Authorities relocate some troops from sinking town
Demolition of precariously standing hotels in Joshimath begins
India has relocated some troops from areas surrounding a sinking Himalayan town near a border with China, Army Chief Manoj Pande said.
Pande didn’t give details on how many soldiers would be moved away for safety but said over 20 military installations around the town of Joshimath in the northern state of Uttarakhand have sustained “medium to minor damage.”
“We remain prepared to relocate more units if required, but our operational preparedness remains intact,” Pande said in an annual address of the state of the army’s operations.
The gateway town for mountain expeditions and Hindu pilgrimage sites like Badrinath has seen rapid infrastructure growth plus massive tourist footfalls. This has, in turn, damaged its ecosystem and triggered frequent landslides.
The area is also a key Indian garrison centre to defend a large portion of the 3,488km border with China known as the Line of Actual Control. India has more than 20,000 troops and military hardware including artillery and missile systems located in the area.
Petition
The Supreme Court of India is set to hear a plea from a local Hindu religious leader on January 16 after cracks began to appear in more than 600 buildings in the tiny town. The petition seeks to halt construction of a hydroelectric project that it says is causing the sinking The crisis has reignited a decadesold development versus environment debate in the region.
The process of demolition of damaged hotels in the Joshimath area of Uttarakhand has started by the administration, officials said yesterday.
In preparation for the demolition, the road where the precariously standing hotels are located has been closed. A heavy deployment of police and National and State Disaster Response Forces officials can be seen on the demolition site.