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‘A time bomb’: India’s sinking holy town faces grim future

A dog guards an abandoned home, whose owner left following the 'unusable' sticker pasted on the house by government order in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes in Joshimath, where they snaked through floors, ceilings and walls, making them unlivable. Roads were split with crevices and multi-storied hotels slumped to one side. Authorities declared it a disaster zone and came in on bulldozers, razing down whole parts of a town that had become lopsided. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Hundreds of grey stacks of cement slabs lay around a village near Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 21, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Residents walk past a demolished hotel, in Joshimath, India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 20, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Chandra Pandey and his wife stand outside their home marked with a red cross and soon to be demolished, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A displaced family watches their mobile phone in a temporary accommodation in a hotel, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 20, 2023. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes in Joshimath, where they snaked through floors, ceilings and walls, making them unlivable. Roads were split with crevices and multi-storied hotels slumped to one side. Authorities declared it a disaster zone and came in on bulldozers, razing down whole parts of a town that had become lopsided. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A poster calling for boycotting state owned hydro power project company is pasted on a shop, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 20, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

This shows Esha Devi, who is still living in her house in-spite a government notice of unusable pasted on her door, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Laborers demolish a building which has developed cracks in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes in Joshimath, where they snaked through floors, ceilings and walls, making them unlivable. Roads were split with crevices and multi-storied hotels slumped to one side. Authorities declared it a disaster zone and came in on bulldozers, razing down whole parts of a town that had become lopsided. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

An ariel view of a construction site of one of the longest railway tunnels, spanning 15 kilometers (9 miles), which will be part of 125 kilometers (78 miles) long Rishikesh-Karanprayag line to connect the Char Dam pilgrimage, in Lachmoli village, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan.18, 2023. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Atul Sati, an activist from the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (Save Joshimath Committee) talks to the Associated Press in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. "Cracks are widening every day and people are in fear. We have been saying for years this is not just a disaster, but a disaster in the making… it's a time bomb," said Sati. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A group of women demanding to save their town, participate in a sit in demonstration in Joshimath, India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Chandra Pandey, 66, stands in front of the worship area inside his house with big, deep cracks on the walls in Joshimath, India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 20, 2023. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes in Joshimath, where they snaked through floors, ceilings and walls, making them unlivable. Roads were split with crevices and multi-storied hotels slumped to one side. Authorities declared it a disaster zone and came in on bulldozers, razing down whole parts of a town that had become lopsided. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Prabha Sati packs her belongings before moving out from her home in Joshimath, India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Hindu pilgrims visit famed Adi Shankaracharya monastery, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan.20, 2023. For decades, scientists have warned that the holy town, built on piles of debris left behind from years of landslides and earthquakes, could not withstand heavy construction. A report from 1976 said that Joshimath's location along a slope and over a geological fault line made it inherently unstable. Its foundation of loose top soil and soft rocks had a carrying limit. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A Hindu high priest Mukundanad prays at the famed Adi Shankaracharya monastery, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan.19, 2023. For decades, scientists have warned that the holy town, built on piles of debris left behind from years of landslides and earthquakes, could not withstand heavy construction. A report from 1976 said that Joshimath's location along a slope and over a geological fault line made it inherently unstable. Its foundation of loose top soil and soft rocks had a carrying limit. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A person shows a long, jagged crack running across one of the front walls in the famed Adi Shankaracharya monastery, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan.19, 2023. For decades, scientists have warned that the holy town, built on piles of debris left behind from years of landslides and earthquakes, could not withstand heavy construction. A report from 1976 said that Joshimath's location along a slope and over a geological fault line made it inherently unstable. Its foundation of loose top soil and soft rocks had a carrying limit. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A family takes refuge outside their house in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A laborer takes a break in between demolition of a residential building which has developed cracks in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes in Joshimath, where they snaked through floors, ceilings and walls, making them unlivable. Roads were split with crevices and multi-storied hotels slumped to one side. Authorities declared it a disaster zone and came in on bulldozers, razing down whole parts of a town that had become lopsided. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A stray dog walks outside the entrance of a hydropower project outside Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. Josimath town is at risk today as unbridled construction to meet rising tourists and accelerate India's hydropower ambitions, coupled with climate change, have exacerbated subsidence, or sinking of land. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A local leader addresses a group of protesting women demanding to save their town, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Rajendra Lal, shows multiple cracks in the walls of his house, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes in Joshimath, where they snaked through floors, ceilings and walls, making them unlivable. Roads were split with crevices and multi-storied hotels slumped to one side. Authorities declared it a disaster zone and came in on bulldozers, razing down whole parts of a town that had become lopsided. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Munni Devi, front, wipes her tears as she and Shanta Devi leave their house, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes in Joshimath, where they snaked through floors, ceilings and walls, making them unlivable. Roads were split with crevices and multi-storied hotels slumped to one side. Authorities declared it a disaster zone and came in on bulldozers, razing down whole parts of a town that had become lopsided. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Laborers demolish a building which has developed cracks in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 19, 2023. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes in Joshimath, where they snaked through floors, ceilings and walls, making them unlivable. Roads were split with crevices and multi-storied hotels slumped to one side. Authorities declared it a disaster zone and came in on bulldozers, razing down whole parts of a town that had become lopsided. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Hindu priests pray to save their town in the famed Adi Shankaracharya monastery, in Joshimath, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 20, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Joshimath town is seen along side snow capped mountains, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 21, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

‘A time bomb’: India’s sinking holy town faces grim future