Date: 11/01/2023

Relevance: GS-3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Key Phrases: Joshimath, Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna, Landslide And Subsidence-Hit Zone, Unsustainable Mass Tourism, Unscientific Road-Construction Projects

Why in News?

• The town of Joshimath in Chamoli district, located at an altitude of 6,150 feet, is sinking rapidly due to human-induced causes.
• The authorities have declared a landslide and subsidence-hit zone almost a week after cracks appeared in many roads and hundreds of houses in Joshimath, Uttarakhand.

What is Land Subsidence?

• According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), subsidence is the “sinking of the ground because of underground material movement”.
• It can happen for a host of reasons, man-made or natural, such as the removal of water, oil, or natural resources, along with mining activities.
• Earthquakes, soil erosion, and soil compaction are also some of the well-known causes of subsidence.

Reasons for the Tragedy in Joshimath:

1. Location and topography:
   • According to a study by Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA), the town is located in an area prone to landslides and the first instance of subsidence in it was reported way back in 1976 Mishra Commission report.
   • The perennial streams, appreciable snow in the upper reaches, and highly weathered gneissic rocks with low cohesive characteristics make the area prone to landslides.
2. Unscientific road-construction projects:
   • A massive infrastructural project called the Char Dham road project is being implemented in the Uttarakhand Himalaya which was opposed by the local communities.
   • It is indeed turning out to be an unscientific road-construction project with catastrophic consequences for the mountain ecology.
3. Construction of Hydroelectric Projects:
   • It has been recorded that the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydro project tunnel that passes just below Joshimath, which is sitting on an old glacial deposit, could be a contributing factor to this phenomenon.
4. Ignorance of “best practice norms by authorities:
   • The Armed Forces and the authorities, in order to have a “smoother” and “faster” “all-weather” connectivity for pilgrim tourists from the plains, ignored the government’s own recommended “best practice norms” to minimise the impact on the mountain ecosystems and landscapes.
5. Unsustainable mass tourism:
   • The daily average footfall last year along the Char Dham route was reported to be around 58,000.
   • The 2013 Kedarnath flood was a wake-up call. The intensity of the disaster was directly proportional to the unregulated rise in tourism that led to a construction boom in unsafe zones such as the river valleys, floodplains and slopes vulnerable to landslides.

Impact of Unplanned Construction Activities:

• Gross damage to the environment: The subsurface structures led to the gross damage to the environment. For instance, concentration of pollutants from traffic exhaust compounded by a microenvironment with no sunlight and limited dispersion has irreversible impact on groundwater like descending water levels in such long-distance tunnels.
• Land subsidence: Constantly generated vibrations due to the train movements keep the mountain slope permanently unstable and thus, make it vulnerable to slide at the slightest trigger. With the construction of highways and railway tracks, occurrences of landslides have doubled over the years.
• Impact on mountain aquifer systems: Erratic rainfall and ecological degradation associated with land use change for infrastructural development are already impacting mountain aquifer systems. Groundwater use in the Himalayan States differs from that in the plains, as large and contiguous aquifers do not exist in the hills. This must have led to gradual depletion of pore-pressure within the sediment leading to aquifer compaction and settling of the ground.

Way Forward:

• Balancing environment and development: A development strategy for the Himalayas should not come at the cost of the environment, rather it should be based on the region’s natural resources such as forest, water, biodiversity and ecotourism.
• Region specific infrastructure projects: For local energy supply, focus should be on small projects rather than building massive dams.
• Utilization of traditional wisdom: People should use traditional knowledge, agricultural practices, construction practices and local cultural aspects for human well-being.
• Human engineering in synchronization with mountain morphology: The role of pore-pressure in determining slope stability needs to be studied further in this region.

Conclusion:

• The steep gradients of the Uttarakhand Himalayas make it dynamically heterogeneous, in terms of climatic variables, and biodiversity.
• This has become amply clear from the recent series of disasters, the impact of which was exacerbated by the unsustainable human interferences in natural systems.
• The Himalayan terrain demands sustainable tourism, not mass tourism.
• The Joshimath episode is a warning that the Himalayan environment is at a tipping point and it may not be able to withstand another push generated by intrusive anthropogenic activities in the form of massive construction projects of townships, highways, tunnels, railway tracks and dams — an ecosystem already grappling with the consequences of global warming and, the devotees must be in the forefront to save the “Abode of the Gods”.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. The Joshimath episode is a warning that the Himalayan environment is at a tipping point and it may not be able to withstand another push generated by intrusive anthropogenic activities. Examine. (250 words)