Cold weather has become a least of the problems that people of Uttarakhand's Joshimath have to deal with as their houses are reportedly getting cracks, hence pushing them to evacuate the place as soon as possible.
A temple collapsed in the Himalayan town of Joshimath in Uttarakhand heightening fears among residents. People over there have been camping out in the cold as around 600 houses and other structures have developed cracks due to the soil shifting.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who is likely to pay a visit today has ordered relief operations for people getting affected and asked them to shift temporary shelters for the time being.
Further, a team of experts and scientists is stationed in the Himalayan town for a door-to-door survey.
It all started with devastating landslide in 2021 that resulted in many landslides it was from then the cracks had been started appearing. The Uttarakhand government nevertheless established an expert group in 2022. The researchers discovered that a few areas in Joshimath are "sinking" as a result of both man-made and natural factors. The panel discovered that structural faults and damage have been caused by ground subsidence, which is a gradual sinking or sudden settling of the earth's surface caused by the removal or relocation of subsurface components.
According to municipal chief, more than 3,000 people are affected That's over 10 per cent of the population. Cracks run along and across the roads and are widening constantly in the holy town, an entry point for major Hindu and Sikh pilgrimages and one of the major military bases near India's border with China.
Meanwhile, the state government has said people whose houses are affected and have to vacate will get ₹ 4,000 a month as rent for the next six months from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
