Joshimath Sinking: People Panic, Projects Stopped; CM To Visit Tomorrow

Dehradun: Joshimath, a hilly town located on the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway (NH-7) in the state of Uttarakhand has now grabbed headlines.

The has seen an explosion of construction and population in the last few decades and is making headlines for the reason: it is sinking.

According to District Disaster Management Officer NK Joshi, 561 houses have so far developed cracks in various parts of the town, including 153 in Ravigram, 127 in Gandhinagar, 71 in Manoharbagh, 52 in Singhdhar, 50 in Parsari, 29 in Upper Bazar, 27 in Suneel, 28 in Marwadi, and 24 in Lower Bazar.

Locals in Joshimath took to the streets on Wednesday night carrying torches to protest the town’s deteriorating housing stock, which they blamed in part on a nearby public energy project that is currently being built.

As the town observed a bandh to protest against administrative indifference to the plight of residents and the “NTPC projects which have led to its gradual sinking,” this was followed by yet another round of protests on Thursday against an “idle administration.”

The community is calling for immediate rehabilitation, stopping work on an NTPC tunnel and a bypass road between Helang and Marwadi for Badrinath, and blaming the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydroelectric project for the disaster.

The Chamoli administration decided to halt all construction work in and around the “sinking” town on Thursday despite protests. Additionally, it has been requested that the NTPC and the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) each construct 2,000 prefabricated homes in advance for the impacted families.

A team of experts recently conducted a survey and revealed that the fear among residents was true: the city is actually sinking at its base.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the situation in Joshimath is being closely monitored. There is more to it than meets the eye when it comes to this disaster waiting to happen in Joshimath.

The Uttarakhand government started evacuating families in Joshimath on Thursday after days of local protests, where hundreds of homes are in danger of collapsing due to developing significant cracks.