Uttarakhand: Joshimath city may be in serious danger in the coming monsoon

The members of the Youth for Himalaya group who came to support the ongoing movement in Joshimath held a press conference in Gopeshwar and raised their concerns and demands on the situation in Joshimath and the entire Himalayas. Youth for Himalaya is a group of environment loving youth of Himalayan states which works on the issues of environmental crisis in the Himalayan region. This 8 member team of youths visited the disaster affected area of Joshimath from 13th to 14th April, interacted with the affected people and got to know their problems. Also, on 13th April, on the 100th day of the dharna being run by the Joshmeeth Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, it expressed its support for their struggle.
Group member Ritika Thakur (Mandi, Himachal Pradesh) said that while visiting Singhdhar, Sunil, Manohar Bagh, Swee etc. in Joshimath, we found that most of the affected people belong to poor and Dalit families whose houses have been badly affected. The relief given by the government to the affected people is not sufficient. Children, elderly and women are suffering the most in this development. Also, the process of compensation decided by the administration is very complicated for the general public. People have to visit the offices again and again to get paper made.
Due to this, not only their daily wages are being broken, but a lot of time is also being wasted. So far, the term of the hotels where the affected people have been kept is also ending at the end of April, people are wondering where they will go after this. The government should make arrangements for them under the National Rehabilitation Policy 2007. We demand that an empowered committee should be formed taking along the affected people of Joshimath, which will work for monitoring rehabilitation, compensation, displacement and basic needs. Also, take preventive measures on future disasters.
Group member Sumit (Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand) sensing the danger of coming monsoon in future said that all the Himalayan states witness heavy destruction during monsoon, we have seen Uttarakhand tragedy, devastation of Kedarnath in June 2013. And the entire Himalayan region has become very disaster sensitive due to the wrong policies of the government. When we saw with our own eyes the present condition of the entire Joshimath, and independent geologists have repeatedly warned that the entire Joshimath is in danger.
The monsoon is about to come, the cracks in the houses are going to create more serious problems during the rainy season. Despite the message of ‘safe’ Joshimath given by the Chief Minister during his recent visit, fear and apprehension prevail among the local people. If Joshimath is really safe then the government should make public the report of the eight organizations which have done geological study of Joshimath so that the doubts of the local people can be resolved and Chardham Yatris feel safe. In all the Himalayan states from Uttarakhand to Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal, Manipur, Sikkim, Arunachal etc. indiscriminate development projects (hydro power projects, road projects, mining) etc. have created a terrible environmental crisis. Due to this crisis, not only the environment has been affected, but the life and livelihood of the people of the Himalayas have also been affected.
Addressing the press conference, group member Mohammad Ishaq Van Gujjar (Bhuda Khatta, Haldwani, Uttarakhand) said that this disaster is not a natural disaster but it is a disaster arising out of government policies. The way the houses have been marked and declared dangerous by the administration, there is an atmosphere of fear among the local people. We believe that the entire Joshimath itself is in danger. Therefore, we demand from the state government that the entire Joshimath area should be declared full disaster.
Anmol of Youth and Himalaya (Jammu) said that in support of the completion of 100 days of the protest by the people of Joshimath, an all India appeal was made to the youth to express their support with the slogan of Save Joshimath, Save Himalayas. Under this, various programs have been organized at Lahaul-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, Kinnaur, Jammu city, Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, Teesta Valley in Sikkim, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad in Telangana, Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Jodhpur in Rajasthan and other places. .