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'My son lives in France... sitting here for people of Joshimath': Hotel owner
Demolition of the hotels (the other is Hotel Mount View) should have taken place Tuesday but was postponed after locals demanded assurances about their future. Visuals showed people crowding outside Malari Inn Tuesday evening as they sought answers.
Amid protests, political bickering and controversy over demolitions in Joshimath - Uttarakhand's 'sinking' town - the owner of a condemned building has hit out at what he says is the state government's attempt 'demolish my hotel forcefully'.
Thakur Singh Rana, who owns the Malari Inn Hotel, told Hindustan Times: "I would kill myself by setting myself on fire if the authorities try to demolish my hotel forcefully. Authorities should first give us adequate compensation... not just about me but people of Joshimath."
Thakur and his family are staging protests outside the Malari Inn - one of two hotels and hundreds of houses marked for demolition in the temple town. "My son lives in France, I can go anywhere but I'm sitting here for the people of Joshimath," he told news agency ANI.
Also Read: Political row intensifies on Joshimath, Congress demands national calamity status
Demolition of the hotels (the other is Hotel Mount View) should have taken place Tuesday but was postponed after locals demanded assurances about their future. Visuals showed people crowding outside Malari Inn Tuesday evening as they sought answers.
Citing examples of development projects in Badrinath, Singh told ANI: "I am not protesting against the demolition of the hotel building but am demanding fair compensation…"
"I'm demanding compensation be given to me like it was given during development projects in Badrinath. The state government isn't cooperating at all. I'll sit here until I die."
On the demolition of the hotels, Manikant Mishra, a senior State Disaster Response Force official, said: "Their demolition is essential because there are several houses… around. If these two sink any further, they can collapse… so experts decided to demolish it".
The number of damaged houses in Joshimath has gone up to 723 - up from 678 yesterday.
READ | Joshimath land subsidence: 678 buildings marked 'unsafe', angry locals protest
A total of 131 families have been shifted to temporary relief centres as residents' anger and frustration - over a crisis that experts warn will not be the last to affect Indian hill towns.
Yesterday angry residents took to the streets to protest against the National Thermal Power Corporation. Photographs showed dozens - many of whom were women - marching through the town's streets amid claims that construction related to the NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydroelectric project has led to this tragedy.
The NTPC has denied this claim; in a statement released January 5, the company said, "The tunnel… does not pass under Joshimath town."
READ | Joshimath crisis: 723 houses damaged; 'Himalayas map can't be drawn like Delhi'
Meanwhile, distressing visuals have emerged over the past few days of men and women forced to evacuate their family homes, in which they have lived for decades.
"This is my maternal home. I got married at the age of 19. My mother is 80 years old and I have an elder brother. We built this home by working hard and making an earning. We lived here for 60 years but it is all ending now," one resident, Bindu, was quoted by ANI.
READ | 'Have lived here for 60 years...': Joshimath resident in tears | Video
Also on Tuesday, the Supreme Court refused an urgent hearing of a petition in connection with the Joshimath demolition and listed the matter for January 16. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said 'democratically-elected institutions' were working on the crisis.
On Monday, Joshimath was declared 'disaster-prone' - a month after residents started their protest against the gradual sinking of the town.
