Joshimath Sinking: Temple Collapses On Residential Building, CM Dhami To Meet Affected Families

A temple got damaged and fell on top of a residential building in the Marwari area of ​​Joshimath. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Dhami will conduct a ground inspection in the subsidence-affected area today.

Damaged temple in the Marwari area of ​​Joshimath | Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami during a meeting with officials regarding landslides at Joshimath in Chamoli district, in Dehradun, Friday.

Source : ANI | PTI

New Delhi: A temple collapsed in the Singdhar ward of Uttarakhand's Joshimath on Friday evening, causing more alarm for residents living under constant fear of a major disaster in the offing. This comes as huge cracks appeared in many houses and nearly 50 families were moved to safer locations, as per disaster management officials. All construction activities related to mega projects like the Chardham all-weather road (Helang- Marwari bypass) and the NTPC's hydel project were stopped till further orders on the demand of residents.

There was no one inside the temple when the incident occurred, news agency PTI reported local residents as saying. The structure was abandoned after it developed huge cracks over the past 15 days. 

#WATCH | Uttarakhand: Due to a landslide in the Marwari area of ​​Joshimath, a temple got damaged and fell on top of a residential building. The building was damaged. pic.twitter.com/MwIo34dyav

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 6, 2023

The place where this incident happened is away from the army cantonment and residential area. As of now, there is no damage to army buildings, sources said.

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami's Ground Inspection Today & Other Updates:

• Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami will conduct a ground inspection in the subsidence-affected area on Saturday. The Chief Minister will meet the affected families and hold a meeting with the officials deployed in relief work, his office informed, as per news agency ANI. He held a high-level meeting with top officials on Friday.
  
  
• Meanwhile, the Chamoli district administration announced that families whose houses get damaged and become uninhabitable or families that become homeless will be given Rs 4,000 per family for 6 months from Chief Minister Relief Fund, ANI reported.
• Disaster management department director Pankaj Chauhan said that 60 families living in a colony meant for Vishnu Prayag Jal Vidyut Pariyojana employees have been shifted elsewhere.

• The central government on Friday set up a panel to conduct a "rapid study" of the land subsidence and its impact in Joshimath. An office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Jal Shakti said the panel comprising representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Central Water Commission, Geological Survey of India, and National Mission for Clean Ganga among others will conduct a "rapid study and examine the cause of the occurrence and its impact or key impact" and submit a report to the NMCG within three days.
  
  The committee, among other things, will cover the effects of the sinking of land on human settlements, buildings, highways, infrastructure, and riverine systems.

• Marwari area where an aquifer burst three days ago is the worst hit. As per PTI, many houses there were damaged in varying degrees while water from the aquifer is constantly flowing down with great force.
  
  
• Protests continued on Friday as people, demanding rehabilitation, staged a dharna at the tehsil office of Joshimath. 

Located at an altitude of 6,000 feet in Chamoli district, the town of Joshimath, which is situated on the route to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, falls in high-risk seismic 'Zone-V'.

As per PTI, former president of the local municipality Rishi Prasad Sati said that land subsidence has been happening for more than a year but the problem aggravated over the past fortnight.

(With Agency Inputs)