JOSHIMATH: Uttarakhand's Joshimath town sank by 5.4 cm in just 12 days between December 27, 2022, and January 8, 2023, triggered by a possible subsidence event on January 2, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) satellite-based report. This is a case of rapid subsistence, it said adding that the area of the subsidence too has increased. However, it is confined to the central part of Joshimath town.
ISRO's preliminary report released Thursday shows that the entire town may sink.
Joshimath is the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and the international skiing destination Auli.
Meanwhile, slow land subsidence up to 9 cm was recorded in Joshimath town over a period of seven months, between April and November 2022.
The Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre has released satellite images of areas that are sinking. The pictures are taken from the Cartosat-2S satellite.
In the images, the entire town, including the Army's helipad and the Narasimha temple, has been marked as a sensitive zone.
Due to a landslide-related creep, cracks have appeared in around 700 houses in the town. Roads along with the hotels and hospitals present there have developed cracks, said NRSC.
A subsidence zone resembling a generic landslide shape was identified (tapered top and fanning out at base), ISRO said in its report. The 'Crown' of the subsidence is located near Joshimath-Auli road at a height of 2,180 metres, it said.
The satellite images show that the Joshimath-Auli road is also going to collapse.
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Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held an emergency meeting Friday to discuss several important issues, including compensation, in view of the land subsidence crisis in Joshimath.
Dhami had emphasised that surveys of other areas should also be conducted in the state by a committee of experts. The committee would survey the villages and towns located in the hilly areas to ascertain whether the area has more buildings and people than capacity.
A total of 169 families consisting of 589 members have so far been shifted to relief centres. There are 835 rooms serving as relief centres in Joshimath and Pipalkoti which can together accommodate 3,630 people.
An interim assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh has been paid so far to 42 affected families. CM Dhami on Thursday had said a committee would decide the market rate for compensation to be paid to the families affected in Joshimath by keeping in mind the interests of stakeholders.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI, IANS)