Joshimath, a small town in Uttarakhand was declared unsafe for living by the government a few days ago.
This decision was taken by the government after observing cracks in the buildings.
According to experts Joshimath has been going through Land subsidence for quite a while, but had increased in the past week, making the place unfit for living.
According to many residents this increase was due to the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC)’s massive tunnel systems that they have been building for the past 15 years.
The recent Tapovan Vishnugad hydel project by the NTPS is mainly responsible according to many activists. The construction of this project had stopped on the 5th of January after many protests by activist groups.
NTPS has released a statement saying that the tunnel does not pass through Joshimath and they are not to blame for this disaster.
Many experts have also argued that the tunnelling may have had a small role in sinking the town, but the main reason was the fact that joshimath was built on landslide material.
Today, January 11th is supposed to mark the beginning of demolition for the unsafe houses, starting with 2 hotels. But people have gathered at said hotels and are trying to stop the officials from starting demolition.
The residents who are protesting have asked the government to say the exact amount of compensation that they will be getting. The government has promised market rate as compensation and hasn't made any further advancements towards the residents.
Many people have taken to social media and have asked the government to first compensate the people and make living arrangements for them before demolishing their houses and making them homeless.
Amid all this chaos many other places in Uttarakhand have also started noticing cracks.
These places include Uttarkashi, Tehri, Pauri and Karanprayag. It is reported that the reasons for this are the same as Joshimath, geology, climate and unplanned development.
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