More houses develop cracks in Joshimath
Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti convener Atul Sati said cracks have been found in houses almost daily and the state government is papering over the continuing crisis
Five more houses developed cracks in Uttarakhand’s land subsidence-hit Joshimath, taking the number of such structures to 868, officials said. The number of houses with cracks earlier increased to 863 on January 20 from 849 a day earlier.
The officials said five houses developed cracks in the Singh Dhar ward. As many as 156 houses have now developed cracks in Joshimath’s worst-hit area. Officials said 98 houses there fall under the unsafe zone and may face demolition. Overall, 181 houses have been designated unsafe.
On January 28, the authorities said a survey to assess the damages across nine wards was completed.
Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti convener Atul Sati said cracks have been found in houses almost daily and the state government is papering over the continuing crisis.
“There are serious discrepancies in the official survey of damages due to land subsidence problem. Over 40% of houses [over 1500] have developed minor and major cracks. The houses that have developed cracks are not being included in the survey to hide the actual situation on the ground.”
Sati said people were being forced to live in houses declared unsafe. “If they conduct a survey in the right manner, the number of houses with cracks would go up significantly.”
He said the land around many houses was sinking even as they are undamaged. “Such houses can fall but the administration is not declaring these houses unsafe. If they address these discrepancies, the situation would reflect in the official data.”
Officials said 878 people have been displaced after cracks appeared in their houses.
Residents said two boulders in Sunil and Singh Dhar wards are on verge of collapse due to destabilisation of slopes because of cracks that can cause damage.
Public Works Department superintendent engineer Rajesh Sharma said they have put in place measures to prevent boulders from sliding. “If we dislodge or remove them from their location, it would disturb the slopes and make the area more land subsidence prone.”