Directions: Read the passage given below and then answer the given questions. Some words may be highlighted for your attention. Read carefully.

The year began on a calamitous note with reports that the temple town of Joshimath in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand was 'sinking' and that cracks had appeared on residential and commercial structures. This prompted a humanitarian crisis with people fleeing and taking refuge in tents and open spaces, fearing that their homes would crumble. A proximate reason for the acceleration in the fissures and cracks was attributed to tunneling activities from the Tapovan Vishnugad power project being developed by the National Thermal Power Corporation. There were also concerns on whether groundwater depletion or increased urbanization that encouraged faulty construction, had reached a point from which disasters had become inevitable. To address all these, the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority commissioned eight reputed institutions to study the land-subsidence phenomenon from multiple angles. Surprisingly, it banned the public dissemination of information from scientists involved with the institutions on the grounds that satellite imagery pictures — from Indian and international sources — of the subsurface in Uttarakhand were aggravating ''panic'' and that information was to be shared only after it was ''cleared'' by the Centre. The net result of this is that despite reports of all institutions being available for months, it took a strong rebuke from the High Court of Uttarakhand last week for the State authorities to make this information public.

Though these reports are technical, they reiterate what has been known about the risks underlying infrastructure development in Uttarakhand. The Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, for instance, pointed out that 99% of construction in the region _______ building codes. The National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, in its report, said that the network of springs, drainage systems, and areas of subsidence may influence land subsidence and there was a need to monitor them. Overall, the tenuous geology made city-like infrastructure projects risky, and strict town planning and construction measures were necessary to minimize the risk of accidents and loss of lives. While there is a legitimate case for ensuring that citizens in the hill States are not denied basic amenities and opportunities for material advancement, it is incumbent upon governments to make hard decisions that are sustainable as against those that are aimed to score in the next election. A necessary step is to ensure that information on the risks is widely disseminated and communicated in a way that it becomes a part and parcel of public life. Independent scientific counsel must form the backbone of policymaking and clear lines must be drawn around the limits to development in the region.