Students in Hyderabad join on strike in solidarity with Joshimath

HYDERABAD: Several student activists from Hyderabad went on strike in solidarity with Joshimath on Thursday. The Climate Front students hosted the strike as part of the National Climate Strike for Joshimath as the city has been sinking for 100 days.

According to the students, the lives of 25,000 people were in danger, 300 families have already been displaced, over 1,000 buildings developed cracks, and buildings collapsed; the administration has placed a red cross on approximately 180 houses; and the cause of the crisis must be identified; otherwise, the lives of residents in other major towns such as Mussoorie, Tehri, Karnaprayag, and Uttar Kashi would be in danger.

Why are students speaking about Joshimath in Hyderabad

Joshimath, the students feel, was more than just a single town's challenge; it was another example of government planning that affects people and the environment.

18-year-old activist Ruchith Asha Kamal, from Hyderabad, said, "We see the Joshimath tragedy and the Chevella highway project as equivalent at a time when governments throughout the world have declared a "climate emergency." The Prime Minister of India has vowed to attain net-zero emissions. But in reality, they are doing the opposite; for the construction of roads or highways, a lot of construction equipment and heavy vehicles are used. The volume of carbon they will emit is huge. In this Chevella project, officially the number of trees that will be chopped down is 15,000, and according to our reports, double that amount of trees will be cut".

"The only solution to carbon storage in the entire world is planting trees," he continued, "which is why many governments are doing plantations, but here in India, the government goes ahead with unsustainable projects and also chops thousands of trees. But the difference between Joshimath and this issue is that the effects of the Joshimath Crisis are visible, whereas the effects of the Chevella highway construction project are not visible right now, but when our grandchildren pray to all gods for oxygen, we will understand the gravity of the consequences."