JOSHIMATH NAGAR RESIDENTS IN CHAMOLI DISTRICT IN REAL DOLDRUMS. A BIG HOTEL TILTED APART FROM CRACKS IN MORE THAN 500 HOMES !
The Joshimath township, a gateway to Badrinath Dham the most revered spiritual historical destination, one among the four Dhams, the three being Kedarnath, Gangotri n Yamunotri, is today in acute danger.
About more than 500 houses including hotels n other commercial buildings have developed wide cracks and some buildings and houses even tilted posing direct threat to the lives of the residents of Joshimath township that comes under Chamoli district of Garhwal, Uttarakhand.
The earth beneath in Joshimath is sinking due to landslides and houses developing cracks which are widening day by day.
The residents are in panic and desperation. The plight of the poor, hapless and anguished residents some of them widows can be seen in videos being circulated in social media.
They don’t know what to do and where to go.
This problem of the land of Joshimath sinking constantly is not a new problem but happening since the last two years and the residents have been complaining though feebly till an enlightened citizen and activist Comrade Atul Sati who is a permanent resident of Joshimath took the cudgels of mobilising the local populace on his own shoulders.
He submitted memorandums to authorities, spoke to media and wrote in social media on this problem incessantly.
A massive demonstration with thousands of women, men, youth and senior citizens including children n the local MLA Rajendra Bhandari took place in the township on 24 th December with vociferous anti establishment slogans urging the state government to arrange the survey of each and every house and building of Joshimath and provide adequate solution to their grievances which literally threatens the existence of thousands of residents of Joshimath etc. with their lives under acute risk.
The government finally woke up and there are news that the administration is on the job to set right the situation to some extent as sinking of the Joshimath land leading to hundreds of cracks in houses and hotel building etc can’t be measured accurately and solution given immediately. The reason being that the massive NTPC’s Vishnugad Hydropower Project’s tunnels being built underground have negatively impacted the environment leading to sinking of Joshimath land on wide scale subsequently developing cracks in majority of houses and hotel n commercial buildings including the land developing wide cracks that has the strong pillars of Auli ropeway.
According to comrade Atul Sati a big hotel of Joshimath has tilted due to the sinking of the land beneath which has a water tank with the capacity of thousands of litres of water including 40 rooms under operation.
The tilted hotel, the picture of which is reportedly going viral in social media if falls down as being predicted due to its getting tilted – the lives of hundreds of residents is in direct danger.
There is a big colony behind the hotel and in case the hotel comes down it is bound to harm the residents says Atul Sati.
The local residents have lodged an FIR against the hotel owner in view of the risk being confronted by them.
On the other hand the Hotel owner n management are trying to put an extra strong beam with additional pillar to give a strong support to the tilted hotel but it is said that this is more dangerous as digging of the base of the hotel may lead to more sinking of the land beneath.
Sati says that the best alternate is to dismantle the hotel instead of displacing the residents of the colony who are living on the back side of the hotel.
The residents of the Joshimath Colony behind this big hotel have already written letters to the SDM and Police authorities with photographs of the tilted hotel urging to dismantle it and adequately compensate the owner, than to displace hundreds of local residents of the colony behind the hotel.
