Dehradun: The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released satellite images of Joshimath and a preliminary report on land subsidence which shows that the entire town may sink.
The pictures are taken from the Cartosat-2S satellite.
Hyderabad-based NRSC has released the satellite images of areas that are sinking.
In images, the entire town, including the Army's helipad and the Narasimha temple, has been marked as sensitive zone.
On the basis of ISRO's preliminary report, Uttarakhand government is conducting rescue operation in danger-prone areas and the people in these areas are being shifted to safer places on priority.
According to the report, the land subsidence was slow between April and November 2022, during which Joshimath had sunk by 8.9 cm. But between December 27, 2022 and January 8, 2023, the intensity of land subsidence increased and the town sank by 5.4 cm in these 12 days.
The satellite images show that the Joshimath-Auli road is also going to collapse due to the land subsidence.
Although scientists are still studying the cracks that appeared in the houses and roads after the land subsidence in the town, the findings in the primary report of ISRO are frightening.
Meanwhile, demolition of houses and two hotels rendered unsafe due to land subsidence here has started on Thursday. The two hotels -- Hotel Malari Inn and Hotel Mount View, besides developing cracks, have also tilted backwards.
The demolition, that was earlier stopped becuase of protest, is being done under the supervision of the Central Building Research Institute by teams of National Disaster Response Force, Public Works Department and State Disaster Response Force.
According to sources, the demolition of the hotels began after discussion on compensation was held between the property owners and the district administration.
The Uttarakhand government has announced an amount of Rs 1.5 lakh per affected family.
A State Disaster Response Force official has said the demolition would not be done in the night due to the cold weather and rainfall.
Earlier, the local residents were assured that they would be given appropriate compensation. Later, people staging demonstrations against the demolition were also asked to disperse.
Inspector General of Police, Garhwal Range, Karan Singh Nagnyal all activities in the areas around the hotels that would be demolished have been stopped to ensure safety of the people.
The authorities have so far marked 723 houses unsafe.
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