The reasons behind this are the National Thermal Power Corporation’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydropower project and Helang bypass, which have hollowed the ground from inside
On January 4, 2022 the people of Joshimath in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand took out torchlight processions to protest the government’s lack of attention towards the cracks in their houses.
These cracks, which started appearing in October 2021 in over 2,000 buildings, have now deepened and Joshimath seems to be ‘sinking’ due to land subsidence.
One of the reasons behind this is the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) Tapovan-Vishnugad hydropower project and Helang bypass, which has hollowed the ground from inside.
There were incidents of land subsidence in Joshimath in the 1970s as well. A committee which was formed to investigate the cause of the collapse said major construction works should not be carried out in Joshimath as well as the Niti and Mana valleys as these areas are situated on moraines, where debris accumulates after a glacier melts.
In NTPC’s project, the Helang bypass tunnel ends at Selang, about 5 km from Joshimath. Tunneling is being done from one side by blasting and on the other with a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) from Selang.
Fears had been expressed in 2013 that tunnels that were part of hydropower projects could cause disasters in the state. That was the year when such projects had been stopped.
The hydropower project was suspected this time around when 600 houses developed cracks first and muddy water started to seep from the ground in the Marwadi Ward or Ward 2 of Joshimath town. This was very likely due to gas and water in the tunnel passing through.
Apart from Joshimath, other towns like Karnaprayag and Nainital are seismically sensitive in Uttarakhand and the carrying capacity of their soil and rock needs to be gauged before proceeding with more construction.
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