Days after 4,000 people in Joshimath had to be evacuated as houses and roads developed cracks in the holy town due to land subsidence, similar incidents were reported in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh. Residents in Aligarh's Kanwariganj complained that their houses have developed cracks. The local administration said on Tuesday that a team will be sent to inspect the affected areas.

The local residents are more tensed as Joshimath land subsidence has forced several families to abandon their homes, New18 reported.

“For the last several days, cracks have appeared in some of our houses due to which we are forced to live in panic. We have also complained about it but the Municipal Corporation authorities are not taking any concrete action and are only giving assurance. We are afraid that the houses may collapse," a local resident, Shashi, was quoted as saying by ANI.

Locals allege that a pipeline laid down by the government under the Smart City scheme is leaking causing cracks in their houses. They said they complained to the authorities a few days back. They fear that the buildings would collapse any day.

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Meanwhile, the Additional Commissioner of Municipal Corporation Rakesh Kumar Yadav has taken cognisance of the issue and said that necessary action will be taken by the department.

“We have just received the information that there have been cracks in some houses in the Kanwariganj area. The matter has not yet come to full notice. We will now send our team to the site and the necessary action will be taken by the Municipal Corporation,” news agency ANI quoted Yadav as saying.

The incident has come in the wake of land subsidence in the Joshimath town of Uttarakhand. The houses and roads in Joshimath, which falls in the Chamoli district, are crumbling. The exact reason behind the land subsidence is still unknown but experts suspect unplanned construction, over-population, obstruction of the natural flow of water, and hydel power activities to be the reason.

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On Sunday, the Uttarakhand government declared Joshimath’s all nine municipal wards as “landslide-subsidence zone” under the disaster management act and began the evacuation of residents from these areas.

Apart from evacuations, the Uttarakhand government is also working on the relocation and rehabilitation of people. According to Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the possible relocation sites include Gauchar and Pipalkoti, News18 reported.

As per the Disaster Management Authority Chamoli, cracks have appeared in 678 houses and 82 families have been shifted to safe locations, The Hindu reported.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea seeking the court’s intervention to declare the crisis in Joshimath as a “national disaster” on January 16.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)

First Published:Jan 11, 2023 1:27 PM IST