Uttarakhand’s Joshimath has been tagged as a landslide-subsidence zone, with the state and central governments’ evacuation works gaining pace amidst the sinking of the town’s ground – leading to several safety hazards.
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Over 60 families living in uninhabitable houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres up until now.
This issue has raised several questions about the safety of people living in mountainous regions. And now, some experts have said that other prominent hilly areas like Uttarkashi and Nainital face similar risks.
Hilly cities always see a massive footfall of tourists and construction works. Since they are situated in the Himalayas, they usually experience extreme weather conditions like rainfall, floods and landslides.
Studies over the years have pointed toward human activity as the primary contributor to land subsidence cases, wherein cracks spread on buildings and homes.
As per an India Today report, in the case of Joshimath, the reason stands to be the same.
The land beneath the town is shifting owing to a weak foundation and enhanced toe erosion due to the constant rainfall and floods in the recent past.
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Nainital and Uttarkashi face similar threat
As Nainital and Uttarkashi see human activity in terms of tourist footfall and unregulated construction works, experts are now indicating threats of possible sinking in these areas too.
A study from last year based on the 2009 Balia Nala Landslide identified the town’s vulnerability. Nainital is located in the Kumaun Lesser Himalaya and a 2016 report suggests that half of the area of the township is covered under debris generated by landslides.
“What we are seeing in Joshimath, can very easily and soon replicate in Nainital, Uttarkashi and Champawat, which are highly prone to seismic activity,” the study notes.
The study says that the slope pattern is the fundamental factor for the catastrophe in landslide cases.
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Secondly, rock types also play a very dominant role in the mass movements followed by the tectonic set-up of the area.
Primary cause is unchecked construction
Unchecked construction work also plays a significant role in causing land subsidence. In Joshimath, the people have also blamed the NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project for their woes.
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The residents seek clarity from the government on whether Joshimath is habitable. They said if not, the government should claim their land and homes and rehabilitate them at some other place.
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