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Unstable Slopes and Threatened Livelihoods of the Historical Joshimath Town, Uttarakhand Himalaya, India


Affiliations
1 Department of Basic and Social Sciences, College of Forestry, Ranichauri 249 199, India
2 Department of Geography, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
3 Department of Geology, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal 246 174, India
4 Department of Geology, Centre for Advance Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India
5 Department of History, VSKC, Govt PG College, Dakpatthar, Dehradun 248 125, India
6 Geosciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380 058, India
 

This study analyses the causes and consequences of slope instability around the historical Himalayan town of Joshimath, Uttarakhand, India. The town is in the Higher Himalaya near the Main Central Thrust. The lithology constitutes fissile, shattered and sheared gneiss. Consequently, the slopes are prone to land subsidence and mass wasting. In the last few decades rise in population has led to a surge of infrastructure development, thus causing immense pressure on the finite resources and limited accommodation space on precariously balanced vulnerable slopes. Particularly, the unplanned infrastructure development, lack of adequate drainage and excavation of roads through unstable debris slopes are some of the reasons that seem to have accelerated the ongoing slope instability and land subsidence.

Keywords

Geological Fragility, Higher Himalaya, Historical Town, Land Subsidence, Slope Instability.
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  • Unstable Slopes and Threatened Livelihoods of the Historical Joshimath Town, Uttarakhand Himalaya, India

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Authors

S. P. Sati
Department of Basic and Social Sciences, College of Forestry, Ranichauri 249 199, India
Maria Asim
Department of Geography, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
Y. P. Sundriyal
Department of Geology, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal 246 174, India
Naresh Rana
Department of Geology, Centre for Advance Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India
Vijay Bahuguna
Department of History, VSKC, Govt PG College, Dakpatthar, Dehradun 248 125, India
Shubhra Sharma
Geosciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380 058, India

Abstract


This study analyses the causes and consequences of slope instability around the historical Himalayan town of Joshimath, Uttarakhand, India. The town is in the Higher Himalaya near the Main Central Thrust. The lithology constitutes fissile, shattered and sheared gneiss. Consequently, the slopes are prone to land subsidence and mass wasting. In the last few decades rise in population has led to a surge of infrastructure development, thus causing immense pressure on the finite resources and limited accommodation space on precariously balanced vulnerable slopes. Particularly, the unplanned infrastructure development, lack of adequate drainage and excavation of roads through unstable debris slopes are some of the reasons that seem to have accelerated the ongoing slope instability and land subsidence.

Keywords


Geological Fragility, Higher Himalaya, Historical Town, Land Subsidence, Slope Instability.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv124%2Fi12%2F1384-1392