With over 60 families being pushed to evacuate their places to avoid further crisis, the horror of sinking of hill city 'Joshimath' has come to the fore.
As the looming crisis has grabbed headlines, many experts have come out and spoken about the causes, possible management and underlying reasons behind the sinking crisis. While one has claimed that a warning regarding the same was issued decades ago, but was ignored. The expert said that the water chemistry study would help as it would help chalk out the origin of the water around Joshimath.
According to the Broadcasting agency, India Today, Dr Manish Mehta, a geologist at Dehradun's Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said, "In 1976, the Mishra report on Joshimath was released. And it was said in their report that debris and soil had come down from the top of the mountain and Joshimath is perched on that mass. The Mishra Committee report 1976, filed by then Garhwal Commissioner Mishra, iterated that construction should be prohibited in this region.
The expert pointed out that the reason behind the leakage of muddy water could be due to a cavity, he presumes. Also, due to vibrations caused by development works to the faults under Joshimath, might have opened the fractures due to which water is flushing out from the surface. However, he asserted that this needs to be thoroughly investigated.
Further, issuing a warning, the expert said that "We look for reasons and solutions when things go out of our hands. We must act as soon as we get early signs and warnings... Joshimath is a sensitive zone 5 area."
Having assessed that early warnings were ignored, the hill state government has awakened now, as PMO held meeting and took cognizance of the recent crisis.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) Secretary of Border Management will be visiting Uttarakhand today to inspect the situation in Joshimath.
And it has also been decided that the situation will be investigated and recommendations will be made by the National Institute of Disaster Management, National Disaster Management Authority, Geological Survey of India, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Hydrology, and Central Building Research Institute.
