DEHRADUN, (India): Authorities in one of the holiest towns in the Indian Himalayas were evacuating panicked residents Sunday after hundreds of houses began developing yawning cracks and sinking, officials said.

The cause of the apparent subsidence in Joshimath in the northern state of Uttarakhand was unclear, but residents blamed the building of roads and tunnels for a nearby hydroelectric project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a high-level meeting for later Sunday to discuss the problem after the government formed an expert panel to carry out a “rapid study” into the cause.

Local official Himanshu Khurana told AFP that at least 60 families had been relocated into shelters and many more were likely to be shifted out from their sinking dwellings.