Watch: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami takes charge amid fears that Joshimath is “sinking”

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has arrived in Joshimath amid fears the hill-town is “sinking” due to land subsidence.

Prior to his arrival Dhami took an aerial survey of the town where many houses, roads and fields have developed huge cracks.

Fissures have also appeared at several places on the Joshimath-Malari border road, which connects the India-China border, due to landslides in Joshimath, ANI reported. A large part of Badrinath National Highway is also in the grip of landslides.

Joshimath Municipal Chairman Shailendra Pawar said huge cracks appeared in the houses due to water leakage from inside the ground in the Marwadi ward.

561 establishments have reported cracks according to an earlier Chamoli administration statement.

The statement said that operations of Hotel View and Malari Inn were restricted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

On Thursday, nine families were displaced, including four families in Joshimath Municipal Corporation, one from Gurudwara Joshimath, one from Tourist Hostel, Manohar Bagh and others. So far, 38 families have been displaced.

Under instructions from the CM Dhami, Chamoli district administration on Thursday had asked Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to set up shelters that can accommodate Joshimath’s migrating families. Earlier on Friday, a team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had been rushed to Joshimath in the face of the natural disaster.

Also Read: Watch: Can Uttarakhand’s Joshimath avert a major natural disaster?