Earthquake of six magnitudes 20 to 21 m. The land of Joshimath and Bhatwadi can be shifted till, research revealed
If there is an earthquake in Joshimath and Bhatwadi like Chamoli and Uttarkashi, then the land there can move up to 20 to 21 meters. This has been revealed in the research done by Dr. Vipin Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Doon University.
Dr. Vipin Kumar said that Chamoli had experienced devastating earthquakes in 1999 and Uttarkashi in 1991. The Chamoli earthquake was just 26 km away from Joshimath and the Uttarkashi earthquake was about 20 to 30 km away from Bhatwadi. Recently, he started this research after cracks appeared in Joshimath. This research has been published in the European Geoscience Union’s General Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences in April 2023.
Dr. Vipin told that Joshimath and Bhatwadi are situated in the area of Main Central Thrust (MCT). This is a fault. Where earthquakes are more likely to occur. In the research, the reference of the 1999 Chamoli earthquake for Joshimath and the 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake for Bhatwari has been taken. Its data was taken from Strong Motion Virtual Data Center. The study was funded by a DST-sponsored project, received from Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University Professor Yashpal Sundriyal.
Four major reasons included in the research
▪️Earthquake has occurred in Uttarkashi and Chamoli near Joshimath and Bhatwadi.
People also do farming here, in such a way more water is used. Water seeps into the ground. This increases the risk of land sliding.
▪️There are neither proper drains nor any tank for the drainage of sewage water in these areas. The water keeps flowing freely. There is a sewage treatment plant in Joshimath but it is not running.
▪️Both these are MCT areas. Here the valleys are narrow, the topography is higher. Due to the high humidity in the air here, it rains more.
The area created on the computer then came to the conclusion
In research, after taking samples from Joshimath and Bhatwadi, the area there was prepared with the help of computer. After this, by pouring rain water, sewage water and earthquake component here, see that if an earthquake occurs here in the future, how much the land here can move away from its surface.
If we see only the reason for the removal of rain and sewage water, then if there is more than 100 mm of rain in a day, the land here can move up to 4 to 6 meters. On the other hand, if an earthquake of more than six magnitudes occurs, then the land here can move up to 20 to 21 meters.
Tourism is also a big reason
Dr. Vipin said that tourism in these places is also a major reason for the change in the situation. Nine to 10 thousand people live in Joshimath. Suddenly 20 to 30 lakh people come here during the tourist season. Due to this, the situation here is changing a lot.
70 liters of water flowing daily from a house
It was seen in Joshimath that in a house where four to five people live, 60 to 70 liters of water flows in a day. On the other hand, if tourism increases, if 20 to 30 lakh people come, then it can be estimated how much water will flow. Because of this water going into the ground, it becomes weak.
Land sliding can take up to one to two and three months
From a scientific point of view, it has been seen that if more water flows on the ground built on top of any hilly area, then it may take one to two days and even two to three months for the land to move there. There was a crowd of tourists here from May to September. After September, leaving October-November, the ground started slipping from December and cracks started appearing.
This is India’s first research
Dr. Vipin Kumar claims that this is India’s first research, in which it has been told that how much land can move when it rains, sewage water flows or earthquakes.
