India’s top court will hear a petition next week seeking to halt construction of a hydroelectric project that it says is sinking the Himalayan town of Joshimath as the crisis reignites the development versus environment debate.
(Bloomberg) — India’s top court will hear a petition next week seeking to halt construction of a hydroelectric project that it says is sinking the Himalayan town of Joshimath as the crisis reignites the development versus environment debate.
The Supreme Court of India will hear a plea from a local Hindu religious leader on Jan. 16 after land subsidence — gradual sinking due to displacement of underground earth layers — led to cracks in more than 600 buildings in the tiny town located in the north Indian hilly state of Uttarakhand. The petition, which comes after cracks intensified in the past few weeks, also wants an insurance cover for and rehabilitation of displaced residents.
The crisis at Joshimath, which is built on the debris of an old landslide, highlights the trade-offs policymakers face between development and ecological preservation. The gateway town for mountain expeditions and Hindu pilgrimage sites like Badrinath has seen rapid infrastructure growth plus massive tourist footfalls. This has, in turn, damaged its ecosystem and triggered frequent landslides and flash floods.
While relief and rescue operations for affected families are underway, the lawsuit has sought legal intervention in halting work on a tunnel being built by state-run NTPC Ltd. for its nearby hydroelectric power project until it’s examined and approved by a panel of geologists, hydrologists and engineers.
‘Climate Lens’
“Joshimath is a reminder of what we should not do to the Himalayas,” said Anjal Prakash, research director of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business. “In the wake of climate change affecting our daily lives, we need to rethink and reevaluate all hydropower projects from a climate lens.”
NTPC, India’s biggest power producer, is building the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydroelectric power project close to Joshimath but has denied its construction activities led to the land subsidence.
“The tunnel built by NTPC does not pass under the Joshimath town,” the company said in a Jan. 5 statement, adding no blasting was being done currently for the tunnel.
Unchecked Growth
The deep fissures in the buildings at Joshimath are likely due to a combination of factors including unchecked infrastructure growth, construction of the power project, absence of proper drainage system and violation of municipal rules around building homes, according to Y. P. Sundriyal, Uttarakhand-based professor of geology at HNB Garhwal University.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is seeking advise from geologists and disaster management experts to formulate long- and short-term action plans, his office said in a statement Sunday.
India’s policymakers will have to tackle the tough climate-related questions more often as it pursues a net-zero emissions target by 2070. The country ranked seventh in the Global Climate Risk Index in 2021.
Besides the town’s significance for Hindu pilgrims and biodiversity enthusiasts, it’s also a key military garrison for the Indian army that defends a part of the disputed border between India and China. Its importance has only increased after the recent border dispute with China escalated.
Army Post
The Indian army is on stand-by to move in for rescue and evacuation, a senior military official said, adding that a few military installations have also been damaged.
Environmentalists have been red-flagging Uttarakhand’s breakneck economic development for decades. Incidents of land subsidence were reported as early as 1970s.
An expert panel report way back in 1978 said that no major construction work should be carried out in Joshimath and the nearby Niti and Mana valleys, local news wire PTI reported, as these are situated on top of moraines — a mass of soil and rocks left behind by a moving glacier.
“People are messing up the environment and disturbing the Himalayas’ fragile ecosystem,” Sundriyal said.
–With assistance from Rajesh Kumar Singh, Sudhi Ranjan Sen and Anirban Nag.
(Updates with top court’s hearing date in the second paragraph.)
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