Joshimath crisis | Local activists threaten to block traffic on route to Badrinath

The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti’s demands include scrapping the NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Helang-Marwadi bypass project, along with proper rehabilitation of people affected due to the Joshimath land subsidence crisis.

The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, a group of local activists who first raised the land subsidence issue in the hill town, on April 5 threatened to block traffic on the route to Badrinath if their demands are not met by April 27.

The Himalayan temple is scheduled to reopen for devotees after the winter break on April 27.

The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti's (JBSS) demands include the scrapping of the NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Helang-Marwadi bypass project.

In a letter to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, JBSS convener Atul Sati also demanded that the affected people should get adequate compensation and be rehabilitated properly.

If all this is not done by April 27, people will be forced to hit the streets in protest, Mr. Sati said in the letter.

He also said his organisation had urged the State Government to constitute a high-level committee consisting of local and JBSS representatives to deal with the crisis but the demand went unheeded compounding people's problems.

Another demand made by the JBSS for the constitution of a coordination committee at the local level to address the subsidence problem was also ignored, he claimed.