Joshimath Land Sinking: Uttarakhand CM To Chair Meeting Today, Shelter Homes Arranged For Affected Families

In view of the land subsidence in Joshimath, the affected areas are being surveyed by a team of experts including Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar and Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha.

New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will hold a high-level meeting in Dehradun on the "sinking" Joshimath town as nearly 50 families staying in houses at risk have been evacuated so far. The Chamoli administration on Thursday put a ban on all construction activities in and around Joshimath. As per news agency PTI, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said the situation in the area is being closely monitored and that he will visit the town soon to assess the situation.

• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will hold a high-level meeting in Dehradun today. "I will hold a high-level meeting with top officials in Dehradun this evening regarding landslides in Joshimath and cracks in houses. I will visit Joshimath tomorrow and take stock of the situation. A team from BJP has also been sent there," Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami told news agency ANI.
  
  Apart from the officials of the Disaster, Irrigation, and Home Departments, Commissioner Garhwal Mandal and District Magistrate, Chamoli will also attend the meeting.
  
  


• As per an official bulletin, cracks were observed in a total of 561 buildings. To accommodate the relocated people, 70 rooms, seven halls, and an auditorium have been identified.
  
  "Operation of Joshimath-Auli ropeway stopped till further orders. Joshimath administration has ordered NTPC and HCC to make available 4000 pre-fabricated houses. 43 families from Joshimath town area temporarily shifted to safer places. SDRF, NDRF, and security forces on alert," the Chief Minister's Office stated, as per ANI.
  
  


• In view of the land subsidence in Joshimath, the affected areas are being surveyed by a team of experts including Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar, and Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha.
  
  


• Joshimath observed a bandh on Thursday as the residents believe that the "NTPC projects which have led to its gradual sinking". People took to the streets shouting slogans against an "idle administration". A chakka jam was staged with the business establishments remaining closed, Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti convenor Atul Sati said, as per PTI.
  
  


• The residents have demanded immediate rehabilitation, stopping construction of an NTPC tunnel and a bypass road between Helang and Marwadi for Badrinath and fixing responsibility for this disaster on the NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project, Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Abhishek Tripathi, who came to persuade the agitators, said.
  
  


• So far, 561 houses in different areas of the town have developed cracks, including 153 in Ravigram, 127 in Gandhinagar, 71 in Manoharbagh, 52 in Singhdhar, 50 in Parsari, 29 in Upper Bazar, 27 in Suneel, 28 in Marwadi and 24 in Lower Bazar, District Disaster Management Officer N K Joshi said, as reported by PTI.

Located at a height of 6,000 feet in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, the Joshimath town on the route to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib falls in high-risk seismic 'Zone-V'.

A detailed survey of the situation is being done and houses particularly at risk are being identified, the District Disaster Management Officer said.