The shocking incident led the government to swing into action and a total of 223 families were evacuated to safer places. The administration including the teams of National Disaster Management Authority faced stiff challenges as icy winds were sweeping the town that is a major halt for pilgrims going to the holy Hindu shrine of Kedarnath.

A serious debate started gaining ground in the aftermath of the incident among geologists, experts to look into the reasons behind the tragic incidents on the one hand and politicians from both treasury and opposition sides were seen engaged in blame-game. The ruling BJP held the opposition Congress party responsible on the ground that it failed to implement the recommendations of the Mishra Committee report. However, the Congress said the unplanned development work in the hills is the sole reason for the sinking and cracks.

It is not the first time that cracks were found and the town showed signs of sinking, it had happened in seventies and the then government of undivided state of Uttar Pradesh had constituted a team of experts to look into the reasons behind cracks and sinking and recommend ways to resolve the crisis before it could take dangerous and fatal shapes. However, successive governments made no effort to address the problem and the report gathered dust in the government files.

In a bid to understand the reasons behind the tragic incident and to know whether it could be prevented, this correspondent talked to a senior geologist Balbeer Singh Dharamwan, a member of Indian Geotechnical Society, an elite body of Indian geologists and also a resident of Ukhimath, a small hamlet nearing the town of Joshimath.

Q. How did the incident of the sinking of Joshimath begin?
A. This had started during the seventies and the then government constituted an 18-member commission led by M.C Mishra in 1976. The setting up of the commission itself proves that Joshimath town had started shrinking much before that.

Q. Being a local as well as a geologist what do you have to say about the location?
A. About the location, geomorphology , geology and tectonics of Joshimath, the town is situated in the middle slopes of a hill which is an old landslide zone bounded by the Karmanasa and Dhaknala streams on the west and the east and the Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers on the south and the north. The area around Joshimath town falls under Seismic Zone – V and is covered with a thick layer of overburden material.
On surface large boulders of gneisses and fragments of basics and schistose rocks are embedded in grey-coloured, salty-sandy matrix which makes the town highly vulnerable to sinking. There is presence of Gneisses and Schistose rocks below the soil cover. Joshimath almost sits on the Vaikrita Thrust (VT), a tectonic fault line. The town is also very close to main geological fault lines, Main Central Thrust (MCT), and Pandukeshwar Thrust (PT). MCT passes below Helang, a little south of Joshimath Town, and juxtaposes with the rocks of Garhwal Group (Joshimath Formation), thereby bringing the town under the impact zone of any tectonic activity on MCT which makes Joshimath most vulnerable to Sinking.

Q. Can you describe the chronology sinking tragedy at Joshimath?
A. Initially, the toe cutting of land slopes by two rivers i.e. Alaknanda and Dhauli Ganga laid the foundation stone of the sinking crisis. Later manmade activities like absence of proper drainage system, sewerage system, unplanned construction and absence of implementation of building by laws which played the role of a catalyst in the current crisis.
The water percolated down into slope, created voids then started down and outward movement and finally cracks developed on slopes. Secondly, due to unplanned construction buildings of more than G + 1 /2 ) on slopes, land failed to sustain the load of these buildings , buildings started moving down and outward and cracks developed , in this case also that seepage water and leakage of septic tanks also played an important role.

Q. Who in your views should be held responsible and accountable for the shocking incident?
A. In my opinion, successive governments and local administration as well as residents of Joshimath are responsible. The government and administration failed to implement the recommendations of M.C. Mishra commission. The residents are responsible because they have failed to carry on agitating on their demand for mitigation or proper treatment of slopes, and also didn’t raise their voice about unplanned drainage systems, water management and constructed high rise buildings on unstable slopes.

Q. The public sector giant NTPC and construction of new highways are being held responsible for the land subsidence, do you share this general perception about Josh math?
A. I don’t think NTPC is responsible for this crisis at Joshimath, as I said for this situation the main responsible factor is slope’s toe cutting by Rivers & second unplanned development at Joshimath. This sinking problem is older than the NTPC projects which construction started during 2005 -06. NTPC tunnel is passing under 100’s of meters below from surface, that too though rocks , we can’t hold responsible to the tunnel for cracks at Joshimath. I don’t accept this theory. I suggest the government must come forward to clear the public assumption over this theory.

Q. Can Joshimath be saved?
A. Certainly yes, my opinion in this regard is loud and clear that “Joshimath could be saved” provided the area is properly scanned and testing or geotechnical investigations are done, the town could be saved.
The local administration is required to provide proper treatment to public utilities on the basis of scanning and testing. If the administration opts for proper drainage, water management and strict implementation of building by laws are carried out, then Joshimath can certainly be saved.

Q. What are your suggestions for the restoration of old Joshimath?
A. I suggest both direct and indirect methods for the restoration of Joshimath. In case of direct method I would like to adopt drill boreholes (about 10 nos.) of more than 500 m depth. Indirect methods ERT, SRT and MASW are required to be conducted. The data acquired by indirect methods are required to be confirmed by borehole core samples: it will confirm the strata below, rock type’s structural conditions and its properties.

Q. Is rehabilitation and restoration of Joshimath possible?
A. Yes, rehabilitation and restoration of Joshimath is possible, if suggested, undertaken honestly under direct supervision and monitoring of the owner or local administration. Further the collection of reliable and dependable data should be done, which will be helpful in identifying the cracks extent (deep down and in all directions) and reason of the crack inside. Based on that date the owner will be able to suggest suitable treatment methods for the area. In this case the payment should be made by the government only, payment to the agencies collecting data should not be done through a government representative or second party.
If this is done then I am sure residents of Joshimath and adjoining villages that are prone to sinking around Joshimath could be relocated into their houses once again and also will plug the public assumption about the projects. It would also change the public perception about ongoing projects.