Indians were forced to flee a “sinking” sacred village.
After hundreds of homes started developing gaping fissures and sinking, authorities in one of the most sacred villages in the Indian Himalayas began evacuating terrified inhabitants on Sunday, according to officials.
Residents of Joshimath in Uttarakhand, a state in the north, cited the construction of roads and tunnels for a neighboring hydropower project as the reason of the apparent sinking.
After the government assembled a team of experts to conduct a “quick study” into the issue’s root, Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled a high-level meeting for later Sunday to address the issue.
According to local administrator Himanshu Khurana, at least 60 people have moved into shelters, and many more will undoubtedly leave their sinking homes soon.
Residents of the town of around 20,000 people said that a far bigger number had already left their homes and that about 600 homes and hotels were sinking.
Under the condition of anonymity, a second official said that entrance had been prohibited in a number of the town’s “demarcated hazardous” areas.
“People are quite anxious. Helicopters were surveying the region when he added, “The worry is that the town is collapsing.
Many neighbors who had to sleep outside in the bitter cold said they had been telling authorities about fractures in roads and houses for weeks and in some instances months, some of which were seeping dark murky water.
Joshimath, which is located around 1,800 meters (6,000 feet) above sea level and serves as a significant entryway to several significant holy sites in the Himalayas, draws a large number of pilgrims each year.
The town is also home to a significant Indian army installation and a key route leading to the contentious Chinese border, both of which are said to have developed large fissures.
Auli ski resort’s four-kilometer (2.5-mile) cable car ropeway’s pillars were allegedly damaged, making it one of Asia’s longest cable car ropeways.
The area is prone to earthquakes, and it has recently had a spate of calamities that experts have attributed to unchecked development and melting glaciers.
A favorite project of Modi’s is a massive road that would improve military access to the region near the Chinese border as well as Hindu pilgrimage sites. Other construction projects include hydropower plants.
At least 200 people died in flash floods in February 2021 in Joshimath and the neighboring districts; the catastrophe was partially attributed to excessive growth, according to analysts.
