Demolition of two hotels in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath – Hotel Malari Inn and Hotel Mount View – and several houses that have developed cracks due to land subsidence – will take place today. Manikant Mishra, a senior official with the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), told news agency ANI Malari Inn will be the first to be demolished and that it will be brought down in a ‘step-wise’.
“Of the two hotels, Malari Inn will be demolished in a step-wise manner today. First of all, the top portion will be demolished. It is being done because both the hotels have tilted and have come very close to each other due to the sinking.”
“Their demolition is essential because there are several houses… around. If these two sink any further, they can collapse… so experts decided to demolish.” Photographs show the two hotels tilting dangerously towards each other.
Visuals shared by ANI show demolition and disaster response teams deployed at the spot and using loudspeakers to urge bystanders to move away. This comes on a day when a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud refused an urgent hearing on the issue and posted the matter to January 16, saying ‘democratically-elected institutions’ were working on it.
