Amid the ongoing demolitions in Joshimath due to land subsidence after the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) declared many buildings unsafe and began evacuating people.
Protests continued in Joshimath on Monday with locals demanding proactive compensation, immediate rehabilitation, and closure of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) project in the area.
The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (JBSS) also announced a protest across the town on Republic Day (January 26). “Along with a protest at the tehsil office, roads and highways will be blocked,” said Atul Sati, an activist and convenor of JBSS. From January 17 to 25 ward wise protests will take place, he added.
Locals who claimed that the land subsidence in the holy town is occurring due to the projects works of NTPC expressed disappointment that the government has given a clean cheat to NTPC.
The Centre earlier this week refuted suggestions by environmentalists and some geologists that tunnelling associated with NTPC’s 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad Hydropower Project near Joshimath may have triggered the land subsidence and stated that the NTPC tunnel does not pass through Joshimath.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami too has claimed that land subsidence in Chamoli district is a natural disaster.
On Sunday evening, eight families living below the two damaged hotels, which are being demolished, staged a symbolic protest, demanding immediate rehabilitation.
Digambar Rawat, a resident of Singh Dhar ward, who, along with his family, was shifted to the Nagar Palika Parishad building, said, “The government should rehabilitate us immediately. We can’t live in such a tiny room for too many days. Either we should be provided land at a suitable place or given a one-time settlement.”
Meanwhile, the mechanical demolition of the two badly damaged hotels continued in Joshimath.
The number of houses that have developed cracks so far also rose to 849 on Monday. The houses in the danger zone stood at 165. Just four families were shifted to safer locations from their damaged houses on Monday, taking this number to 237 (800 people).
According to Ranjit Kumar Sinha, secretary of disaster management, over ₹1.87 crore interim relief was provided to 125 affected families in Joshimath by the state government.