The "Sinking" Town of Joshimath
A home is more than just the walls and material possessions. For many, it takes a lifetime to build a home. What happens when you have to leave your home one day because it’s way too dangerous to live in it?
Hundreds of homes, hotels and commercial establishments in Joshimath--a prominent pilgrimage and tourist destination--had to be demolished last year after the Himalayan town started "sinking" due to land subsidence.
Many people had to leave their homes as they were in the "danger zone". But many are still living in their crumbling homes as they don't have an option. People living in the ancient town have no idea what the future holds for them, yet they don't want to leave Joshimath. It's their home, they say.
Reporter: Swati Subhedar
Camera: Vikram Sharma
Hundreds of homes, hotels and commercial establishments in Joshimath--a prominent pilgrimage and tourist destination--had to be demolished last year after the Himalayan town started "sinking" due to land subsidence.
Many people had to leave their homes as they were in the "danger zone". But many are still living in their crumbling homes as they don't have an option. People living in the ancient town have no idea what the future holds for them, yet they don't want to leave Joshimath. It's their home, they say.
Reporter: Swati Subhedar
Camera: Vikram Sharma
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NewsTranscript
00:00I have a photo on my mobile, so when I look at that house, I feel very anxious, and I don't like it.
00:10Then people send me photos on mobile, so I see the whole house from the front, so it is very sad.
00:17Now we will make a house, we are making it, we have made a house, so it is like we have not made a house,
00:22it is like, make it fast.
00:25When my whole family used to come, in the summer,
00:29nana, brother-in-law, children, daughters, son-in-law, everyone used to come,
00:34so we used to sit together and eat.
00:54The house was built in 1934.
00:59The house was built in 1934.
01:04The house was built in 1934.
01:09The house was built in 1934.
01:14The house was built in 1934.
01:19The house was built in 1934.
01:24The house was built in 1934.
01:29Instead of giving 100 rupees to the children, we gave 50 rupees.
01:34Instead of giving 100 rupees to the children, we gave 50 rupees.
01:39We worked for 200 rupees, 100 rupees.
01:44We have built a house 10 km from here.
01:46We have built a house with a little money.
01:49I feel very bad when I come here.
01:52I come here and beg for this land.
02:02We are very upset after the cracks that came on 3rd January.
02:07The administration told us that we will not do anything.
02:13The shopkeepers are also closed.
02:16I am a laborer.
02:18How did the poor people build it?
02:21We are dying.
02:24How many are coming and going?
02:26No one is doing anything.
02:28When we die, they will come to pick us up.
02:31The house is so broken.
02:33No one is there to ask.
02:36I was scared when I used to live here.
02:38I was scared when it rained.
02:42I had small children.
02:44People told me not to stay here.
02:46That's why I had to leave this house.
02:48I don't stay here for long.
02:52People send me photos on mobile.
02:55I can see the house from here.
02:57I feel very sad.
02:59We will build a house.
03:01We have built a house.
03:03We haven't built a house like this.
03:05We want to build a house quickly.
03:07We want to put this house inside.
03:12Joshi Bhat's new house was built in 2002.
03:16It was the first house of Joshi Bhat's family.
03:19He was the first resident of this house.
03:24Joshi Bhat's responsibility for this tragedy
03:30had to be stopped.
03:33We had to stop the construction work.
03:38We had to stop the heavy construction work.
03:41Before any rehabilitation plan, the National Rehabilitation Policy was passed by the Parliament of our country in 2007 and then in 2013.
04:05It has been said that before any rehabilitation of any city, you have to do a social impact assessment survey.
04:16That is, what is the impact on the society, its perception, its study.
04:21Until now, the social impact assessment survey has not been done.
04:24The main residents of Joshimath have 100, 200, 300 gutters, cows and buffaloes.
04:38The government settles them where there are safe zones and their payments are made in the danger zone.
04:45We are doing the same with the administration.
04:47But the administration and the administration have repaired or reduced someone's payment.
04:54And the government has also said that there are 99% people who want to go to another place.
05:07Because we have lived here, we have been playing here since childhood.
05:11We have not settled in Delhi, we have settled locally in the village, in the city.
05:16So people don't just want a house. Why does he want to live in Joshimath, in that broken house?
05:23Here he has employment, here he has a school for children.
05:27The empty space around Joshimath, which is stable and safe, which the geologist said that nothing will happen to it, could have been settled there.
05:39If the government wants, everything can be done.
05:42The government doesn't want anything. The administration doesn't want anything.
05:45If they wanted, a lot could have been done. A lot could have been done in a year and a half.