INDIA Joshimath, the Indian city that collapses at the foot of the Himalayas

In recent days, the cracks in the houses and streets of this town in Uttarakhand, where 20,000 people live, have deepened. Missionary priest Ajo Thelappily told : “There are unprecedented landslides. Pray for us.” He blames the excessive extraction of water for agricultural uses, which would have caused landslides in an already geologically unstable area.

Joshimath () – In the state of Uttarakhand, at the foot of the Himalayas in northern India, the mountain above the city of Joshimath is literally crumbling. In more than 600 of the approximately 4,500 houses that make up this town -inhabited by 20,000 people at 1,800 meters above sea level- the cracks are increasingly pronounced and there are serious stability problems. It is the effect of the combination of climate change and an already unstable geological structure. In recent days a temple also collapsed, increasing the fears of the inhabitants who camped out in the open.

The crucial Joshimath-Malari highway, in Chamoli district, which connects to the Chinese border, also cracked at several points due to landslides near the Malari taxi rank.

Father Ajo Thelappily, a religious of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) and parish priest of Jyoti Niwas, a mission located near Joshimath, explained to : “Since January 6, unprecedented landslides have occurred in the city. The most affected areas are the Auli mountain ranges and some parts of the city of Joshimath. The most affected people are close to 600, and 150 of them have been transferred to safer places. So far, our area has not had any problems, government officials classify it as a safe area. But we don’t know what awaits us in the future.”

“The town of Joshimath could use our school to accommodate displaced people – continues Father Ajo Thelappily -. Both the government of Uttarakhand and New Delhi are working to find a solution to the problem. We ask you to remember our mission and the people of Joshimath in your prayers”.

What is happening in Joshimath is not unexpected: Indian politics is currently discussing the inability to prevent a foretold disaster. It is attributed to the fact that for decades much water has been extracted from the subsoil for agriculture by weakening sand and stone, until today they have collapsed. Jairam Ramesh, a former environment minister in Singh’s government, charged: “When I was environment minister I tried to address the issue of environmentally friendly development in Uttarakhand. That didn’t win me many friends, but the images that come of Joshimath confirm that he was right”.