Four wards of Joshimath declared completely unsafe: Disaster Management Secretary RK Sinha

Dehradun: Amid the evolving crisis around the landslide and subsidence at Joshimath in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand, Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha on Tuesday said four municipal areas or wards in the holy town have been declared as ‘completely unsafe’.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun on Tuesday, Sinha said, “Four wards in Joshimath have been declared completely unsafe. The rest of the wards have been found to be partially affected (by subsidence).”

“Many organisations are involved in the ongoing investigation into the reasons and extent of subsidence in and around Joshimath. We will come up with a final report soon. We have made adequate preparations in anticipation of rainfall,” he added.

However, in a piece of ‘good news’, Sinha informed that the water discharge level at JP Colony has gone down.

“The water discharge level (which is said to be behind the prevailing situation in Joshimath) at JP Colony has gone down. This is good news,” the Disaster management secretary said.

He added that the affected families have been shifted to shelter homes and the model huts will be ready within a week.

Hundreds of residents were shifted to relief centres in safe places after cracks appeared at several homes in Joshimath, suggesting subsidence.

The Uttarakhand government has already announced relief packages worth crores for the affected families of Joshimath.

No link between Hydropower projects and Joshimath subsidence: Power Minister

Power Minister R.K. Singh on Tuesday said that NTPC’s Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project has nothing to do with the land subsidence issue being faced in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town, the problem is with the area’s land.

He also ruled out review of the ongoing hydropower projects in hilly areas.

In an interview to a media outlet on the sidelines of the ongoing Davos WEF meet, Singh further said that hydropower projects won’t be stopped in the country, despite rising concerns over rampant construction in hilly areas.

The minister said that the problem in Joshimath was detected in 1975 and the following year a committee of top geologists was set up, which found that the town was an unplanned habitation which had come up on a landslide and the ground below had gravel instead of rocks.

Joshimath has sunk at a rapid pace of 5.4 cm in the last two weeks owing to land subsidence since January 2, 2023.

Singh further said that the town doesn’t have sewage and therefore, the entire drainage has seeped into the ground, thus loosening the rocks beneath.

In 2010, another committee was formed which gave the same inputs.

On the Tapovan Vishnugad project, the minister said it has been functioning since 2009 and is 15 km away from Joshimath.

In between there are several villages, he informed. In fact, the minister said there is a village right above the project and nothing has happened to that village and even the other villages located between that 15 km stretch.

The problem is therefore with Joshimath’s land, he noted.

India army troops ready for special missions as well as for helping in Joshimath

Indian Army troops deployed in the high-altitude mountains near the China border in Uttarakhand say that they are ready for both special missions as well as for relief and rescue operations in Joshimath which has been affected by land subsidence.

The soldiers while exuding confidence in successfully executing all the operations or missions said that they are up to any task assigned to them.

The troops are training in case they are called upon for the operations to help out the civil administration. Soldiers deployed in high altitude locations around 14,000 feet in the Uttarakhand sector along the Line of Actual Control are carrying out multiple roles.

“Indian Army is up to any job assigned to it, be it a natural calamity or any special mission. Our one troop is training for the Joshimath disaster. The troop will be prepared to contribute in the operation,” a soldier said.