Even as the Uttarakhand government has announced that the Char Dham Yatra will commence from April 22 this year and the portals to Badrinath shrine will open on April 27, fresh fissures have appeared on the road between JP Colony in subsidence-hit Joshimath and Marwari on the Badrinath Highway. According to Joshimath locals, a few cracks had appeared on the 10-km long stretch in January itself, but they have widened in the last few days along with new cracks. “The cracks have appeared on the road from JP Colony to Marwari. Some cracks had appeared on the road in the first week of January when about 15 feet-long crack developed on a boundary wall of Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd (JPVL) premises with water gushing out from them. The cracks, however, have widened and some new cracks too have developed,” said Joshimath resident Nitin Semwali. Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti member Sanjay Uniyal said this has happened mostly in the last three days. “At two places in the Chhawani Bazar area, crater of around 1.5 ft in diameter developed on the road. We tried measuring the depth using a reinforcing steel bar, and the entire 10 ft long bar went inside,” said Uniyal. While Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurrana did not respond to calls, he was quoted by a news agency as saying that instructions have been issued to Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to take protective measures. “People complained about cracks in some houses, and a team of engineers posted in Joshimath were sent to examine it,” he was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, no new houses have developed cracks in Joshimath in over 10 days, keeping the number of houses affected by land subsidence and landslides to 868 by Monday. According to the bulletin issued by the Chamoli district administration, 181 houses have been identified in the unsafe zone so far. As of now, 878 members of 243 families have been shifted to temporary shelters in view of security. Earlier this week the Uttarakhand cabinet approved the proposed policy regarding compensation and permanent displacement of land and buildings of disaster-affected families/individuals of Joshimath area. As per the policy, the affected owners can choose one of the three options given.
