After Joshimath, panic grips UP’s Aligarh as cracks appear in homes

mangaloretoday.com

Aligarh, Jan 11, 2023: Cracks have appeared in five houses in Aligarh’s Kanwariganj area, triggering panic among locals in the Uttar Pradesh city amid peaking fears of land subsidence in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath. Hundreds of families in the holy town of Joshimath are at risk of being homeless this biting winter.

 

“Over the last several days, cracks have appeared in some of our houses due to which we are living in panic. We have complained about it but the municipal corporation authorities are not taking any concrete actions and are only giving assurances. We are afraid that the houses may collapse,” Shashi, a local, said, reported news agency ANI.

According to the locals of the Uttar Pradesh city, a pipeline laid under the government’s Smart City initiative is now leaking, leading to the cracks.

“It has been almost four days. We have informed the relevant departments, but no assistance has been provided so far. We are being forced to live in terror,” said Afsha Mashroor, another local.

Taking cognizance of the cracks in the houses, the civic body’s team arrived with bulldozers in the night. The chief engineer, Satish Chandra, asked the affected houses to be evacuated immediately over security concerns.

Chandra said that the cracks in the houses are a result of a crack under the road. Residents have been asked to vacate their houses, he added.

The municipal corporation has blocked the underground drain for now and said action will be taken against those who choked the flow of the drain.

Courtesy: India Today