Explainer: Why Joshimath is sinking, and its larger environmental repercussions

Joshimath was built on an ancient landslide site, and has always had low bearing capacity. (Photo: Vaibhav via Wikimedia Commons)

Residents of the hill town of Joshimath called for a bandh on Thursday (January 5, 2022). Locals chanted slogans against the administration and staged a chakka jam, while businesses remained shut.

The reason: the land beneath Joshimath is sinking. Over 500 homes in the region have developed cracks. Locals have been forced to find support structures to keep their homes from falling under their own weight. Already, over 50 families have been shifted to safer locations; Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered immediate evacuation of 600 families from the region.

But why is Joshimath sinking? And what does it mean for the environmentally fragile region?

Let’s find out.

Why is Joshimath sinking?

Located at a height of 6,000 feet in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, Joshimath is a well known tourist town. Travellers heading to Badrinath, Hemkund Sahib, Auli and Valley of Flowers, among other religious and trekking destinations, halt here overnight, before travelling ahead. It is also of strategic importance to the Indian Army. To this end, in the past few decades, the hill town has seen an explosion of population and construction activities.

But what sets this town apart is its geography. It was built on an ancient landslide site, and has always had low bearing capacity. Hydroelectric projects and the expansion of the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway (NH-7) have made the slopes unsteady. Soil erosion due to running streams from Vishnuprayag and sliding along the natural streams have also had a role to play in sealing the town’s fate.

Why was nothing said so far?

Experts have warned for decades now that the area cannot handle the rampant construction that has been going on. The first such report came out in 1976. It indicated that an imbalance at Joshimath could threaten life and property.

The report – by the government-appointed Mishra Commission – was also the first to give out a crucial piece of information: that Joshimath was located on an ancient landslide, and thus built on an environmentally fragile area. It also falls in the high-risk seismic 'Zone-V', which meant it was more prone to earthquakes and ensuing landslides.

A 2006 report by Dr Swapnamita Vaideswaran, Scientist, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, revealed that seepage from streams uphill had been observed, which may have loosened the soil of Joshimath. Local residents, on the other hand, add that nalas in the town have been blocked by sludge that came from the 2013 Himalayan tsunami.

Is there a larger environmental impact?

There has been a spurt in unusual weather events in the Uttarakhand Himalayas - increased frequency and magnitude of forest fires, avalanches, flash floods and landslides.

As the climate continues to warm, receding glaciers in the Uttarakhand Himalayas (there are around 900 in the region) have left behind enormous sediment in areas above 2,500 metres. They have the potential to cause catastrophic floods under unusual weather events.

The valleys here are also clogged with large quantities of loose sediments, making them fragile and unstable. It’s why the most destructive floods in the region have been triggered from these valleys.

Lastly, the whole region is vulnerable due to the presence of weak rocks and seismic activity. Landslides can obstruct rivers at any time and cause flash floods. like the 1978 Bhagirathi floods. Add no long-term environment conservation strategy and haphazard development to the mix, and you have a recipe for disaster.

What can be done?

Experts are recommending a complete shutdown of development and hydroelectric projects in the region, and replantation, especially at vulnerable sites to retain soil capacity. They are also asking that residents of Joshimath be shifted to safer locations immediately.

The Central government has already set up a panel to conduct a ‘rapid study’ of the occurrence of land subsidence and its impact in Joshimath. Also covered will be the effects of the sinking of land on human settlements, buildings, highways, infrastructure and riverine systems.

The sinking of Joshimath is a wake-up call on how human interference can have a deep impact on the ecologically fragile Himalayan region. It’s also why we can no longer continue to ignore the problem.