Protest continues as families in Uttarakhand's Joshimath being evacuated after houses develop cracks

Gopeshwar (Uttarakhand): Protests continued in the Himalayan town of Joshimath on Thursday as the government began evacuating families staying in houses at risk after developing cracks.

The town observed a bandh to protest against administrative indifference to the plight of residents and the "NTPC projects which have led to its gradual sinking." People descended on the streets shouting slogans against an "idle administration" and staged a chakka jam while the business establishments remained closed, Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti convenor Atul Sati said.

The SDM came to persuade the agitators to stage a dharna but he was told that it will continue until decisive action is taken on their demands.

The demands include immediate rehabilitation of residents, stopping construction of an NTPC tunnel and a bypass road between Helang and Marwadi for Badrinath and fixing responsibility for this disaster on the NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project, he said.

Nearly 30 families in the Himalayan town of Joshimath have been evacuated to safer locations with several houses in the area prone to high seismic activity developing cracks, according to officials.

Located at a height of 6,000 feet in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, the town on the route to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib falls in high-risk seismic 'Zone-V'.

So far, 561 houses in different areas of the town have developed cracks, including 153 in Ravigram, 127 in Gandhinagar, 71 in Manoharbagh, 52 in Singhdhar, 50 in Parsari, 29 in Upper Bazar, 27 in Suneel, 28 in Marwadi and 24 in Lower Bazar, District Disaster Management Officer NK Joshi said.

The degree of damage to the houses differs and till now 29 families from the most affected houses have been shifted temporarily to safer places from the town, he said, adding that more families could be evacuated if required.

The locations where they have been shifted to include the Nagar Palika Bhawan, a primary school building, the Milan Kendra and the Joshimath Gurudwara, the official said.

Some of the families have also been shifted for the time being to the places of their relatives, Joshi said.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the situation in Joshimath is being closely monitored and he will visit the place to assess the situation.

Officials said a team of experts has also been set up to conduct a survey of the place that falls in the high-risk seismic 'Zone-V'.