There will be a fresh survey of frequent landslides in Joshimath town of Chamoli district. Disaster Management Secretary Dr. Ranjit Sinha has given instructions to the District Magistrate in this regard. He has said that a survey of landslide should also be done to find out how many families are affected by it in the area. He will be rehabilitated. A meeting will be held in this regard on January 15.
Joshimath has been under the threat of landslides for a long time. The matter of cracks in hundreds of houses is coming to the fore. A few months ago, a team of scientists formed on the instructions of the government had conducted a survey there and submitted the report. The team also gave several suggestions to solve the problem. In this series, the government has instructed the Irrigation Department to prepare the drainage plan of Joshimath and its DPR.
According to Dr. Ranjit Sinha, Secretary, Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Department, every house in the area will be connected to the sewer line by completing the works related to the sewer system soon. The tender for DPR is being floated on January 20. Geo technical study will also be done while making DPR. Irrigation Department Secretary Harichand Semwal said that the drainage plan and its DPR have been prepared in Almora. Now drainage plan and its DPR will be prepared by appointing a consultant in Joshimath as well.
Minutes of the meeting held last month by the Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Department regarding landslide in Joshimath have been issued. Accordingly, the government has sought the report of the soak pit. It has to be told that how many soak pits have been made for Joshimath, what is the current status of their connection. The committee has asked to take security measures on priority basis in Joshimath. The Irrigation Department has been instructed to take necessary action to prevent erosion from the Alaknanda river. It has been said that the bearing capacity study should be done at an interval of 100 x 100 square meters in Joshimath. So that, specific provisions related to building construction can be made in different areas.
Its detailed plan has been sought within 15 days. The government has also sought a report from the scientists of Roorkee-based Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) regarding the design of the buildings. It has been asked that what should be the design to secure the buildings where landslides are taking place. To prevent landslides in Joshimath and avoid major calamities in future, the drainage and sewerage system will have to be repaired immediately.
Dr. Swapnamita Chowdhary, Senior Scientist, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, has suggested this to the government after studying the pictures of Joshimath through Satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (INSAR) of European Space Agency. He says that landslides are happening on a large scale in many areas of Joshimath. The dilapidated sewerage system and drainage system is largely responsible for this. Due to large-scale construction work around or above the drains through which water flows during rains in the city, the water is going into the ground instead of reaching the Alaknanda river. This is becoming a major reason for landslides.
According to Dr. Swapnamita Chowdhary, in the year 2006 also, after studying the landslide in Joshimath, he submitted its report to the government. At that time she was posted in Govt. There is no information about what action was taken at the government level on that report.
