildings, including Rawat's house, have developed deep cracks. Although land subsidence is not a new problem, the recent slippage affected thousands of people and displaced at least 900 members of 29 families, State Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha told reporters on Jan. 20.

The crisis could have security implications, too. Joshimath Cantonment is a vital station for the Indian Army, home to the Garhwal Scouts, an elite unit specializing in long-range reconnaissance and warfare at high elevations.

Authorities are now determining which structures should be demolished for safety, prompting protests from residents and demands for compensation.

"We are a six-member family and we have been given a single room for accommodation," Rawat said. "It is impossible to stay in such a congested room in this harsh winter."

Anita Bist, 35, and the rest of her five-member family had to evacuate their two-story home. She had noticed small cracks last October, but the family had not considered them an urgent threat. "It is not easy to leave your house, where you have memories involved," she said.

The chief minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, has said the government will announce a resettlement plan for families soon. That is unlikely to put politically uncomfortable questions of "why" to rest.

Experts who spoke with Nikkei Asia said there are several factors responsible for the "sinking" of the town and the deteriorating situation.

Joshimath is in an area geologists and environmentalists consider "geologically unstable," prone to land subsidence, erosion and earthquakes. But experts and activists also pointed to a human element -- haphazard development projects and a lack of attention to warning signs.

Almost a dozen residents who spoke to Nikkei Asia said they had been sounding the alarm over subsidence since last year and were urging authorities to do a survey of the town. They said this was not done.

Many are pointing fingers at construction projects in the area.

Geologists and residents have long warned that large-scale construction work in and around Joshimath, including for power projects built by one of India's largest energy conglomerates, National Thermal Power Corp. (NTPC), should be stopped. Prakash Negi, an activist with the grassroots movement Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (Save Joshimath Committee), told Nikkei Asia that NTPC's digging is the only new thing that has happened recently in the town.

"People have been living here for decades, [but] we have not seen such a level of destruction before," Negi said.

NTPC has publicly insisted that its tunneling in the area has "no relation" to the sinking, that the tunneling does not pass under the town and that it has been using a boring machine rather than blasting, according to local media.

The government's high-profile Char Dham road project, which aims to widen roads connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites, has also drawn criticism.

Underscoring the politically sensitive nature of the crisis, a report detailing the extent of the subsidence disappeared from the website of the Indian Space Research Organization after a government directive barred scientists at government institutes from making public pronouncements, local media reported.

According to images released by the ISRO's National Remote Sensing Center before the directive, Joshimath witnessed a rapid subsidence of nearly 5.4 cm from Dec. 27 to Jan. 7. The ISRO report also stated that a subsidence of nearly 9 cm had been recorded from April to November 2022.

Hundreds of structures in Joshimath have developed deep cracks like this one. (Photo courtesy of Prakash Negi)
Geologist S.P. Sati said the Uttarakhand Himalayas are on the verge of irreparable damage.

"No matter how much we like to ignore it ... there is a big question mark on the validity of the model of development adopted by us," he said.

Beyond any recent project, he said what is happening in Joshimath now has been in the making for half a century.

Cracks were forming in houses as far back as the 1970s. In 1976, a committee was formed to investigate. In a report, the panel advised that "heavy construction be banned in the area around Joshimath" to stop it from sinking. Geologists say successive governments in Uttarakhand failed to heed the report.

"Joshimath is located on old glacial debris, and therefore the soil has limited load-bearing capacity," said Ravi Chopra, a veteran environmentalist who was on an expert committee appointed by India's top court to study the impact of hydropower dam projects in the Himalayas. "The Mishra Committee had recommended that there should not be overloading in this town. That recommendation was not followed."

"There is scientific, circumstantial evidence and local people's experience that make these projects a prime suspect," he added.

Local residents, meanwhile, face an uncertain future. "We have been fighting for our identity, our sacred land. Where shall we go?" said Negi, the activist. "We can't leave everything aside. It will take at least 50 years to build our houses and establishments."

India's 'sinking' sacred town near China border faces dark future

Critics say ill-advised development compounds Joshimath's geological risks

asia.nikkei.com