NDTV Ground Report: Cracks In 500 Houses, Leaning Building In Joshimath

A tilted hotel building leaning onto the one next to it is perhaps emblematic of how unabated development has led to cracks, literally, across the hill town of Joshimath in Uttarakhand. Over 500 houses are staring at a collapse in this holy town - entry point for major Hindu and Sikh pilgrimages - which is also one of the major military bases near India's border with China. Cracks run along and across the roads and are widening constantly, an NDTV team observed. More than 3,000 people are affected, the municipality chief has said. That's over 10 per cent of the population in a town that's 6,000 feet high, one of the highest towns.