As many as 38 families at Pagnau village in subsidence-hit Joshimath in Uttarakhand will be shifted to safer places because of frequent landslides, adding to
the growing list of those displaced by disasters in the hill state.

A team from the Chamoli district administration and experts visited Pagnau on Wednesday and recommended that those whose houses are just below the hills be relocated.

“We have taken the decision to shift the families from the affected areas. Continuous landslides are taking place in the village. Three houses were damaged in a massive landslide on Monday. There are 38 families living in the affected zone,” Kumkum Joshi, sub-divisional magistrate of Joshimath, told reporters on Wednesday.

“We are assessing the cost of the houses and land of the affected families. Their numbers may increase. They could be shifted temporarily immediately and then some permanent arrangements would be made for them,” she was quoted by the local media as saying.

Rima Devi, the panchayat chief, said 11 houses had been destroyed in Pagnau in the past two months.

“Besides this, a government school, an outpost of the forest department and an anganwadi centre have also been destroyed by frequent landslides. We had earlier shifted 17 families to an adjoining area temporarily. Now, officials have identified 38 more
houses. We hope all 55 families will soon be settled permanently at a safer location,” Rima said.

Residents of Kaunja village in Chamoli district have also demanded that they be shifted to safer places. Entire agricultural fields and some houses have been damaged by boulders falling from the hills during rain.

Rama Singh, a resident of Kaunja, had said on Tuesday that 45 families were in danger of harm but had nowhere to go. “We have written to the government to relocate us somewhere else as Kaunja is no longer a habitable place,” she had said.

Nand Kishore Joshi, the district disaster management officer of Chamoli, said the government was aware of the problem and would soon start “treatment” of the landslide zones in the village to prevent erosion.

Joshimath town has been facing problems because of land subsidence. Over 850 houses and 50 spots on roads had developed cracks between January and August 2023 after the land sank. About 145 families had accepted the rehabilitation package of the state government, which gave them a total of Rs 31 crore. These families shifted either to the peripheral areas of the town or to other places. However, many families are still living in shelters made available by the government, waiting for a better offer.