Thousands of locals in Joshimath town have been protesting and demanding rehabilitation.
Rampant construction, experts have said, is damaging the ecological balance of the region, which is vulnerable to earthquakes and landslides.
On Thursday, officials said several construction projects - including the ambitious Char Dham road-widening project - were being halted "until further orders".In October, the BBC's Vineet Khare visited Joshimath and spoke to several residents who were living in fear. "We leave the house the moment it starts raining because we're scared," Sumedha Bhatt, who lives in Ravigram village, told him.
On that visit, the BBC found that many people had already begun leaving their houses as the cracks had started widening after heavy rains. Some families had also resorted to makeshift measures, such as using polyethylene sheets to prevent seepage and using wooden planks to offer additional support to their houses.
Geologist Swapnamita Vaideswaran, who has been using archival and satellite imaging to map the scale of the subsidence, said that her work over the past two years showed that Ravigram village was sinking by 85mm per year.Read more India stories from the BBC:
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