インド・ヒマラヤの聖地が「沈む」　住民が避難

【デラドゥーン（インド）ＡＦＰ＝時事】インド・ヒマラヤ山脈にある聖地の一つ、ウッタラカンド州ジョシマトで地盤沈下が発生し、何百軒もの家屋に亀裂が生じるなどの被害が出て、住民が避難を余儀なくされている。（写真は、ジョシマトの民家の壁に生じた亀裂）

　地盤沈下の原因は不明だが、住民は付近で進められている水力発電計画に基づく道路やトンネルの建設が原因だとみて非難している。

　政府は原因究明に向けた「迅速な調査」を目指して専門家パネルを設置。ナレンドラ・モディ首相も、問題について話し合うため高官との協議に臨んだ。

　地元当局者はＡＦＰに対し、人口約２万人のジョシマトで起きた今回の地盤沈下で少なくとも６０世帯が避難所に身を寄せており、その数はさらに増える恐れがあると語った。

　ただ住民の話では、実際の避難者数は当局の数字を大きく上回っており、被害を受けた民家やホテルは約６００軒に上っているという。

　また、匿名を条件に取材に応じた別の当局者は、複数の地区が危険区域に指定されて立ち入りが制限されていると明かし、「住民は非常に心配している。町が沈んでいるという恐怖だ」と語った。

　厳しい寒さの中、屋外での生活を強いられている多くの住民は、数週間前、あるいは数か月前から、建物や道路にひび割れができていると当局に通報していた。

　ある女性は「これまで稼いだお金を全て費やしてこの家を建てたのに、駄目になってしまった」と嘆いた。

　海抜１８００メートルに位置するジョシマトは、ヒマラヤに点在する重要な聖地を訪問する際の拠点となる場所で、毎年数千人が訪れる。さらに、インド軍の大規模な基地があり、中国国境の係争地に続く道路も通っている。

　スキーリゾートへ向かう、全長４キロでアジア最長級のロープウエーもあるが、その支柱にも損傷が見られるという。

　一帯では地震が頻発し、近年は繰り返し災害に見舞われている。専門家は、氷河の融解と建築規制の不備が原因だと指摘している。

　また付近では、水力発電所の建設以外に、大規模な道路工事も進められている。この道路改修には、中国国境地帯への軍車両の通行や、モディ首相が推進するヒンズー教巡礼地へのアクセスを改善する狙いがある。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/01/12-19:07）

Authorities in one of the holiest towns in the Indian Himalayas were evacuating panicked residents Sunday after hundreds of houses began developing yawning cracks and sinking, officials said.
The cause of the apparent subsidence in Joshimath in the northern state of Uttarakhand was unclear, but residents blamed the building of roads and tunnels for a nearby hydroelectric project.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a high-level meeting for later Sunday to discuss the problem after the government formed an expert panel to carry out a rapid study into the cause.
Local official Himanshu Khurana told AFP that at least 60 families had been relocated into shelters and many more were likely to be shifted out from their sinking dwellings.
Residents said a much larger number had already fled their homes and that around 600 houses and hotels were sinking in the town of around 20,000 people.
Another official said on condition of anonymity that several areas in the town had been demarcated unsafe and entry restricted.
People are deeply worried. The fear is that the town is sinking, he said as helicopters surveyed the area.
Many locals have been forced to sleep out in the freezing cold and said they had been warning authorities for weeks and in some cases months about cracks in buildings and roads, some of which were oozing brown muddy water.
One woman, Vineeta Devi, said that in October cracks began to appear in her walls which have now become so wide that her house is on the brink of collapse, like 25 other houses in her neighbourhood.
What will happen to my children? How would they study now? she said to AFP.
We made this house with our life's earnings, but now it's gone, said Sunaina, another resident.
- Pilgrims -
Around 1,800 metres (6,000 feet) above sea level, Joshimath is a major gateway to a number of important religious sites in the Himalayas, attracting thousands of pilgrims every year.
The town also hosts a major Indian army base and a strategic road to the disputed border with China that has also reportedly developed wide cracks.
Pillars supporting a four-kilometre (2.5-mile) cable car ropeway, one of Asia's largest, leading to the Auli ski resort were also reportedly showing damage.
The region is prone to earthquakes and has seen a number of disasters in recent years blamed by experts on melting glaciers and untrammelled construction.
Building projects include hydroelectric plants as well as a major road improving military access to the Chinese border area and Hindu pilgrimage sites -- a pet project of Modi's.
In February 2021, at least 200 people were killed in flash floods in Joshimath and surrounding areas in a disaster that experts partly blamed on excessive development.