Joshimath is a city in Uttarakhand, located at the foot of the Himalayas. It is located at Zone V as per India’s seismic zonation scheme, which makes it geologically vulnerable, as it is fragile and seismically active.
This January (2023), at least 145 families in Joshimath have been directly affected by the cracks on its surface due to land subsidence (and the subsequent sinking due to landslide and snowfall) which has been happening for a long time. After a spell of lack in media coverage, Joshimath has begun to receive some media attention – but of what sort? Are the geographical factors and location of Joshimath to take the sole blame for the present disaster that has put the livelihoods of the entire city at mortal risk? No. In fact, it is the neoliberal development model – and the systemic problems of capitalism’s endless drive for profit, with its complete lack of ecological sustainability, that has led to this.
About 50 years ago, a government appointed committee led by MC Mishra investigated the situation in Joshimath, and submitted a report that categorically explained that the unsustainable development ought to stop, if Joshimath is to survive. It recommended that construction needs to stop. Today, the Tapovan Vishnugad Hydropower project that was started in 2006, is still underway. We have seen elsewhere too, that such injudicious undertakings have led to horrible outcomes for ordinary working people. Adivasi communities in Chattisgarh have seen their entire livelihoods displaced, due to projects like these, in this case, at the service of Adani. People have resisted these drives but to little or no response from the government – which is deep in the pockets of the moneybags who gain from these investments. The Hydropower project that is turning out to be fatal for the survival of Joshimath, is funded by the notorious Asian Development Bank, which has ignored every warning coming from environmentalists and experts. Meanwhile, another project (Vishnugad Pipalkoti Project) funded by the World Bank, which is a bastion of U.S hegemony and imperialism, is also proving fatal.
Various examples point that this is not an isolated case, nor is it a simple natural disaster – as the mainstream media would like us to think. It is high time we resist the dictatorship of the likes of the Worl Bank and Asian Development bank. There must be a way to ensure development that is symbiotic to the needs of the people, and sensitive to ecology. It is high time we take inspiration from people’s movements, pro people models of development and find the way.
