6th January 2023 (6 Topics)

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Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town is ‘sinking’

Context

Joshimath, the ancient Uttarakhand town has become a cause of concern. Though the town of Joshimath has been witnessing cracks emerging for the past two decades, things have escalated over the past few days.

How citizens are reacting?

Citizens are in an uproar, cracks have appeared in homes, families have been evacuated, hotels shuttered and the ropeway service halted.

The location

Located at a height of 6,000 feet in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, the town on the route to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib falls in high-risk seismic ‘Zone-V’.
It is located on the top of Main Central Thrust (MCT) line.
The geography of entire state of Uttarakhand is fragile. And, Joshimath in particular is situated on old land deposits.
So, there is always a risk of landslide in Joshimath. Due to this, every year, people of Joshimath notice cracks in their buildings and fields.
The Jyotirmath Hindu monastery, one of the most important sites in Hinduism, is here.
It also has nearby one of the closest military stations to the border with China.

Main Central Thrust (MCT) line

In simplest terms, the MCT is a crack or geological fault in Himalayas.
It is formed due to the collusion of Indo-Australian plate and Eurasian plate.
The area underneath the MCT is particularly very fragile due to frequent tectonic activities.
And, therefore, seismic activities are very common in MCT areas.
The MCT extends for over 2200 km across the Himalayas in northwest-southeast direction. Joshimath is located above the MCT.

Who is responsible?

The crisis in Joshimath is both natural and man made

Ground subsidence — a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the earth’s surface due to removal or displacement of subsurface materials — has induced structural defects and damage observed in almost all wards of Joshimath.
Tunnelling and slope cutting
Tapovan-Vishnugad hydro projectand ongoing construction of Helang bypass are considered to be one of the main reasons for subsidence.

The Mishra Committee report of 1976 as saying that “Joshimath lies on an ancient landslide” and that heavy construction work ought to be barred.

Suggestive measures

Further construction in the area should be made only after examining the stability of the site, and restrictions should be placed on the excavation on slopes.
No boulders should be removed either by digging or blasting and no tree should be cut in the landslide zone.

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