A fresh crack has appeared near a residential building in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town.

The crack appeared a couple of days ago between the residential building and the retaining wall of the Joshimath-Auli motor road in Sunil ward, Joshimath tehsildar Ravi Shah, who led a team of PWD engineers to the spot to examine the problem on Monday, told PTI.

“Local residents had already filled the crack with soil before our team arrived at the spot to examine the issue,” PTI has quoted Shah as saying.

Expressing concern over the issue, Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti spokesperson Kamal Raturi said, “Cracks were already there in Sunil ward and they may have started widening due to the recent spell of rains.”

The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti also staged a dharna at the tehsil office to protest against a study report by scientists on the subsidence issue in Joshimath not being made public even after six months of the crisis.

As per the PTI report, sixty families in Joshimath are living in relief camps.