News Highlight
Joshimath Crisis: Officials asked to undertake seismic monitoring and prepare a construction plan.
Key Takeaway
- Joshimath has been declared a landslide-subsidence zone, and over 60 families living in uninhabitable houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres, a senior official said on January 8.
- At least 90 more families have to be evacuated.
- The local administration has set up relief centres at four-five places in the Himalayan town, Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar said.
Joshimath Crisis
- About Joshimath
- Joshimath is a hilly town in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, located on the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway (NH-7).
- The city is a tourist destination since it provides an overnight rest stop for visitors to Badrinath, Auli, Valley of Flowers, and Hemkund Sahib, among other notable religious and tourism destinations in the state.
- Joshimath is also strategically important to the Indian military, as it is home to one of the Army’s most essential cantonments.
- Running streams with a steep gradient from Vishnuprayag, a confluence of the Dhauliganga and the Alaknanda rivers, through the town (which falls in high-risk seismic Zone-V).
- Why is it sinking?
- Joshimath is a sand and stone deposit; it is not the primary rock; hence it was not ideal for a township.
- Natural variables have been out of balance due to vibrations caused by blasting, high traffic, and so on.
- A lack of good drainage services also causes landslides.
- A large amount of water has percolated into the porous crystalline rocks beneath the surface, softening them even more.
- When water is not allowed to flow naturally, it exerts a lot of pressure, either above or below the earth.
- Cavities between the soil and the stones are caused by soak pits, which allow water to soak into the earth slowly.
- As a result, water seepage and soil erosion occur.
How to prevent a disaster?
- Restriction of heavy construction
- Construction should be permitted only after examining the soil’s load-bearing capability and the site’s stability, and restrictions on slope excavation should also be applied.
- Keeping the boulders
- In landslide locations, stones and boulders should not be removed from the bottom of the hill since this removes toe support, increasing the likelihood of landslides.
- Sealing the cracks
- Cracks that have formed on the slopes should be sealed.Â
- The toe of a landslide is the lowest point.
- Tree conservation
- It has also urged against chopping trees in the landslide zone.Â
- Furthermore, it has been stated that significant reforestation work in the area, particularly between Marwari and Joshimath, should be performed to conserve soil and water resources.
- Slope agriculture must be avoided
- Ploughing loosens the soil, increasing the possibility of a landslide.
- Preventing water seepage
- To avoid future landslides, available rainwater seepage must be halted by installing a pucca drainage system.
- Cobbled roads
- Roads should be metalled and should not have scuppers that drain water from the road surface.
Land Subsidence
- About
- Firstly, land subsidence is the slow or abrupt sinking of the Earth’s surface.
- Subsidence – ground sinking caused by underground material movement is most commonly induced by pumping, fracking, or mining activities that remove water, oil, natural gas, or mineral resources from the ground.
- Natural phenomena include earthquakes, soil compaction, glacial isostatic adjustment, erosion, and sinkhole development.
- And adding water to fine soils deposited by wind can also produce subsidence (a natural process known as loess deposits).
- Subsidence can occur over huge areas, such as entire states or provinces, or over very small areas, such as a yard.
- Landslide
- Firstly, a landslide occurs when a rock, rubble, or earth slides down a hill.
- They are a kind of mass wasting, which refers to any downward movement of soil and rock caused by gravity.
- Furthermore, landslides include five types of slope movement: falls, topples, slides, spreads, and flows.
Way forward
- People’s safety should be a top priority right away.
- The state administration should provide a clear and ongoing line of communication with the impacted citizens.
- A time-bound reconstruction strategy must be developed.
- Continuous seismic monitoring is required.
- Joshimath should also have a risk-averse urban development plan.
Pic Courtesy: Hindustan Times
Content Source: The Hindu