 "Joshimath residents urge Uttarakhand CM Dhami to start NTPC project")
Local representatives in the Joshimath area on Sunday sent a memorandum to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami urging to commence the construction work of Tapovan-Vishnugad Hydroelectric Project which was closed after the landslides in the town in January this year.
According to the memorandum, the local representatives stated that the administration had stopped the hydroelectric project under the construction of the National Thermal Power Corporation Private Limited (NTPC) after the land subsidence in Joshimath.
It further stated that even after the investigation by expert committees, the hydroelectric project was not considered the reason for the Joshimath disaster and that all the residents of the area stand with those affected by the disaster.
"The government is taking all the appropriate action for the disaster area and the affected which is commendable work," it read.
Addressing the Chief Minister, the memorandum read that in this era of development, all the works are being carried forward by the government and since 80 per cent of the hydroelectric project work is done and it will be unfitting for the country or state to stop it.
It claimed that the local Navyuk area residents have become unemployed due to the construction of the project, as a result of which the economic condition of the area has deteriorated.
The memorandum also stated that Uttarakhand has been a witness to many floods and land erosions in the past.
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It also said that due to the deluge the rivers at present have been filled with silt and the water level has risen somewhere between 30 to 50 meters.
The rivers are cutting their embankments due to which there are land erosions at places with steep slopes in the mountains. Dhasav (fall) is happening fast due to which there is a danger of fat accumulation on it, it said.
"There were many floods and land erosions, which the deluge of 1971, the deluge of the year 2013 and 2021, the residents of the border areas saw with their own eyes, in which due to loss of life and deluge, the map of many places changed. Due to the deluge, at present the rivers have been filled with silt and the water level of the river has risen somewhere between 30 to 50 meters and the rivers/water are cutting their embankments, due to which land erosion is taking place in areas with steep slopes in the mountains," the memorandum said.
The memorandum added that there were no other sources of employment in the area because the tenancy and measurement land had already been taken in the construction of the project.
The representatives urged the Chief Minister to resume the project work by taking a proper initiative according to the requirement of the area and in view of the national interest.
Earlier in April, Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (JBSS) handed over a memorandum to the administration and announced that if their demand for the proper rehabilitation of the affected families is not fulfilled before April 27, they will hold a strike in Joshimath, said Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti president Atul Sati.