After Joshimath, Houses In Uttar Pradesh\'s Aligarh Develop Cracks. Probe Ordered

Several houses in Uttar Pradesh\'s Aligarh have developed cracks and the incident has the district administration on its toes. The incident comes in the wake of buildings in Uttarakhand\'s Joshimath developing cracks due to subsidence.

\"Will send our team and a probe will be conducted into why this has happened,\" Rakesh Kumar Yadav, Additional Commissioner of the Aligarh Municipal Corporation, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand administration on Tuesday made preparations to demolish two precariously standing hotels in subsidence-hit Joshimath in Uttarakhand but faced protests from their owners and locals on the issue of compensation, while more families were evacuated from the danger zone as the number of affected houses rose to over 700.

Hotels Malari Inn and Mount View were leaning towards each other dangerously, posing a threat to human settlements around them and the Uttarakhand government had on Monday directed the razing of unstable structures, starting with these two buildings.

Cracks started developing in hundreds of homes earlier this month as Joshimath saw subsidence over a large area. Several families have been evacuated. Many were instructed to move into temporary relief centres or rent housing, for which the state government would provide each family with assistance of Rs 4000 per month for six months.

There are 86 houses in the area demarcated as an unsafe zone.

The district administration has put red cross marks on houses in the sinking town that are unsafe for living.

A report by an eight-member government panel mentioned that hollow spaces in the ground, combined with uneven terrain, led to the large-scale subsidence.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined an urgent hearing on the Joshimath land subsidence issue saying that everything important need not go to the apex court. The court posted the matter for hearing on January 16. On the other hand, the demolition of hotels and buildings in Joshimath began later in the day.