No new cracks since Jan 20, say officials; Joshimath residents disagree
Hindustan TimesThere has been no new damage to property at Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town since January 20, an official survey has found, the Chamoli district administration said on Saturday. On January 12, during his second visit to the town, Dhami had stocked a row by saying that crisis in Joshimath town of is a “natural disaster and has not been caused by anyone.” The statement came two weeks before the eight technical agencies studying the situation submitted their preliminary reports to the National Disaster Management Authority on January 25. Later, Dhami said, “65-70% people in Joshimath are living a normal life.” Experts and town residents have attributed the crisis to damage to the underground water strata from power utility NTPC’s tunneling work for a hydropower project, unplanned development, and the use of heavy machinery for construction of the Helang-Marwari bypass as part of the Char Dham roads project. Despite an army of officials camping in town and the chief minister visiting here two times, they failed to understand what we are going through.” In a related development, the Border Roads Organisation has constituted a panel comprising experts from the National Highways Authority of India, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and THDC India, a unit of NTPC, to examine the construction of the Helang-Marwari bypass, disaster management secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha said.