PremiumAround 200 people have been evacuated from the ‘sinking’ town of Joshimath in Uttarakhand as houses and roads develop massive cracks due to land subsidence. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the area on Saturday to take stock of the situation.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the the ‘sinking’ Himalayan town of Joshimath in recent days as houses and roads develop cracks due to land subsidence. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the area on Saturday to take stock of the situation, contending that the administration's first priority was ‘to rescue everyone safely and make necessary arrangements to move them to safer places’.
A town of around 17,000 people in northern Uttarakhand, Joshimath is a gateway for pilgrims travelling to Hindu and Sikh shrines, and popular with tourists looking to trek parts of the Himalayas.
Hundreds of houses in Joshimath have developed cracks in recent days due to land subsidence. Huge cracks have been seen in houses, roads and fields - including the neighbouring national highways and border roads. According to Joshimath Municipal Chairman Shailendra Pawar, huge cracks appeared in the houses due to water leakage from inside the ground in Marwadi ward.
Cracks have been found at several places on the Joshimath-Malari border road, which connects the India-China border, due to landslides in Joshimath. A large part of the Badrinath National Highway is also in the grip of landslides.
Approximately 600 houses have been affected to varying degrees with around 200 people being evacuated. The situation has also prompted protests, with locals demanding relocation and a complete halt to infrastructural projects underway in the vicinity.
All construction work in and around Joshimath has been halted until further orders. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami undertook an aerial survey today, as well as visiting the town to inspection the land subsidence-affected areas.
Meanwhile, locals of Joshimath blocked the Badrinath Highway on Thursday morning, calling for the administration to take the matter of land subsidence seriously.
A team of experts have also begun investigating the situation in order to find out the causes.
CM Dhami said that scientists were looking into the cause of the land subsidence in the state's Joshimath and the first priority remains to ensure that people are taken to safer areas.
“Our effort is to make everyone safe. Preparation made for necessary arrangements. Our first task is to take people to safer areas. Geoscientists are working…there's Guwahati institute, IIT Roorkee…also in talks with ISRO. Everyone is trying to find out the cause," he said today.
“We are also contemplating if people need to be migrated from here and rehabilitated. We are also finding out a location for this. As of now, this is the winter season. So, we are looking into the issues that need to be addressed immediately," he added.
Upon his instructions, funds have been sanctioned from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for house rent at the rate of ₹4,000 per month for six months to the families displaced due to landslides in Joshimath.
The CM also held a high-level meeting with the administration officials and public representatives at the ITBP campus regarding landslides and cracks.
(With inputs from agencies)