Why Joshimath is sinking?

10-Jan-2023: Meeting of NCMC held on January 10, 2023 to review situation in Joshimath, Chamoli, Uttarakhand

The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary, Shri Rajiv Gauba met and reviewed the situation in Joshimath.

Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand, briefed NCMC about the current situation. He informed that residents of severely damaged houses are being shifted to safe places. Relief shelters have been identified in Joshimath and Pipalkoti to accommodate the affected families. Appropriate compensation and relief measures are being provided by the State government. Operation of Joshimath-Auli ropeway has been discontinued. Construction works in and around Joshimath Municipality area has also been stopped till further orders. NDRF and SDRF have been deployed to help District Administration in their relief and rehabilitation efforts.

Member Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) informed the committee that a team of experts from CBRI, GSI, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, NIDM and National Institute of Hydrology visited the affected areas on 6th and 7th January, 2023 to assess the situation. The team also interacted with the District Administration to understand their requirements.

Union Home Secretary apprised the Committee that a High Level Central Team of MHA led by Secretary, Border Management is at Joshimath for assessment of the situation.

The Cabinet Secretary stressed that the immediate priority should be complete and safe evacuation of all residents in the affected zone. Priority may be accorded to demolition of vulnerable structures in a safe manner. All the studies and investigations, viz. geotechnical, geophysical and hydrological, should be completed in a coordinated and time bound manner. The Cabinet Secretary assured the Chief Secretary that all Central agencies will continue to be available for necessary assistance.

4-Aug-2022: Anti-Erosion Measures

Flood management including erosion control falls within the purview of the States. Flood management and anti-erosion schemes are formulated and implemented by concerned State Governments as per their priority. The Union Government supplements the efforts of the States by providing technical guidance and also promotional financial assistance for management of floods in critical areas. Integrated flood management approach aims at adopting judicious mix of structural and non-structural measures to provide a reasonable degree of protection against flood damages at economic cost.

To strengthen the structural measures of flood management, Ministry had implemented Flood Management Programme (FMP) during XI & XII Plan for providing Central Assistance to States for works related to flood control, anti-erosion, drainage development, anti-sea erosion, etc. which subsequently continued as a component of "Flood Management and Border Areas Programme" (FMBAP) for the period from 2017-18 to 2020-21 and further extended up to September 2022 with limited outlay.

From the State of West Bengal, 18 projects were included for central assistance under FMP component of ongoing Flood Management and Border Area Programme (FMBAP) of Ministry of Jal Shakti. The 16 completed projects have given protection to an area of around 0.937 Lakh ha and protected a population of about 2.35 million. Central assistance amounting to the tune of Rs. 1051.96 Crore has been released to the State of West Bengal under FMP. Bank protection, anti-erosion measures, river training works are also carried out by Farakka Barrage Project on River Ganga within its jurisdiction of 12.5 km upstream & 6.9 km downstream of Farakka Barrage. During last ten years, an expenditure of Rs. 165 Crores has been incurred by Farakka Barrage Project for implementing such works.

For Nonstructural measures, Central Water Commission (CWC) is the nodal Organisation entrusted with the task of flood forecasting & early flood warnings in the country. CWC has 16 flood forecasting stations (12 level forecasting stations and 4 inflow forecasting stations) and 80 gauge stations in the State of West Bengal. During flood season 2021 ending 31st December 2021, a total of 488 forecasts have been issued for West Bengal out of which 466 have been found to be within the accuracy limit which works out to 95.49%.

3-Feb-2022: Flood Management Scheme

Flood management including erosion control falls within the purview of the States. Flood management and anti-erosion schemes are formulated and implemented by concerned State Governments as per their priority. The Union Government supplements the efforts of the States by providing technical guidance and also promotional financial assistance for management of floods in critical areas. The Government of India had launched a centrally sponsored scheme viz. Flood Management Programme (FMP) during XI Plan to provide central assistance to states for taking up works related to flood management, anti-erosion, flood management works, anti-sea erosion etc. which continued during XII Plan period as a component of  “Flood Management  and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP)” for subsequent period.

In the State of Assam, 141 projects were included for central assistance under FMP. The 111 completed projects have given protection to an area of around 7.2 lakh ha and protected a population of about 17.71million. Central Assistance amounting to the tune of Rs. 1286.39 Crore has been given to the State of Assam under FMP.

In the State of Bihar, 18 projects were included for central assistance under FMP. The 15 completed projects have given protection to an area of around 28.67 lakh ha and protected a population of about 22.34 million. Central Assistance amounting to the tune of Rs. 924.41 Crore has been given to the State of Bihar under FMP.

In the State of West Bengal, 18 projects were included for central assistance under FMP. The 15 completed projects have given protection to an area of around 0.32 lakh ha and protected a population of about 1.96 million. Central Assistance amounting to the tune of Rs. 1007.81 Crore has been given to the State of West Bengal under FMP.

The State Governments face issues like problem in land acquisition, encroachment of land, costs overrun, contractual disputes etc. in the implementation of projects under Flood Management Programme and regular review meetings by central monitoring agencies are held to expedite implementation of projects.