Cracks on roads and houses in Joshimath in is mainly due to the rampant infrastructure development

The ground is cracking in Joshimath, there are cracks in the doors and walls of the houses. Although such news was being heard and seen for some time, but at that time, not much attention was being paid to them considering them to be isolated. But now things have gone from bad to worse. This is being seen in a large number of homes, shops and other places. The ground is bursting, people are horrified. So much so that the idea is going on to resettle people to another place. Why did this happen there and what can be done now so that the lives and property of the people can be protected. There should be no scope for repetition of such incidents in future. Dr. Shrestha Tayal, senior ecologist of Teri (TERI) University have given information to Navbharat Times about it.

Why is Joshimath cracking?Why did this situation happen in Joshi Math without any earthquake or natural calamity?

Dr. Shrestha Tayal, Senior Ecologist, TERI University, said that the Himalayan mountain ranges in Uttarakhand are called very young mountains. These are very weak hills on the basis of their basic structure. This is the reason why many incidents of landslides happen here every year. Only after a light rain, its effect starts falling on these hills. Apart from this, trees have also been cut in these areas. Weakness has also come because of this. In such a way, the hills which are already weak and we will vandalize or build there, for example trees were cut and blasting done for the roads being built there. In such a situation, the weak hills will become more weak and will break. In such a situation, there will be more weakness due to new work. In this case, cracks and other things will be visible.

Why didn't these incidents happen earlier?Why did the cracks in the houses and the creaking of the roads suddenly increase in Joshimath? Why didn't these incidents happen earlier?

In response to this question, the expert said that there had been incidents of cracks in the houses earlier also. However, their number was less. Now that construction activities have increased in that area, projects have been implemented. This has also increased the blasting. The reason for this crackdown is because of the big projects that are causing this effect. Dr. Tayal said that digging is done inside the mountains for tunnel construction. This causes instability in the mountains. He said it is a matter of investigation. Dr. Tayal said that the impacts of the projects of the last two years have to be studied. Only after this the real reason behind it will be revealed.

Mistake in study or research regarding the project?

If you compare the mountains of Uttarakhand with the Western Ghats, you will find that the engineers who made the projects of Konkan Railway there. There also rains and landslides happen in the hills. Despite this, the railway line was constructed by constructing 40 to 50 tunnels there too. For that the project was constructed there by the engineers only after the study there. Because of this, no such unpleasant news was heard there. If this is happening in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, then surely proper study or research has not been done regarding the project. Somewhere there has been a mistake in this, due to which such news is being heard here.

Green tourism will solve

With the increase in the number of tourists in the state, there has also been a density of settlement. On this issue, Dr. Tayal said that green tourism will be the only solution when the number of people increases. Added that the increase in tourism in Uttarakhand is also one of the reasons behind this. Because of this, the number of hotels and houses has increased there. Dr. Tayal said that arrangements have to be made for the livelihood of the common people. So there will be pressure there. In such a situation, the concept of green tourism has to be brought. People reach the area of Kedarnath only at a particular time.