India set to demolish buildings in sinking Himalayan town

Hundreds of people in the northern Himalayan town of Joshimath have been evacuated and authorities are set to demolish some of the damaged buildings, Indian officials and local media reported on Tuesday. 

In early January, large cracks began appearing on the roads and buildings in the town. This was due to a process called land subsidence, which is a gradual sinking of the ground due to movement of materials underground, according to the US National Geodetic Survey (NDS).

 

The NGS states that the usual causes are due to "the removal of water, oil, natural gas or mineral resources out of the ground by pumping, fracking or mining activities."

The exact cause of the land subsidence in Joshimath remains unclear. However, experts and residents have blamed the damage on large scale construction projects undertaken by government run-companies. 

Nearly 700 houses have suffered cracks and close to 400 people have been moved to safer locations.

"We will demolish some unsafe buildings based on the recommendation and under the guidance of federal experts," Himanshu Khurana, a senior district official in the region, told Reuters.

Families evacuated from sinking town

Joshimath, located near the border with China, is a popular tourist and pilgrimage route as it is a gateway to Hindu and Sikh shrines.

Soon after the cracks began appearing, residents stopped the construction work on a hydropower project undertaken by the state run National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC).

However, the company has denied allegations it is responsible for the damage. NTPC said that its 12.1 kilometer-long (7.5 mile-long) tunnel "does not pass through Joshimath town," reported The Indian Express.

In August 2022, the state government of Uttarakhand appointed another team to conduct a geological and geotechnical survey of Joshimath.

The committee found that "unplanned developmental activities, periodic seismic activities, and absence of the assessment of the carrying capacity of the ground” have  disturbed the region's fragile ecology, reported The Hindustan Times.

Analysts have suggested that the current situation is merely a result of not paying heed to these warnings.

An official from the Home Ministry told NDTV that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) along with the local administration are now conducting surveys in the area.

"A report is being compiled by an expert committee and it would be submitted to the Prime Minister's Office," said the official.

This report was written in part with material from Reuters.

Edited by: Rebecca Staudenmaier