Daily Briefing: Joshimath built and built amid alerts; more pilgrims than infra, finds NGT panel on key pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand’s Char Dham; and more

1) A preliminary report released by the ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre showed that “a rapid subsidence event was triggered” in parts of Joshimath town.Cartosat-2S satellite data acquired by ISRO found the area sunk by around 5 cm in just 12 days since December 27.

🔴 Warning bells rang several times since a government report in 1976 cautioned against heavy construction in Joshimath that rests on old landslide debris and moraine above a permanent tectonic zone. But nothing deterred successive governments from bringing mega projects and mass tourism to the area.

🔴 Meanwhile, a Joint Committee, formed by the NGT to probe the “ecological damage occurring near and around sacred pilgrim trails in sensitive and rich biodiversity regions of Uttarakhand” because of significant increase in the number of pilgrims and mules/horses, has found that the region lacks waste management infrastructure. Over 23 lakh pilgrims visited the Char Dham sites between April and November last year.

2) In her column this week, Neerja Chowdhury writes on her recent visit to the new Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya in Delhi, on the same day V-P Dhankhar dropped his bombshell — that Parliament should be supreme and not held hostage to the “basic structure” of the Constitution: “While the V-P seeks a crucial change in the balance of power, the museum is a good reminder of why the system has worked over the years, over different governments and PMs and why it’s key to the future.”

3) “Words mean differently to different people based on their prejudices and notions,” writes Ram Madhav in our Opinion section today adding that “RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s Bharat needs to be understood by removing the prism of such prejudices.” Madhav was referring to Bhagwat’s recent controversial interview. “From a media shy and introverted organisation, the RSS has today emerged as the most visible force ready to engage with the world on all the contemporary issues and challenges.”

4) The CBI has registered an FIR against former finance secretary Arvind Mayaram for alleged cheating, criminal conspiracy, and corruption. He is accused of extending undue favours to De La Rue by giving a three-year extension to its “expired contract” for supply of exclusive colour shift security thread for Indian currency notes. But what is the background of De La Rue? What is the status of De La Rue vis-à-vis Indian contracts at present? We explain

What to watch this weekend

This week, Shubhra Gupta reviews ‘Trial By Fire’, the seven-part web series now streaming on Netflix. Mentioning that this is a show that needed to be made, Gupta says: “The best part of the series is the steadiness it manages to instil even in the most sorrowful faces. No loud chest-beating hysteria, no sensationalising.”

Until next time,

Anandu Suresh