Joshimath sinking: A look at why the town is on the brink of disaster
Situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, the holy town of Joshimath has seen rapid growth in construction and population in recent years. Rampant infrastructure development has put additional pressure on the already unstable land
Situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, the holy town of Joshimath in Uttarakhand has experienced rapid growth in both construction and population in recent years. Believed to be the winter seat of Lord Badrinath, Joshimath is sinking. A look at why the town is on the brink of disaster. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Joshimath is a city in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway (NH-7). (Image: News18 Creative)
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Joshimath is the gateway to Badrinath, one of the chaar dhams. It also serves as an overnight rest stop for visitors to Auli, Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Joshimath is believed to be the winter seat of Lord Badrinath, whose idol is brought down from the main Badrinath temple to the Vasudeva temple in Joshimath every winter. (Image: News18 Creative)
On the morning of January 3, the people of Joshimath were woken by an ominous rattling noise. As the sun came up, cracks in the walls and floors of houses revealed themselves. (Image: News18 Creative)
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According to Joshimath residents, small cracks had started appearing in houses and roads in December. (Image: News18 Creative)
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There are 4,500 buildings in Joshimath and 610 of these have developed huge cracks, making them unfit for habitation. (Image: News18 Creative)
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A recent survey by a team of experts confirmed what many locals had been fearing. The land beneath Joshimath is sinking. (Image: News18 Creative)
Joshimath was built on the site of an ancient landslide. The town is situated on an east-west running ridge that is cut through by high-gradient streams from Vishnuprayag. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Incidents of land subsidence in Joshimath were reported as far back as in the 1970s. Few houses had reported cracks in 1971. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Scientists and experts have been cautioning about the crisis for decades. The first report outlining the problem of sinking appeared in 1976. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Experts argue that a variety of factors built up over a long period of time have led to the subsidence. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Joshimath is built on approximately 500-metre debris from past landslides. The soil in the area cannot support a high rate of construction. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Over the last few decades, the population in Joshimath increased manifold and so has the tourist landfall. Rampant infrastructure development in the area has put additional pressure on the already unstable land. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Over the last few years, the Himalayas have seen quite a few climate risk events. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Experts have advised that by halting construction in the area, plantation drives to retain soil capacity in the area and relocating town’s people to a safe zone until the town could be made safe. (Image: News18 Creative)
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Planning of the town be revised in view of its shifting geographical conditions and anthropogenic requirements. (Image: News18 Creative)
