DEHRADUN: Widening of the all-weather Char Dham road between Helang and Marwari was stopped “until further orders” by the Chamoli district administration on Thursday after thousands of anxious Joshimath residents blocked the Badrinath National Highway-58 for hours, following a night of vigil and day of protests. The entire project is estimated to cost Rs 12,000 crore and will cover 889km when complete.
The order signed by the ADM of Joshimath Abhishek Tripathi, a copy of which is with TOI, said: “In the wake of the sinking of areas in Joshimath and in view of the present situation, the Helang bypass works under BRO (Border Roads Organisation) be stopped immediately. Under sections 33 and 34 of the Disaster Management Act, the directions are given until fresh orders.”
Ongoing construction works under the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) 520 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project have been suspended immediately and the Joshimath-Auli ropeway halted “until further orders”. The district administration has also stopped all types of construction activities within the municipal area of Joshimath for now.
Joshimath - the sinking hill town of Uttarakhand
The bypass route would have shortened the distance to Badrinath shrine by 30km. It is being constructed 13km before Joshimath at its foothill. Local residents said Joshimath’s “base was being shaken” for building this shorter route for pilgrims. The 4.15km Joshimath-Auli ropeway is a major attraction among tourists. It is one of the highest and longest ropeways in Asia after Gulmarg.
Incidentally, the high-powered committee on the all-weather Char Dham Road headed by Ravi Chopra that was formed in August 2019 had red-flagged construction of a bypass there in its report. However, after the matter went to court, the Supreme Court in May 2022 gave permission to go ahead with this stretch. Chopra, reacting to the latest decision on stopping these crucial works, said, “This was necessary. Before any work is started on this stretch, the BRO must conduct detailed and careful geological, geophysical and geotechnical analysis as recommended earlier by the high-powered committee. So far, that detailed investigation has not been done.”
An independent experts’ panel that was formed on the request of Joshimath villagers in June 2022 had also warned about the ongoing works adversely affecting the terrain of the fragile region, replete with “tectonically active slopes”.
Joshimath - the sinking hill town of Uttarakhand
Joshimath Sinking: Char Dham road works, key projects come to a halt in Joshimath Uttarakhand
The Tapovan Vishnugad power plant is being constructed on the Dhauliganga river in Chamoli district at an estimated cost of Rs 2,978 crore. The project was damaged after a glacial burst had triggered a flash flood in the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers in February 2021. Over 200 people lost their lives in the disaster.
In a related development, an eight-member expert team led by secretary of disaster management department, Ranjit Sinha, reached Joshimath to take stock of the situation. The team held a meeting with the district officials at the Joshimath tehsil office and visited places that are facing land subsidence — sinking — problems. “We are going to visit all the affected areas on Friday and meet the people whose houses have developed cracks. The team will then decide on the immediate and long-term measures to solve the problem,” one of the team members told TOI.