JOSHIMATH: Snowfall and rain in various parts of Uttarakhand on Friday intensified the cold, adding to the woes of people from land subsidence-hit Joshimath living in temporary relief camps. Of the 47 villages in the Chamoli district affected by snowfall, 19 are in the Ghat sub-division, 13 in Joshimath, eight in Gairsain and seven in the Chamoli sub-division, the District Disaster Management office said.
“Because of the heavy snowfall & rain, the labourers are unable to work, so the demolition work going on in Joshimath has been stopped. Will resume the work once the situation improves, Himanshu Khurana, Chamoli DM said.”
According to experts, subsidence has already affected over 35%-40% of Joshimath and it’s “unlikely to stop”. So far, four of nine municipal wards in Joshimath — Gandhinagar, Singhdhar, Manohar Bagh and Sunil — have been declared unsafe and houses there have been evacuated by the district administration.
849 houses have been affected so far out of which 259 affected families have been shifted to temporary relief centres. Crack meters installed in the damaged houses of Joshimath have registered no further widening of cracks in the last three days, but water discharge from an underground channel near J P Colony has shot up again to 150 litre per minute, a senior official said on Thursday