Doda subsidence: GSI team to analyze cracks in houses. What we know so far

Mere weeks after thousands were evacuated from the Himalayan town of Joshimath, a similar situation appears to be unfolding in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district. These circumstances promoted the administration to evacuate and shift families to safer locations. 

A team of scientists from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) also reached Jammu and Kashmir's Doda on Saturday to analyze the situation in the district as more than two dozen structures reported subsidence. 

Doda subsidence: Here are top 10 updates

1) Cracks appeared on the walls of some houses in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda. One of the affected structures even collapsed on Friday, according to the news agency ANI. 

2) "21 structures were affected yesterday. Zone of influence is limited to the same, as observed today morning," SDM Amin Zargar told ANI. However, the situation was under control, he added. 

3) The Geological Survey of India shall submit a report to the government after the completion of its study. "The government sent a team from the Geological Survey of India and they are conducting their studies. They will submit their report to the government. The people have vacated the area," he said.

4) Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday said the Jammu and Kashmir administration was keeping a close watch on the structures in Doda developing cracks but denied the situation was akin to the land subsidence witnessed in Joshimath.

5) Officials informed that around 19 families were evacuated after their homes developed cracks at a village in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district. 

6) The authorities also declared unsafe a mosque and a religious school for girls at Nai Basti village in Thathri, 35 kilometers from Doda town along the Kishtwar-Batote National Highway.

7) The deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police visited the spot and assured all help to the affected families. 

8) Some families have also been shifted to a temporary shelter set up by the district administration, and many others have returned to their ancestral homes.

9) Zahida Begum, whose family was shifted to a temporary site, said they lived in the village for 15 years and were surprised to notice cracks in concrete houses.

10) Farooq Ahmad, another local resident, said 117 members of 19 families of policemen, ex-servicemen, defence personnel and labourers were relocated.

(With inputs from agencies)