CBRI identifies 14 high risk zones in subsidence-hit Joshimath

Dehradun: The Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) has identified 14 high-risk zones in subsidence-hit Joshimath and recommended that the administration should ask the residents in these areas of the town to either take compensation or get relocated.

"After a detailed survey, we have identified 14 high-risk zones in Joshimath from where land subsidence was reported last year. The houses in Marwari, Sunil, Upper Bazar, Lower Bazar, Singhdhar and Manohar Bagh areas of the town fall into this category. Residing in these houses is fraught with danger, " CBRI scientist Ajay Chaurasia said.

There are around 1,000 residential and commercial structures in the high-risk zones in the town.

However, it was found during the survey that the cracks and subsidence reported from the town last year had not widened or deepened over the last six months, Chaurasia said.

"The residents of the high-risk zones can be offered two options of either taking compensation or getting relocated to a safe location where all facilities of a smart village will be provided to them," he added. The CBRI will give all its support to the state government in developing the new location as a model village, Chaurasia said.

State Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha met the subsidence-hit families of Joshimath last Saturday to explain the situation to them but the affected residents protested against their "displacement out of Joshimath in the name of rehabilitation".

The affected families said they would prefer to be relocated to the additional land available within the town as their livelihoods depended on it.

Located in the higher reaches of Chamoli district, Joshimath is a bustling tourist town and the gateway to the Himalayan temple of Badrinath, the famous Sikh shrine Hemkund Sahib, skiing destination Auli and the Valley of Flowers- a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the point of view of the risk of land subsidence, Joshimath has been divided into three parts: severe, medium and low risk, one-third of which is marked as being under "serious threat", Sinha told the affected residents of the town.

He said all the affected families will be given options and further action will be taken after a discussion with the Central government.

However, Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti Convenor Atul Sati said that the affected residents had unanimously rejected the proposal of relocating them to a safe village.

Though held as a public hearing, some selected people only had been invited to the meeting by the administration, Sati said.

"It was not a proper public hearing," he added.

The state government has identified a location near Gauchar to relocate the affected people which is not acceptable to them as it is far away. Gauchar is more than 90 km from Joshimath.

Huge cracks and fissures had appeared on the buildings and the ground in Joshimath due to large-scale subsidence in January last year prompting the authorities to evacuate a large number of people to relief camps and temporary shelters.