{"id":33092,"date":"2023-01-07T12:20:58","date_gmt":"2023-01-07T06:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=33092"},"modified":"2025-04-19T18:37:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T13:07:51","slug":"why-joshimath-is-sinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/why-joshimath-is-sinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Joshimath is Sinking?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Where is Joshimath located?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why is Joshimath sinking?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What can be done to save Joshimath?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Due to land subsidence, roads and over 560 houses in Joshimath, a key transit point for tourists travelling to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, developed cracks, causing panic and protests among the local population.<\/li>\n<li>Officials said the disaster management department is conducting surveys at locations where new cracks have developed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Where is Joshimath located?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/gUjVBcviCceyU_TOjZp4giUmZAHtASs8LVMLku05TDQ06Na9lif8oXKKu2e42Da8RdcJrlld5IbKS3vGV-Xx6PJKJBlVQ1F5F5Crgyl83CKRoDcIHfi_dxtagae6TxlS3m4xaQIieOF7qguw5jOtwejX48c9kQMai4qFonlL8MENL-9MfF0OaJQpYQ10IPse\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Location of Joshimath<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Joshimath\/ Jyotirmath is a hilly town in <strong>Chamoli <\/strong>District in the Indian state of <strong>Uttarakhand<\/strong>, located on the <strong>Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway<\/strong> (NH-7) at a height of 6150 feet (1875 m).<\/li>\n<li>The town (fall in high-risk seismic Zone-V) is traversed by running streams with a high gradient from Vishnuprayag, a confluence of the<strong> Dhauliganga and the Alaknanda rivers.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is a gateway to several Himalayan Mountain climbing expeditions, trekking trails (Auli, Valley of Flowers) and pilgrim centres like <strong>Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Joshimath is also of <strong>great strategic importance<\/strong> to the Indian armed forces and is home to one of the Army&#8217;s most important cantonments.<\/li>\n<li>It is home to one of the four cardinal maths or monasteries established by <strong>Adi Shankara &#8211; <\/strong>Sringeri in Karnataka, Dwarka in Gujarat, Puri in Odisha and <strong>Joshimath <\/strong>near Badrinath in Uttarakhand.<\/li>\n<li>A 2022 report (by the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology) stated that the area around Joshimath is covered with <strong>thick layers of overburdened material.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why is Joshimath sinking?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Joshimath is located on the site of an ancient landslide:<\/strong> This was found in a 1976 report (by government-appointed <strong>Mishra Commission<\/strong>), meaning scientists and geologists working in the area <strong>have been sounding the alarm for decades<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Geography of the town:<\/strong> Scattered rocks in the area are covered with old landslide debris comprising boulders, gneissic rocks (highly weathered), and <strong>loose soil<\/strong> (due to seepage from streams uphill), with a <strong>low bearing capacity.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>High rate of construction: <\/strong>Increased construction, hydroelectric projects, and the widening of the NH have made the slopes highly unstable in the last couple of decades.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Erosion: <\/strong>Due to the running streams from Vishnuprayag and sliding along the natural streams are the other reasons behind the city&#8217;s fate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Rishi Ganga flood disaster:<\/strong> This has worsened the situation, followed by incessant rainfall between August to October in 2021.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\n<p><strong>What can be done to save Joshimath?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The urgent need is to relocate<\/strong> the residents to a safer place and <strong>then reimagine the town&#8217;s planning<\/strong> to accommodate the new variables and the changing geographical factors.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Drainage and sewer planning<\/strong> (as more and more waste is seeping into the soil, loosening it from within) is one of the biggest factors that needs to be studied and redeveloped.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Experts recommend a complete shutdown<\/strong> of development and hydroelectric projects in the region.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Experts have also suggested <strong>replantation in the region<\/strong>, especially at the vulnerable sites <strong>to retain soil capacity<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>There is a need for a coordinated<\/strong> effort between the government and civil bodies with the aid of military organisations like the <strong>Border Roads Organisation<\/strong> (BRO) to save Joshimath.<\/li>\n<li>A sufficient number of<strong> National Disaster Response Force<\/strong> (NDRF) and State DRF teams should be deployed and helicopter facilities should be provided, if required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) In which district is Joshimath?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Joshimath\/ Jyotirmath is a hilly town in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, located on the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway (NH-7) at a height of 6150 feet (1875 m).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What is the religious significance of Joshimath?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Joshimath is known to be the winter seat of Lord Badri who is brought down from the Badrinath temple to the Vasudeva temple at Joshimath during the winter months.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/temple-collapses-in-uttarakhand-joshimath-no-casualty-8366254\/#:~:text=According%20to%20data%20provided%20by,and%2024%20in%20Lower%20Bazar.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Alarm bells in Joshimath: Cracks across town, over 500 homes hit<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 <strong>|<\/strong>\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiatoday.in\/science\/story\/why-is-joshimath-sinking-alarm-bells-in-hill-town-ringing-since-1976-2318223-2023-01-06\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>India Today<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 <strong>|<\/strong>\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/why-gateway-to-badrinath-is-sinking-under-its-own-weight\/articleshow\/96751255.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>ToI<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 <strong>|<\/strong>\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hU0OT281wiw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Business Standard<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Video:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hU0OT281wiw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hU0OT281wiw<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joshimath is located on ancient landslide, its geography, high rate of construction makes it prone to sinking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}