Joshimath crisis: Amid a disaster unfolding in Joshimath, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said both environment and development are important and that whether tunnels or roads are responsible for the crisis will be known only after the team submits its technical report.
The government has constituted a team of experts from seven organisations including the Geological Survey of India and IIT Roorkee to study the cause of land subsidence in Joshimath, a town in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
Today, when asked whether this was happening due to highways being constructed there, Gadkari said the Himalayas have fragile strata. "This problem (land subsidence) is not of today, it also happened in 1976. After the technical report, it will be found whether the sinking has any connection with roads or tunnels," the minister said while speaking at Business Today's flagship Banking Summit in Mumbai.
Many geologists have blamed the government for rapid construction works in the fragile Himalayas. They say NTPC's power project near Joshimathm and Char Dham highways are damaging the region.
Gadkari, however, said he had brought consultants from Switzerland to prepare the DPR (Detailed Project Report) as that country has the same condition.
"When disaster struck in Kedarnath, and when I became the minister in 2014, the talks were on for constructing the Char Dham highway. People advised me to bring consultants from Switzerland because it has the same condition (topography)," he said. The project report was prepared by consultants from Switzerland.
Gadkari said the Char Dham road that the government is constructing is difficult but these roads are very important.
"When we go through Char Dham, we strategically go to China border. If tomorrow, our military personnel will go to the border then will need roads. These roads are important for our security," he said. Gadkari concluded by saying that ethics, economics, and ecology & environment are three important pillars. "We need to protect ecology and also do development but we have to worry if development is affecting the environment."
When asked how a balance can be made between infrastructure and protecting hills, Gadkari said it is true that the Himalayas are fragile. "And that is why we have made tunnels and done concreting from inside. We could make all-weather roads because we made tunnels. We have changed the DPR," he said.
The minister then suggested that events in Joshimath are because of the rock it is sitting on. He said the government made a ring road outside Joshimath. "I don't want to make any technical comment - but if the rock is not stable and water is going inside then what will happen?" he said.
The National Highways under the Char Dham project passes through the districts of Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Champawat, and Dehradun in Uttarakhand.