Amid data black hole that surrounds Joshimath’s sinking, a minister’s clean chit

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Editor's note: Two weeks in and the year has already been busy on the environment and climate change front. The environmental release of genetically modified mustard continues to rake up controversy; India announced the issue of its first ever Sovereign Green Bonds; and the World Economic Forum kicked off at Davos, Switzerland, with climate and sustainability high on the agenda.  The big news, though, continues to be Joshimath as the pilgrimage town sinks under its own weight. But, it’s a tragedy about which we will know even less than we do, thanks to an unprecedented gag order on government agencies. Invoking the Disaster Management Act, 2005—a law that provides sweeping powers to the government to protect people from disasters—the National Disaster Management Authority on Saturday restricted government agencies from speaking to the media about why Joshimath is sinking. The NDMA claims that various agencies are giving contradictory information, which is “confusing” people. And, since a government-appointed committee is looking into the matter, nobody should say anything until it has completed its work. I cannot recall another instance where the 2005 law has …