Joshimath’s Tragic Descent: An Ancient Himalayan Town On The Verge Of Collapse

The ancient Himalayan town of Joshimath has been declared a landslide-subsidence zone, with over 60 families in damaged houses being evacuated to temporary relief centers and at least 90 more families needing to be evacuated.

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The local administration has established relief centers in several locations, and the Chamoli District Magistrate is going door-to-door in the affected area to assess the damage and encourage people living in houses with cracks and on the verge of collapse to move to the centers.

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A total of 4,500 buildings in Joshimath have been affected, with 610 of them being deemed uninhabitable due to large cracks.

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The damaged area, which includes both houses with pre-existing cracks and those recently damaged, spans about 1.5 km in an arch-shaped pattern.

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Residents of uninhabitable houses in Joshimath have been told to move to safer accommodations, including hotels and homestays. The state government will provide a monthly allowance of INR 4,000 for up to six months to those who need to rent a new place to stay.

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For decades, the Himalayan town of Joshimath has been at risk of land subsidence due to its location in a landslide zone. The danger was highlighted in the 1976 Mishra Committee report, which recommended a ban on construction in the area and warned against removing boulders or blasting hillsides for roads.

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However, these recommendations were ignored and hydroelectric projects were established in the region. In 2009, a tunnel boring machine punctured water-bearing strata near Shelong village, leading to a discharge of 60-70 million liters of water per day.

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The Shankaracharya Math in Joshimath has also developed cracks due to the land subsidence threat. Swami Vishwapriyanand, the Math's chief, attributes the disaster to hydroelectric power projects and tunnels, stating that the town had no cracks just 15 days ago, but now they are continually increasing.

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