JOSHIMATH: As the crises deepen in the Joshimath, Chamoli district administration on Tuesday began a technical survey of the damaged buildings situated in JP Colony for the demolition exercise.

“A survey of damaged buildings of JP colony has begun after which a formal order to dismantle them will be issued,” Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana said.

The buildings in the colony are said to be made of light construction material and will not take a long time for demolishing, an engineer in the process said. The colony was vacated on January 3rd after an underground water channel burst on Jan 2nd.

Earlier in the day, several residents and activists were calling for the National Thermal Power Corporation to shut down its activities in the region, alleging that one of its projects contributed to subsidence in the area.

From the numerous small and big shops in the main markets to the residential properties, vehicles, and billboards, posters with the slogan “NTPC go back” have come up around the town in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district over the past few days.

Locals allege that the digginf of a 12 km tunnel for the 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugarh hydroelectric project exacerbated the subsidence in that area.