Name: Why this town in India is sinking
Uploaded: 2025-11-24T00:12:19.699Z
Duration: 4 min
Description: The ancient Indian town of Joshimath is sinking. For The National, CBC’s Salimah Shivji goes high into the Himalayas to first-hand look at why it’s happening and the impact it’s having on the people who live there.

The ancient Indian town of Joshimath is sinking. For The National, CBC’s Salimah Shivji goes high into the Himalayas to first-hand look at why it’s happening and the impact it’s having on the people who live there.

Joshimath

Joshimath, located over 1,800 metres high in the Indian Himalayas, is experiencing significant ground subsidence, causing large cracks in streets and homes. The town's instability is attributed to its foundation on ancient landslide debris, a receding glacier, inadequate drainage, and intensified by climate change and aggressive construction projects.

More than 800 buildings were evacuated in 2023 after a rapid drop in ground level, but many residents have returned due to lack of alternatives. Despite government pledges for assistance, locals remain concerned about the effectiveness of these measures as the region continues to face environmental and infrastructural challenges.

Why this town in India is sinking

Tucked deep in the Indian Himalayas, clinging to this steep hillside more than 1,800 metres high, Joshimath is vulnerable, its unstable soil buckling as the small town slowly sinks. Large cracks scar many streets where hundreds of houses are crumbling. Abhishek Natyal and his family still live in their home, considered structurally unsound, condemned by a red X mark. Attempts at patching the cracks only partially successful. They were ordered to leave when things came to a head in Joshimath in 2023. More than 800 buildings evacuated after the town suddenly dropped five centimetres in less than two weeks. But Abhishek and his family came back after a few months, rejecting an offer of compensation from the government to move permanently. I was very scared. There was no place to which we can move on and like stay. We have no background support, financial support. The trauma and uncertainty a constant in Joshimath. The town is built on loose debris from a centuries-old landslide and a receding glacier. It's also cursed with a drainage system that struggles to clear excess water, seeping into the already wobbly soil under these homes. The red marks are everywhere in this neighbourhood, ignored for the most part. Durga rents this small home even with its deep cracks because she has few other options. We're scared, she says. When it rains heavily, the cracks widen. Where will I take my children, she asks. These crevices are even deeper now, after monsoon season battered the town this year. A changing climate exacerbating Joshimath's weak soil. The ecologically fragile Himalayas, the world's tallest mountain range, warming faster than any other. Glacial lakes overflowing and more frequent cloudbursts of sudden torrential rain over a short time in space risk crushing entire mountain villages like Dharali, not far from Joshimath, where a deadly flood was captured on video this summer. The pattern of precipitation is changing. Unless there is a proper drainage pattern, the vulnerability of the soil will increase. For many here in a town slowly sinking, it's the aggressive and unchecked construction surrounding the area already so fragile that's making matters even worse. The route in and out of town is busy and getting more so, with roads being carved out and widened. Joshimath is at the heart of a pilgrimage route for millions of Hindus where rivers meet to become the holy Ganges. The region also a hot spot for new hydroelectric dams to harness the power of the mountains and meet India's growing electricity needs. This activist and others in Joshimath blame one particular project. Very close to town, even though a government study dating as far back as 1976 called for a ban on all construction in Joshimath because of the collapsing soil. That tunnel is going through underneath the Joshimath and while building a tunnel they are using heavy blasts. We think that is the main cause. Many in the small town are resigned to it. That the government, which has pledged funds to try to stop the sinking, won't find a quick fix. Sashi Sundariyal takes it all in stride. The owners are letting me stay here rent-free, she says. So I'll live with the cracks. In the precarious town in the hills that won't stop sinking, its future uncertain.

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