Triggering further panic in the disaster-hit Joshimath, where huge cracks have appeared in over 500 houses in the last few months due to land subsistence, a temple collapsed in Singdhar ward in the Himalayan zone on Friday.
According to local residents, there was no one inside the temple at the time of the incident. The temple was abandoned after it developed huge cracks over the past 15 days.
Land subsidence refers to the vertical sinking of land in a region. It consists of the Earth’s surface moving downwards vertically and involves little or no movement horizontally. Reasons can be both human and natural.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in Dehradun that a team of experts, including engineers from the Geological Survey of India, Wadia Institute, and IIT Roorkee, will study all aspects of the problem.
Incidentally, a team comprising experts from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology and IIT Roorkee, among others, constituted by the Government last year had mentioned in its report that large chunks of Joshimath, situated at a height of over 6,000 feet, are sinking.
Officials said land subsidence has been going on for more than a year but the problem has aggravated over the past fortnight. The affected locals have been moved to safer locations with the State Government announcing that `4,000 will be given to each family as monthly rent for the next six months.
Huge cracks have appeared in many houses and nearly 50 families have been moved to safer locations, disaster management officials said. 60 families living in a colony meant for Vishnu Prayag Jal Vidyut Pariyojana employees have been shifted elsewhere, its director Pankaj Chauhan said.
All construction activities related to mega projects like the Chardham all-weather road (Helang- Marwari bypass), Auli ropeways and the NTPC’s hydel project have been stopped till further orders on the demand of residents. Land subsidence has been going on for more than a year but the problem has aggravated over the past fortnight, officials said. In the said area, even at present, the cracks are continuously increasing, due to which more affected families are likely to be temporarily shifted to safer places.
Explaining the land subsistence process, Dr Satyendra Mittal, professor of Civil Engineering Department, Roorkee IIT, said, “There can be mainly two reasons for the landslide happening in Uttarakhand. One is man-made reason and the other is the nature-born reason. When construction works start happening in an unplanned way, then it is called man-made reason.”
“The water which is seeping out from some unknown place of the tunnel must be getting accumulated somewhere and when that water gets accumulated beyond the land’s capacity, it increases Hydrostatic pressure, whose aftermath is land subsidence,” Dr Mittal added.
Taking note of natural reasons, the IIT Roorkee professor said, “An extremely high stream of water stops somewhere due to some unknown reasons, causing a landslide. This is kept in the category of natural causes.”
Dr Mittal said a team should be constituted for surveying the land and identify the places from where water seepage is taking place.
“And apart from this, the locals of Joshimath should be trained so that they are prepared for such situations. They should also be taught ‘Architectural Art’. They should be given the knowledge of avoiding any work which can be fatal in future,” he added.
A team of experts, including officials from the administration and State Disaster Management namely Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar and Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha have started the door-to-door survey in the areas which were affected by the disaster.
Situated at a height of 6,150 feet, Joshimath is the starting point of several treks and trails in the Himalayas. Joshimath is a gateway to Hemkund Sahib and Badrinath, one of the char dhams or the four Hindu pilgrimage site.
Joshimath’s attraction for pilgrims and tourists has led to the city expanding exponentially over the years, leading to the construction of buildings and roadways. A survey regarding this was first conducted in 1976 when a committee warned that construction by removing boulders and blasting the hillside would lead to severe environmental damage in the region.
In 2021, a multi-institutional survey was requested by a Supreme Court-appointed panel. The survey concluded that Joshimath is built on an unstable foundation, located in a high-risk seismic ‘zone-V’ which can give way to landslides in case of heavy rain, tremors etc.
The report which was submitted by the Disaster Management Department to the State Government last year had said Joshimath was built on an unstable foundation. It also said a poor drainage system and erosion by rivers have compounded the situation in the past few years and recommended that construction in certain parts of the town be stopped.