Joshimath Crisis: Amit Shah Holds High-Level Meet, Nearly 600 People Relocated

The meeting was held to discuss issues related to roads, power supply, water scarcity and the environment in Joshimath in the wake of land subsidence.

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review the situation in Joshimath, a hill town in Uttarakhand that is facing land subsidence affecting the lives of hundreds of families, news agency ANI reported.

The meeting, which was attended by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, RK Singh, Bhupendra Yadav and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, was held to discuss issues related to roads, power supply, water scarcity and environment in Joshimath in the wake of land subsidence.

Ranjit Kumar Sinha, Uttarakhand Disaster Management Secretary, said that so far, 169 families have been relocated to safer places and Rs 5000 has been provided to 73 families for general expenses. 

"169 families - 589 people - relocated so far. Rs 5000 per family provided for general expenses to 73 families so far - Rs 3,65,000 in total. Rs 1,30,000 each provided to 10 families so far as per SDRF provisions -Rs 13 Lakh in total," ANI reported quoting Sinha.

Sinha further said, "House rent of Rs 4000 each has been provided to 3 families so far."

"Eight teams of SDRF are deployed at Joshimath for disaster relief operations. Rs 2.14 Crores issued for the protection of electric cables & poles. Two teams of NDRF are also there, one team is on its way," Sinha said, adding "if any situation arises, Army helicopter is on standby, and our helicopter is on standby too. Army unit is also on standby."

Meanwhile, Amit Shah took stock of the situation and directed to take relief measures in the meeting which was also learned to be attended by the National Disaster Management Authority, Senior officers of Uttarakhand; and experts from IIT Roorkee, National Institute of Disaster Management, Geological Survey of India and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology through video conferencing.

The Home Minister was informed that the district administration is working with the affected families to evacuate and relocate them to safer places with adequate arrangements for food, shelter and security.

Uttarakhand government has also announced a relief package of Rs 45 crore to families in Joshimath, where large cracks appeared in homes and on roads. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also declared a relief package for nearly 3,000 families affected by gradual land subsidence in the Himalayan state.

(With inputs from ANI)