John Adoyi, PBA Journalism Mentee
Indian government has evacuated hundreds of citizens in the town of Joshimath as soil disaster is causing cracks on buildings and land sinking.
According to Al Jazeera, Joshimath which is in the Indian State of Uttarakhand, is a gateway to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, key Hindu and Sikh pilgrimage sites which attract thousands of Pilgrims and tourists every year.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelJoshimath is also a base for the Indian army that are situated at the disputed border with China.
“The evacuation process is under way and a team of scientists from different institutes have been trying to know the cause and how to contain the situation,” said Khurana, the district magistrate of Chamoli district, where Joshimath is situated.
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Hundreds of people in Joshimath have been complaining to authorities that their buildings are developing huge cracks and are spilling muddy water.
They also complained that the roads are also sinking fast.
Authorities have blamed the disaster on constant rainfall which has led to severe flooding in the town of Joshimath and in the state of Uttarakhand.
State disaster management experts are also blaming the disaster on faulty drainage system which has allowed water to flow under buildings and roads forcing them to sink and crack.
According to the authorities, officials of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been sent to the town to help with the evacuation and also to assess the situation.
Officials said the government will pay 4,000 rupees ($50) per month for six months to the hundreds that are homeless.
India is a nation that has suffered the wrath of climate disaster.
A report by a public interest and advocacy group in India, The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE said that extreme weather struck India on 241 of 273 days from January to October 1 2022.
The advocacy group said the weather disaster took 2,755 lives, affected 1.8 million hectares of crops, destroyed 416,667 houses and killed 69,007 livestock.
Severe flooding caused by heavy rainfall, extreme heat, earth quake cyclones are some of the disaster that bedevil the Asian country yearly.
