Why does this earth slip?

- Ekanjaratraf-Harshalpuskarna

- There are two reasons behind the phenomenon that a piece of land suddenly falls down: science and ignorance of it! Talked about Bay here

- Regarding the Joshimath incident, a question to be examined with the eyes of science:

This scientific discussion is going to focus on Joshimath in Uttarakhand, but before that take a look at the picture presented below. The photo is old, so it is blurry. But although slightly vague, it does clarify the central point of our discussion. The Gandhari impression that is relentlessly driving the bulldozer of development in Uttarakhand's Joshimath is also a blindfold opener of the local system.

The present picture, taken in the year 1977, is of the San Joaquin Valley in California, USA. A tall wooden pillar has three plaques engraved from top to bottom with the dates 1925, 1955 and 1977 respectively. All three figures are indicative of where the Hoaquian Valley's geologic surface level was in that year. For example, in 1925, the land here was so high that it covered half of the column. In three decades, the downward-sloping column reached the mid-level and in 1977, the ore settled down several feet. In half a century, San Joaquin's land lost about 28 feet of sediment. What is the situation today after another fifty years?

Here is the answer: From 1925 to 2022, the land of the San Joaquin Valley has sunk a total of 100 feet. When the land mass made of dust-soil and rocks starts to sit downwards, it is called subsidence in the term of geology. (English word satabsitdansj = to ooze or fall off.) The whole flour fried in a pan swells up into a ball due to the steam filling the space between them. But after serving bhan, the surface falls off just by making a small crack in its upper layer with a finger. It is a very simple example to understand the phenomenon of Subsichdansad. After quoting it here for introduction let's go a little deeper.

As 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, there are no shortage of water reserves even beneath the solid geological crust on which nature's greenery and man-made cement concrete forests stand. The reservoirs in the cavities of the rocks are flowing like rivers. Centuries ago we used to get their salt water by digging a well, but now it is from bore/shar.

The San Joaquin Valley in the US state of California is arable. There are vast farms spread over thousands of square meters, where local farmers once relied on surface water for irrigation. With the advent of the technology of drilling holes in the ground, the Hoakiran Valley erupted like a cat's top. Millions of liters of ground water per day began to rise and was poured into the fields. As a result, the water table or ground water level decreased year by year. The hollows of the rocks were filled with water. Just as the centripetal pressure of the steam keeps the upper surface of the hot Puri uplifted, the immense pressure of the water of the underground rivers and canals keeps the rocks of the Chopas wetting each other. If this pressure is reduced or removed completely, the community of rocks may subside, i.e. subsidence downwards, like a waterfall. This tectonic change occurs over time in the San Joaquin Valley of the United States, causing the landmass to settle as much as 100 feet in 100 years. Its slow descent into the abyss continues to this day.

The Earth's crust is made up of thick layers of dirt, gravel, minerals and rocks. Each stratum is supported by each other, which, when weakened, is bound to cause a subsidence phenomenon. While over-extraction of groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley has led to subsidence, indiscriminate mining in the name of development in Joshimath has created fissures in the geological crust and disrupted the balance of the various strata.

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Joshimath is situated at an altitude of about 6,000 feet in the Garhwal Himalayas. Today Joshimath is filled with about twenty thousand inhabitants. In the 7th century, Katyu Ri dynasty of Garhwal province was the capital of King Lalitsur. Adi Shankaracharya came here in the eighth century, did austerities for a few days and attained divine enlightenment, after which the land of Joshimath became known as a religious place. Every year more and more people started coming here, so with the passage of time, the community of Joshimath spread. Unfortunately the geological carpet on which Sathro was spreading was not reliable. It was left raw in its natural texture of dirt and rocks.

The interpretation of this in terms of geology is that the ground on which the Joshimath stood was an overall soft layer of tons of rock, dirt and debris that had flowed down the hill slopes of Garhwal in the past. Landslide i.e. the land surface formed by landslides was so rough that a number of houses should not be built on it. However, due to the inherent ignorance of topographical science, the construction activities continued in Joshimath.

