Tenants in Joshimath's Singdhar flee town amid land subsidence 'scare'

Joshimath (Uttarakhand) [India], January 8 : Hours after the Chamoli District Magistrate (DM) in Uttarakhand on Sunday directed to shift people in unsafe areas of Joshimath town to safer places, many locals living in rented houses in the Singdhar ward have started moving to their native places because of increasing land subsidence.
The local residents here have asserted that the size of cracks in walls and floors has increased.

"All the people who are still remaining in unsafe places are being shifted to safe places. Sector officers have been nominated in each ward for immediate and safer shifting of the people's belongings," Chamoli DM Himanshu Khurana said.
One of the locals in Joshimath's Singdhar said that all the people in rented houses have left their homes.

"I belong to this place. All the tenants have vacated their homes as the land subsidence is continuously increasing and water is seeping deep into the land," a local resident Manoj Jain said.
Citing that the NTPC's tunnel here is responsible for this condition of Joshimath, Manoj Jain said that the experts who have visited here have directed to evacuate the land as early as possible.
Meanwhile, another person living as a tenant here so far, said that the situation here has turned "very scary" because of which they are vacating the land.

"I want to leave the place because I am scared because of the increasing land subsidence here," said another person Gurnam Singh Panwar.
The district administration has made arrangements for the affected families in the subsidence.
Following the appearance of cracks in the houses, a total of 66 families are reported to have migrated from Joshimath as of now.
"The district administration has made arrangements for the families affected by the natural calamity to stay in safe relief camps," the administration said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami of all possible help to the state in the wake of land subsidence in Joshimath.
"PM Modi had a telephone conversation with me asking about the situation in Joshimath and the steps taken for the rehabilitation and safety of people," said Uttarakhand CM Dhami addressing the media persons.
"The situation in Joshimath is being analysed. We'll also see if other mountainous towns have achieved their toleration limit," he added.
The town of Joshimath also called Jyotirmath, is the winter seat of Lord Badrinath, whose idol is brought down from the main Badrinath temple to the Vasudeva temple in Joshimath every winter. The holy town of Joshimath is revered by the Hindus as an important pilgrimage centre of the country.