Owners of damaged houses in subsidence-hit Jyotirmath (Joshimath) were allowed to temporarily repair their houses on Thursday.

An order issued by Chamoli District Magistrate Sandip Tiwari said the ban on the repair of houses in the town which was in force for nearly two years is being lifted partially and damaged units coming under the yellow and green categories can be temporarily repaired.

However, no new construction work will be allowed, it said.

Permission for temporary repair in Jyotirmath has been given with some conditions and restrictions. Only repair work will be done in residential buildings and new construction work will not be allowed, the order said.

While taking permission for repair work, the building owner will also have to give an affidavit saying no new constructions will be done, it said.

The partial lifting of the ban comes as a relief to the affected people who had placed a demand before the district administration in September to be allowed to get their buildings at least partially repaired.

The subsidence problem in Jyotirmath had assumed alarming proportions in January 2023 with huge cracks appearing on the walls and roofs of houses.

The administration had to declare a number of building in various municipal wards of the town unsafe or unusable. permission for temporary repair in Jyotirmath has been given with some conditions and restrictions.

As many as 482 buildings were kept in the red category, 34 in black, 442 in yellow and 280 buildings in the green category based on the extent of damage suffered by them inside and outside the high risk area.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.