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Friday, March 29, 2024

ISRO says Joshimath, its neighbors sink 2.5 inches every year

Satellite images of the Joshimath Valley in India’s Himachal Pradesh state show that the entire area is slowly sinking. The red dots mark the sinking parts, which are spread across the valley and not limited to the town. The images were collected from July 2020 to March 2022 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the first time.

Joshimath and its surrounding areas have been sinking at a pace of 6.5 cm or 2.5 inch each year, according to a two-year research conducted by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing.

The institute in Dehradun has been utilising satellite data from the area, which has a lot of tectonic activity and is quite sensitive.

Joshimath, the temple town that had been known to be’sinking’ for some time, reached a tipping point this year when buildings and roadways developed large fissures.

Another hamlet 90 kilometres downstream has also begun to develop cracks.

Locals in Joshimath blame the problem on the adjacent Tapovan plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation, or NTPC.

Satellite photos taken between July 2020 and March 2022 reveal that the whole area is gradually sinking. The sinking areas are shown by red dots.

According to statistics, they are dispersed across the valley and are not restricted to the town of Joshimath.

More than 110 households in Joshimath have evacuated, and the entire town is set to be evacuated. However, bulldozer destruction, which was set to commence today, was halted due to outraged villagers’ complaints.

The town’s traders and hotel owners, who rely heavily on pilgrim traffic, said they had not been warned in advance.

Apart from hotels and commercial facilities, the Uttarakhand government has stated that 678 residences are currently at risk. The calamity is not confined to Joshimath.

Residents of one neighbourhood, Bahuguna Nagar, in Karnaprayag, a town known as the entrance to Joshimath, have reported enormous fractures that have emerged in at least 50 homes in recent months.

The Uttarakhand administration has stated that it will investigate the situation.

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