Joshimath-like situation in Bharmour's Holi tehsil of Chamba

Shimla/Chamba: The Joshimath-like situation is prevailing in Jhadonta village of Holi tehsil of Chamba district and the people of the village are highly upset and living in a fear of being uprooted.

The condition of village Jhadonta in Holi tehsil of Bharmour in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh is similar to that of Joshimath. Even after a year has passed, no one is ready to heal the wounds of the villagers. Except for a few leaders and the local administration team, no one paid attention to the people of this village.

The houses in the village had received cracks last year due to a tunnel of a local power project.

Just as cracks in houses and land issues in Uttarakhand's Joshimath have made headlines in the national media, the situation is similar in Jhadaunta village as well. For some time, the land and houses in this village are continuously sinking.

The village is having a population of more than 200 here, and people fear landslides and displacement.

The power project here has also displaced people by giving compensation for some land and houses, but the problem is increasing day-by-day here. The villagers are blaming the tunnel of the project for landslides and land subsidence here, but unfortunately, no one listened.

Notably, the Jhadaunta village is situated at the mouth of the 15-kilometer-long tunnel of the Holi-Bajoli 180 MW hydroelectric project. So far six houses have collapsed here and many are unsafe, so many people have moved to temporary shelters. People's delegation has submitted a memorandum through Tehsildar demanding the government to conduct a geological survey here.

Local authorities have visited the area several times but without any help to the villagers, lament the locals.

The people here demand that the government should immediately conduct a survey from a geologist and tell the people whether this place is habitable or not. The Geological Survey of India has been written to assess the landslides happening here.

SDM Bharmour Aseem Sood said appropriate action will be taken only after the report of the survey was received.

However, for the time being, the company management has been told not to pour water into the tunnel. (UNI)