Joshimath: Hundreds of families are living in constant fear in Uttarakhand's Joshimath where homes, shops and hotels have developed cracks and scary sounds are being reported from different parts of the town.
Joshimath is holy to Hindus and is entry point for major Hindu and Sikh pilgrimages, and is also one of the major military bases near India's border with China.
Locals accused uncontrolled explosions carried out for developmental work has aggravated the situation so much so that the town is now on the verge of sinking to its own weight.
"Tunnels being dug for hydel power plants have led to this," alleged a local hotelier.
"And they continue to blast through rocks to widen roads, build bypasses, even very close to our town", he said.
"We are living in constant fear. People light fires and stay outside in the cold nights as they fear their houses or hotels might collapse anytime", he added.
According to officials, cracks have appeared in 561 houses, hotels and shops of the city, which is said to have been established by Shakaracharya centuries ago. Seventy seven families have left their homes and shifted to safer places.
The NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugarh hydropower project and the Marwadi-Helang bypass motor road have been shut with immediate effect, till further orders by the administration.
Along with this, the Joshimath-Auli ropeway has been closed citing security reasons.
A ban has also been imposed on the construction work being carried out in the city areas.
Meanwhile, owing to the critical situation, a team of experts and scientists conducted a house-to-house survey in the landslide affected areas of Joshimath in Uttarakhand.
The team included Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha and Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar, among others.
Kumar has authorised all the technical personnel of the Project Implementation Unit division, Public Works Department, working in the Badrinath Master Plan till further orders, for immediate assessment of the buildings, hotels and other structures in the affected areas.
After #Haldwani relief , its time to speak for people of #Joshimath .These people need urgent humanitarian assistance as severe winter has already arrived.May allah ease their sufferings #JoshimathIsSinking #Joshimath pic.twitter.com/KHQg72hadK— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) January 5, 2023
After #Haldwani relief , its time to speak for people of #Joshimath .These people need urgent humanitarian assistance as severe winter has already arrived.May allah ease their sufferings #JoshimathIsSinking #Joshimath pic.twitter.com/KHQg72hadK
Along with this, in view of the increasing problem, instructions have been given to deploy National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel in the city.
The district administration has also issued orders to the NTPC and HCC companies to prepare 2,000 pre-fabricated houses each, in advance, as a precautionary measure to shift the affected families.
Arrangements have been made by the administration for them to stay at municipality, block, BKTC guest house, GIC, Gurudwara, Inter College, ITI Tapovan and other safe places.
The buildings which are in danger due to increasing are being identified to prevent loss of life.
Nodal officers have been given the responsibility of arranging water, electricity, food, toilets and other basic facilities in the relief camps.
The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the NDRF have been alerted to deal with the landslides.
Earlier, a team of experts had submitted their report to the government after assessing the situation with increasing landslides, and deemed the city's drainage system to be its cause.
The present situation seems to be getting worse, with increasing water leakage due to the widening of the cracks.
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