New Delhi: With about 28 buildings at their Brigade Headquarters in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, the Army has temporarily moved some of its affected units and could relocate the establishment to the neighbouring town Auli.
However, Army chief General Manoj Pande made it clear that the Joshimath land subsidence has had no impact on the operational ability of the force.
“About 25-28 buildings (in Brigade Headquarters) have seen minor cracks because of which we have moved these units and jawans… temporarily relocated. If needed, we also have plans to permanently deploy them higher, which is in Auli,” General Pande said addressing his annual press conference here Thursday.
Joshimath is home to the headquarters of a specialised independent Brigade that manages a crucial part of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the central sector, under the command of the Army Headquarters. Brigade Headquarters are only for administrative purposes and home to officers and others involved in staff duties.
Talking about the impact on the roads used by the Army, he said only minor damage and cracks have surfaced on the road from Joshimath to Mana, the last village before the LAC, which the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is repairing.
While he said construction on a new bypass road has been temporarily stopped, the Army’s accessibility in the region has remained unaffected.
“Overall, if you are asking me whether this has affected operational readiness or accessibility to forward areas, then the answer is no” the Army chief said.
As ThePrint reported from the ground, Joshimath has been struck by land subsidence — a phenomenon that causes the land to cave into itself.
Experts have long warned about the dangers of this phenomenon, seeing as the town, which is an entryway to numerous sites of pilgrimage, like Badrinath temple and more, stands on landslide debris, lacks proper drainage and sewerage systems, and is caught in the middle of large developmental projects ploughing through a fragile ecosystem.
Of the 20,000 people living in Joshimath, hundreds were rendered homeless overnight between 28 December and 3 January, when their houses and roads began to crack open as the subsidence accelerated.
The state government has announced compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh per family as interim relief, after residents pushed back against a previous offer of Rs 4,000 per month for the foreseeable future.
Also read: Parts of Joshimath town ‘sinking’, Uttarakhand govt may go for ‘construction ban, relocation’