For about a month, Harendra Rana has been having sleepless nights.
A big problem has hit the area in India his family have called home for generations.
The land in the environmentally fragile Himalayan region is developing enormous cracks due to movements called subsidence. It happens when large parts of the ground sink.
Buildings, roads and highways in and around the town are also cracking, alarming residents as well as local authorities. The pattern intensified over the past two weeks, officials say.
Mr Rana’s home is one of nearly 600 houses in Joshimath, a town at an altitude of 2,000 metres in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state, that have developed fissures over the past year because of the shifting earth.
“These cracks are appearing anywhere and anytime. Large residential buildings, hotels and shops all have cracks,” said Mr Rana, who runs a holiday home business.
"The foundation of the town is shaken. We don’t know what to do, where to go."
His business property has also developed cracks.
"We had gradually recovered from the pandemic but now no tourists are coming. We are on tenterhooks,” he said.
District official Himanshu Khurana told The National authorities had moved at least 60 families in the area to shelters and sent a team of engineers and experts.
“The cracks started almost a year ago but, in the last 10 days, the phenomenon has increased,” he said.
Tourists have been barred from staying in hotels that are damaged and the operation of the ropeway from Joshimath to Auli, a ski resort, has also been stopped.
“As of now 561 structures have cracks and a few have been found to be unfit to live in,” Mr Khurana said.
The state’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a meeting on Friday to discuss the crisis..
Residents accuses the government of carrying out aggressive infrastructure development in the region at the expense of their safety.
Seismologists have classified the entire state of Uttarakhand as a Zone V — meaning it is highly vulnerable to landslides and earthquakes.
The region experiences deadly landslides, earthquakes and flash floods. In 2013, a flash flood devastated Kedarnath, home to one of the holiest Hindu shrines, and killed more than 5,700 people.
Despite this, the government has launched large infrastructure projects in the area, including the 520MW Tapovan-Vishnugad hydrolectric project and a road network to the border with China.
The federal government is building an all-weather road through the area to bolster pilgrimage routes to Hindu shrines and temples in the state, which draws millions of visitors every year.
Last February a glacier burst caused a deadly flash flood in the region that killed as many as 200 people.
Joshimath is roughly 20 kilometres from the site of that disaster.
Locals blame the construction projects for the disasters.
“The government is blindly making these projects but is little bothered about the lives of the people, said Atul Sati, convenor of the Save Joshimath Committee, a residents' association.
"Is there a need for such big dams and tunnels to create electricity in such a fragile region?” .
“Environmentalists have urged the government to stop such projects but they’re hell-bent on damaging the ecology and our lives,” he said.
Experts have warned repeatedly that rampant infrastructure construction is damaging the ecological balance of the region.
Several studies have highlighted the risks, including a government study in 1976 that warned that road repairs and other construction in the area should not disturb the topography – such as by removing boulders by digging or blasting hillsides – and that the tree cover should be protected.
A 2021 study by independent experts warned that any “further excavation works would sink Joshimath”.
Last year, a government team of experts said the town was “built on an unstable foundation — a thick cover of landslide material — which could give way in case of heavy rain, tremors, unregulated construction or more footfall”.
But construction of the power projects — the state has 500 small and big plants — highways and private construction continue.
Anil Prakash Joshi, the founder of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation, said that, while not all construction can be stopped, as Joshimath is close to the China border, there should be a limit on infrastructure projects.
“The sinking in the region began a decade ago and has now reached Joshimath. It is a big hillock," Mr Joshi told The National.
"The Himalayas are fragile and aggressive construction is ongoing without much consideration of its bearing capacity."
“I have been repeatedly saying that for any structure we are making above 1,000m altitude in a fragile ecosystem, we have to decide the bearing capacity of the mountain, decide the size and intensity of the construction. The cracks are an example of what will happen if we ignore these things for long,” he said.
START-UPS%20IN%20BATCH%204%20OF%20SANABIL%20500'S%20ACCELERATOR%20PROGRAMME
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Gulf rugby
Who’s won what so far in 2018/19
Western Clubs Champions League: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens: Dubai Hurricanes
West Asia Premiership: Bahrain
What’s left
UAE Conference
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Hurricanes II v Al Ain Amblers, Jebel Ali Dragons II v Dubai Tigers
March 29, final
UAE Premiership
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Exiles v Jebel Ali Dragons, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Hurricanes
March 29, final
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
WHAT ARE NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.
An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.
This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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3.
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PRO%20MAX
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
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Our rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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If you go:
Getting there:
Flying to Guyana requires first reaching New York with either Emirates or Etihad, then connecting with JetBlue or Caribbean Air at JFK airport. Prices start from around Dh7,000.
Getting around:
Wildlife Worldwide offers a range of Guyana itineraries, such as its small group tour, the 15-day ‘Ultimate Guyana Nature Experience’ which features Georgetown, the Iwokrama Rainforest (one of the world’s four remaining pristine tropical rainforests left in the world), the Amerindian village of Surama and the Rupununi Savannah, known for its giant anteaters and river otters; wildlifeworldwide.com
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Cracks in the Wall
Ben White, Pluto Press
