Authorities to demolish buildings in Joshimath
Hundreds of houses developed cracks in the area popular with pilgrims
Six structures from across four wards have been found very unsafe. We will demolish some unsafe buildings based on the recommendation and under the guidance of federal experts.”
Indian authorities will demolish some buildings in a northern Himalayan town near the China border after evacuating families in the past few days, an official said yesterday, as hundreds of houses developed cracks in the area popular with pilgrims.
Experts and residents have long warned that large-scale construction work in and around Joshimath town, including for power projects built by companies like staterun NTPC, could lead to land subsidence. NTPC, India’s largest power producer, says its tunnelling and other work is not responsible for the cracks in the town.
Joshimath is a gateway to Hindu and Sikh shrines and is popular with tourists looking to trek parts of the Himalayas.
Nearly 700 houses in the town in Uttarakhand state have developed cracks and some 400 people have been moved to safer locations, authorities say.
Himanshu Khurana | Chamoli district official
Six structures unsafe
“Six structures from across four wards have been found very unsafe,” Himanshu Khurana, a top official of the Chamoli district where Joshimath is located, told Reuters.
“We will demolish some unsafe buildings based on the recommendation and under the guidance of federal experts.” Two buildings have been identified already for demolition, he said, without clarifying when that could happen.
Khurana earlier told Reuters that work on some border road projects as well as NTPC’s Tapovan Vishnugad 520 megawatt hydro power plant had been suspended.
NTPC says its tunnelling and other work cannot be blamed for the cracks in the town of about 17,000 people.
“There is no way the project is behind the subsistence,” said a government official, adding that NTPC suspended tunnelling work in the area more than two years ago after a boring machine got stuck.
“Blasts in unavoidable circumstances had been carried out miles away from the population and the affected area,” added the official, adding the tunnel concerned was a kilometre distant from the affected area and a kilometre underground.
On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal that seeks damages for affected residents. Joshimath resident Prakash Bhutiyal said cracks had developed in seven of the 11 rooms in a guesthouse he runs that also serves as his home. The family of nine was waiting to be moved to a safer location, he added.