I understand if a man commits a mistake due to ignorance, but what if he continues to make the same mistakes after the imposition of knowledge? In 1964, the then commissioner of Garhwal province M. C. Mishra drew attention for the first time. A committee called Mishra Commission, consisting of eighteen architectural experts, made a detailed study of the land of Joshimath and gave a report in 1976 that the constructions that were done here due to ignorance till now, but after that, no big masonry is done in Joshimath, no hills and tunnels are carved for roads and soil. Strict care must be taken not to uproot the trees while holding the musket by their roots. Since the land here is dry land, it is likely to fall victim to early subsidence.

The warning to the Mishra Commission was dire. It is different that it was not taken seriously. Joshimath is the gateway to pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Saheb, so for the convenience of pilgrims traveling through it, facilities ranging from roads to accommodation were built. Exploding hills, excavating foundations for houses and moving tons of rock from one place to another became commonplace. Call it carelessness or foolishness?

Whatever you count, but the incident that exceeded its limits happened in 2006 when our National Thermal Power Corporation / NTPC started the work of 520 MW hydro power plant in Joshimath. A 13.4 km long tunnel of head race type had to be constructed to convey the water of river Dhauliganga to the power house of the proposed dam, which passed near Joshimath. The idea of ​​creating a long tunnel in Joshimath and its surrounding Bhuskh Laan fertile land was thus unworkable. Even so, if the tunnel has to be carved, it is necessary to know where the minimum risk of landslides lies. We have a government organization called Geological Survey of Idiwu to carry out geological survey for such information. Had the expert geologists of this institute been entrusted with the task of surveying the proposed tunnel, they might have given a clear idea of ​​the mad venture of excavation. But NTPC did not give them such a chance. The work of the survey was not entrusted to the Geological Survey of Idiot. Rather, it was done with a private company.

In the year 2009, the drilling of the head race tunnel, about 13.4 kilometers long, started. With a tunnel boring machine called Virat Shardi, a 10 meter diameter tunnel was dug about a kilometer below the surface. In the beginning everything went smoothly. But in the matter of geological survey, the first evidence of Kachu Kapaya was found on December 24, 2009. A tunnel boring machine cut a hole in the natural strata of solid rock that held back the waters of Alaknanda that day. At 700 to 800 liters per second, Alaknanda water started rushing into the tunnel. Along with the flood of water, dirt and debris began to flow at the rate of seven million liters per day. Flowed for days.

Consider this accident in the context of the San Joaquilán Valley in the United States. The altered water table caused long-term subsidence in the San Joaquinan Valley. If the science called Bhustalrashastrar is equally applicable everywhere, why should that science make an exception at the time of the massive flow of water in the head race tunnel near Joshimath? Something to think about. If you ask the truth, many experts have predicted in December 2009 that this amount of water will not last without creating subsedence somewhere. However, the system did not pay attention to his prediction.

Another man-made factor responsible for landslides in Joshimath today is the tunnel that narrows the road to Badrinath by 30 kilometers. The warning given to the Mishra Commission against drilling in the landslide-prone area of ​​Joshimath has been taken into account. This happened to the residents of poor Joshimath in the temptation of planning so that more pilgrims can reach Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib in a short time. Poor town planning is another reason behind the phenomenon of subsidy in this town. According to the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority/USDMA, Joshimath does not have a proper network of sewer lines for disposal of waste water till date. Kitchen-bathroom water goes directly to the ground and gradually washes away the dirt and soil there. The earthy natural bonding between the rocks and rocks has been loosening over the years, resulting in the gradual subsidence of the Joshimath land, which recently collapsed due to subsidence.

In the name of development, Joshimath has finally got the answer to the gravel pelting done against nature for years. This apparent answer also carries an invisible message: Nature always answers gravel with bricks!