Joshimath: After being in denial, govt admits fresh cracks appeared in 5 more houses

Locals claimed that the administration was tight-lipped despite their attempts to raise alarm bells over the new cracks

In a fresh developement in the ongoing Joshimath land subsidence issue, the Chamoli district administration has said that fresh cracks have appeared in more houses in the Joshimath town, a report in The Times of India said.

The administration has so far denied the fresh cracks for over a fortnight but the latest bulletin this week has said that five more houses have developed cracks in them, taking the total number of houses affected by the natural disaster to 868.

Locals have been allegeing since last month that they have seen more cracks in some new houses but the administration has reportedly been tight-lipped about their claims.

Also Read | Scientists sound impending earthquake danger in Uttarakhand Himalayan region

In a related developement, scientists at the Hyderabad-based CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute have sounded warning about the impending danger of a massive earthquake in Uttarakhand, “including the Joshimath area” that has witnessed alarming levels of subsidence in the past weeks.

While the Himalayan region is known to be a seismic zone, the warning comes in the wake of the calamitous Turkey-Syria earthquake that has caused a massive loss of lives – over 19,000 deaths had been confirmed at the time of writing this and the death toll was still expected to climb.

“Uttarakhand falls in a seismic gap where a great earthquake is waiting to occur,” Dr Purnachandra Rao, chief scientist, Seismology, NGRI told DH.

Coming back to Joshimath, locals said they have been sounding alarm bells over fresh cracks in houses but they said the administration did not care.

Also Read | Himalayas unstable, government says in the backdrop of Joshimath subsidence

“We have been trying to draw attention to fresh cracks and widening gaps in our homes but the administration continued to claim the situation was the same and no new damage was done,” Pranav Sharma, a resident of Singhdhar told TOI.

Reports had earlier claimed fresh cracks had indeed appeared in Singhdhar area of Joshimath along with some existing cracks widening in the disaster-hit town.

Joshimath SDM Kumkum Joshi had said earlier this week that 'some cracks had widened in certain parts of the town, especially in Singhdhar'. Joshi said that technical teams will be conducting more surveys in the houses that have now developed cracks.

The houses which have developed cracks are in the Singhdhar municipal ward. The count of unsafe houses affected by cracks stands at 181 in Joshimath's nine wards and out of them, Singhdhar has the maximum at 98. Gandhinagar and Sunil have 28 each, while there are 27 unsafe houses in Manoharbagh.