Joshimath Crisis

Joshimath is a town situated in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand. It is located in the Middle Himalayas at an altitude of 1875 m. Joshimath is a religious and tourist place, and is situated near holy shrine of Badrinath.

Reasons for Joshimath Crisis

Anthropogenic

• Development Projects: Various development projects are being undertaken nearby the sinking region. These include NTPC’s 520 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad Hydro Power Project and widening of roads under the Char Dham Project.
• Tourism: Joshimath has become overnight stopover for pilgrims and tourists visiting Badrinath, Shri Hemkund Sahib or Valley of Flowers.
• Unplanned Urbanisation: Most of the buildings have been constructed without proper studies about the underlying soil.
• Water Withdrawal: Subsidence occurs when large amounts of groundwater are withdrawn from specific types of rocks, such as fine-grained sediments.
• Absence of Proper Drainage: It leads to landslides.

Natural

• Joshimath is located in seismic zone V which is more prone to earthquakes besides gradual weathering and water percolation which reduce the cohesive strength of the rocks over time.
• The Mishra Committee Report states that Joshimath is situated on a sand and stone deposit. A majority of the town has been constructed on the debris of landslides, leading to smooth and eroded rocks and loose soil on the surface.

Mishra Committee Recommendation

• The most important preventive measure suggested was restriction on heavy construction in the region.
• Construction should only begin after the soil’s weight-bearing capacity and site stability have been assessed. It’s also important not to dig too deep into slopes.
• On repairing roads or building structures, it was recommended that the boulders should not be removed by digging or blasting the hillsides.
• It is necessary to fill in any cracks that have appeared on the slopes.
• It has also recommended that extensive plantation work be done in the area, particularly between Marwari and Joshimath, to conserve soil and water resources, and has cautioned against cutting trees in the landslide zone.