PremiumThe Uttarakhand government has imposed a ban on all construction activities in and around Joshimath in the wake of cracks that have appeared in buildings in the town due to land subsidence.
District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana informed ANI news agency about the Uttarakhand's decision. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is scheduled to visit the town and conduct physical inspections of the land subsidence-affected areas on Saturday.
"In view of the local situation in Joshimath, all kinds of construction work has been stopped until further orders. The Chief Minister will physically inspect the landslide-affected areas of Joshimath and will also visit the relief camps here," the district magistrate said.
This week, Joshimath residents blocked the Badrinath Highway to protest and get the government and administration to take the matter of land subsidence seriously.
According to the Chamoli district administration statement on Friday, out of 561 establishments, 153 in Ravigram ward, 127 in the Gandhinagar ward, 28 in the Marwadi ward, 24 in the Lower Bazaar ward, 52 in the Singhdhar ward, 71 in the Manohar Bagh ward, 29 in the Upper Bazaar ward 27 in the Sunil ward and 50 in Parsari have reported cracks, due to which the operations of Hotel View and Malari Inn were restricted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, till further orders.
On Thursday, nine families were displaced, including four families in Joshimath Municipal Corporation, one from Gurudwara Joshimath, one from Tourist Hostel, Manohar Bagh and others. A total of 38 families have been displaced so far, news agency ANI reported.
Additionally, the Uttarakhand CM has ordered immediate evacuation of around 600 families. The CM said that medical treatment facilities should be available on ground and arrangements for airlifting people should also be made.
An immediate action plan as well as a long-term action plan should be prepared and work on both should be started in right earnest, Dhami said.
The teams from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have also been deployed in the area as a precautionary measure, Chamoli Chief Development Officer (CDO) Lalit Narayan Mishra said.
"Due to frequent landslides, NDRF has been called and the team of experts is surveying the affected areas since this morning," he added mentioning that it includes geologists, building specialists, IITs, and other experts.