Joshimath residents on Thursday continued with their dharna demanding clarity on compensation for relocation from their houses that have developed cracks, despite assurances from chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and administrative officials.

The residents have been on a dharna on Jyotirmath-Badrinath Highway from January 10, forcing the government to shelve plans to demolish over 700 houses that have developed cracks.

The chief minister rushed to Joshimath on Wednesday evening and the government announced an initial compensation amount of Rs 1.5 lakh for those whose houses have been declared unlivable.

“People will get the best compensation possible. The state government will do all it can to properly rehabilitate them. Protecting their life and property is our top priority,” Dhami said at a meeting on Thursday with the 19-member committee headed by Chamoli district magistrate Himanshu Khurana to distribute the interim assistance.

“It is only an interim relief. Details of the final compensation and rehabilitation are being worked out.”

However, a large number of people including women and children on Thursday refused to suspend their sit-in. Some female relatives of the owners of two hotels that have tilted towards each other and are being demolished are on dharna a little distance from the buildings, demanding compensation and other relief.

“The behaviour of the government is creating doubts in our minds. First they put cross marks on our damaged houses and forced us to vacate them while claiming that they would pull them down. Now, they are saying there is no plan to demolish houses,” said Sangeeta Joshi, a local at the sit-in on the highway.

“On Wednesday, they announced an interim relief of Rs 1.5 lakh and said the actual compensation for our houses would be given after an assessment. They refused to tell us how the houses will be assessed. R. Meenakshi Sundaram, the secretary to the chief minister, held a meeting with us on Wednesday and said they would pay us according to the market rate, but failed to tell us what that was,” Joshi added.

The occupants of the 700- odd houses that have been identified as dangerous have been told they will be relocated.

Thakur Singh Rana, the owner of Hotel Malari Inn that is being razed, said: “I have no option but to agree to the government’s move to demolish my hotel. All I am asking them is to let me know the market rate of properties in this area. They might quote a lower rate once our hotels are razed.”

Hotel Malari Inn and Hotel Mountain View tilted towards each other on January 3 when the land between them sank.

Cracks have also developed on their walls.

HC order

Uttarakhand High Court asked the state government on Thursday to formulate a robust plan for subsidence-hit Joshimath.

Hearing a PIL on the crisis, a division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Alok Kumar Verma directed the government to form a committee of independent experts to look into the matter.