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