The crisis unfolding in Joshimath speaks of the failure to respect the special and specific characteristics and idiosyncrasies of the fragile Himalayan mountain system while planning and executing developmental projects. More than 600 houses in the Uttarakhand town have, reportedly, developed cracks, putting the lives of at least 3,000 people in danger. Alarm bells had begun ringing about five decades back when the government constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the then Garhwal Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Mishra to investigate the cause of land subsidence in the area. In its report submitted in 1976, the committee said that major construction works should not be undertaken in Joshimath because it is located on a moraine — places where glacial debris accumulates. Subsequently, several studies flagged similar concerns. But these, by and large, went unheeded.
Joshimath is on the path of devotees headed towards at least three other important shrines — Badrinath, Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib. Infrastructure development for such activities is not problematic if it respects the region’s carrying capacity. But in Joshimath, constructions have mushroomed on relatively loose soil, left behind by glacial and seismic activities — in contravention of the Mishra Committee’s recommendations. Located in a highly seismic zone, the town experiences regular tremors, making its topsoil highly unstable. Hydel power projects have also been guilty of disregarding and disrespecting the precautions advised by the Mishra panel. Several experts have blamed tunnel construction by the National Thermal Power Corporation’s Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project. The NTPC has denied these charges, and the extent to which the corporation is responsible for the current crisis must be probed. But the fact also is that the Tapovan project has a history of upsetting the region’s complex hydrogeology. As pointed out by this newspaper, tunnelling by the power corporation punctured an aquifer in 2009. A year later, a Current Science article by Garhwal University scientists warned that this disruption could have long-term consequences for the region: “The sudden and large-scale dewatering has the potential of initiating ground subsidence.” Another aquifer breach was reported in 2012.
In August last year, a team of experts from IIT-Roorkee, Geological Survey of India, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee and the Uttarakhand Disaster Management Authority noticed signs of trouble — cracks like those surfacing currently in Joshimath — in other areas of Chamoli district. It blamed unscientific tourist activity, “particularly resorts that have mushroomed along the Joshimath Auli road,” and recommended enhancing drainage facilities and controlling erosion along segments of the Alaknanda river north of Joshimath. The team’s report may have come too late for residents of the beleaguered town. The Centre and state government are rightly giving top priority to the safety of Joshimath’s residents. The Centre has also asked scientists from the National Disaster Management Authority, Geological Survey of India, and National Institute of Hydrology to develop a “risk-sensitive urban developmental plan”. They could begin by revisiting the earlier studies on the region’s ecology.
