Dehradun, April 7 -- Residents of several villages in Jyotirmath block of Chamoli have been staging protests against the NTPC 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project, over three years after cracks appeared in the town, during which the residents blamed the project for geological instability. In their 15-point memorandum of demands submitted to sub divisional magistrate, Jyotirmath; Gram Pradhan Sangathan, Jyotirmath said that if their demands are not met, they will shut down all the company's emergency services and dewatering pumps, lock the company's offices, and gherao the tehsil. Mithlesh Farswan, treasurer of the Sangh, said that Monday was the sixth day of the protest. "Our demands include providing employment to all unemployed persons from the affected gram panchayats [by the project]. All gram panchayats impacted by the project should be given financial assistance every quarter for fodder. The bridge at Bhagyul, which was washed away due to the barrage during the February 7, 2021 disaster, should be reconstructed as a motorable bridge at the earliest by NTPC," he said. Congress MLA from Badrinath Lakhpat Singh Butola said, "Jyotirmath, where Adi Shankaracharya established the foundations of Sanatan culture, is today under threat. Large tunnels have been constructed beneath our mountains, hollowing them out and destroying our natural water sources." "The water, forests and land belong to us, yet our rights are being exploited. If the government does not listen to the concerns of the local people, the agitation could intensify," he added. Jyotirmath SDM Chandrashekhar Vashisht said, "We have held talks with stakeholders on the issue. Consensus has been reached on some points, while discussions on others are still underway." PRO of the NTPC project, RS Jayara, said, "Some of the protestors' demands are unjustified, while others are under consideration. We have employed locals since the project began. Of approximately 700 people engaged in the project, the majority are locals. We will give them further employment as the project construction moves forward. Some people are creating a negative perception that the project affected the region's geological instability, but probe reports have ruled that out." In January 2023, large cracks and fissures had appeared on buildings and on the ground in Jyotirmath prompting the authorities to evacuate a large number of people to relief camps and temporary shelters. According to local residents, NTPC has built an extensive network of tunnels beneath Joshimath over the past 15 years, and continuous blasting in the already fragile terrain has accelerated the ongoing geological instability. However, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) in a 2023 said the cracks were not induced by the NTPC hydel project but constructions in form of buildings....