Joshimath : City of cry!

Dehradun: Joshimath, home to a population of more than 25,000 people, is an overnight halt for those visiting the shrines at Badrinath, Hemkund Sahib and other tourist destinations, which has resulted in mushrooming of too many hotels in the area - a factor which the experts blame for the heaviest land subsidence in the town.

With this the locals of this Uttarakhand town have been compelled to leave their homes - where they have been living for decades - amid deepening concerns over the subsidence in the ecologically sensitive town.

The evacuation bid comes even as the Uttarakhand government is working on a plan to rehabilitate the affected locals gripped with panic and fear and staring at an uncertain future.

Authorities have been gearing up for demolition and emotional scenes have been witnessed as evacuation efforts are being carried out. The land subsidence has been linked to construction work in the town, which is often frequented by pilgrims on their way to iconic shrines nearby.

On Tuesday, protests were held against state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) as demonstrators claimed that construction related to its Tapovan-Vishnugad hydroelectric project aggravated the situation.

Around 700 houses in the town - with an estimated population of 25,000 - have so far been marked to be unsafe. The district administration has been marking the unsafe building with red cross mark.

"We are watching our house crumble slowly as the cracks grow wider with every passing day. It is a horrifying sight," says local redisdents.

Two hotels - Hotel Malari Inn and Hotel Mount View - are also marked for demolition apart from hundreds of houses. "Of the two hotels, Malari Inn will be demolished in a step-wise manner. First of all, the top portion will be demolished. It is being done because both the hotels have tilted and have come very close to each other due to the sinking." Shocking visuals have been emerging from the town of cracks in houses and tilted buildings.

Land also sinks due to human activity like over-extraction of groundwater and drainage of aquifers - which geologists believe may have led to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, sinking faster than any other city in the world.

More than 80% of land subsidence across the world is caused due to excessive extraction of groundwater, according to geologists.

Not just pilgrims, the town is frequented by tourists and trekkers too.

Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami has been holding meetings over the matter.

Safety of people remains the top priority for the state, he has been reiterating.

The Chief Minister shared a clip of his interaction on Tuesday where he yet again reiterated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was taking regular updates on the matter.

All nine districts in the area were declared unsafe by the government on Sunday. Prime Minister's Office had also held a meeting to review the situation the same day.

Experts, which have linked the current developments to extreme weather events and rapid construction, say that the situation worsened over the years.

Amid deepening fears, the matter has reached the Supreme Court too.