After starting the dismantling of the two damaged hotels due to land subsidence in Joshimath.
The Chamoli district administration has now issued orders for three residential properties – two in Manohar Bagh ward and one in Sunil. Meanwhile, the state disaster relief force (SDRF) on Friday began the mechanical demolition of one of the two houses to be razed in Manohar Bagh.
The PWD’s rest house has already been razed using a bulldozer, said Harak Singh Rana, an inspector with the SDRF. However, the dismantling work across the town had to be stopped due to snowfall and will resume once the situation improves, he said.
Hotels Snow Crest and Kamet, near Joshimath-Auli ropeway, were on January 15 declared unsafe as cracks had developed on their walls. On January 12, the district administration began the process of razing Hotel Malari Inn and began dismantling the adjoining damaged Mount View the next day.
Meanwhile, the water gushing out of a wall near Jaypee colony on Thursday increased to 150 litre per minute (LPM) from 100 LPM a day before. It gradually came down from 540 litres per minute (LPM) on January 6 to 100 LPM on January 18.
On January 17, it was 123 LPM. On January 16, it was 163 LPM. On January 12, it was 240 LPM. On January 10, it was 360 LPM. Locals have been claiming that the aquifer burst is responsible for widening of cracks.
The water had started gushing out near JP colony on intervening night of January 2 and 3 when several residents reported widening of cracks in their houses, according to a district official. Ajendra Ajay, chairman, Shri Badarinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee, has been nominated as chief minister’s special representative on the Joshimath crisis.
Ajay has been asked to conduct the on-ground survey from time to time by ensuring coordination between the local administration and government and inform the chief minister’s camp office about the situation in Joshimath.
Ajay met Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami at CM Camp Office on Friday and handed over a cheque of ₹5 lakh from the chief minister’s relief fund to help the affected people in Joshimath.
As of Thursday, 849 houses have developed cracks of which 181 fall in danger zone. As many as 867 people of 259 families have been shifted to safer locations after being evacuated from their unsafe homes, said the Chamoli administration.