PMO holds high-level meet on Joshimath subsidence: Key points

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's Office on Sunday held a high-level meeting on the Joshimath crisis, amid alarm in the Uttarakhand region due to sinking of land and cracks in houses at several places.
Central agencies and experts assisting Uttarakhand government will prepare short, medium and long term plans to deal with the evolving situation, an official said after the meeting.
Border management secretary and NDMA officials will visit the state on Monday to assess the situation. One team of NDRF and four of SDRF have been stationed in Joshimath for emergency relief and rescue.
Here are the main developments from the Joshimath subsidence crisis:

PMO holds high-level meeting
PK Mishra, principal secretary to Prime Minister on Sunday held a high-level review meeting on the Joshimath situation.
Uttarakhand chief secretary SS Sandhu and director general of police Ashok Kumar participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
After the meeting, Sandhu said that discussions were held with the experts who have visited Joshimath so far.
"First of all, this is the effort that no one should be harmed, people should be shifted from where there is a risk, and the reasons should be found out quickly. Government of India has spoken to the experts, and even tomorrow the team of experts are reaching Joshimath," Sandhu said.
As per the PMO, the meeting was also attended by the cabinet secretary and senior officials of the central government and members of the National Disaster Management Authority.
Senior officers of Uttarakhand and district officials of Joshimath also participated through video conferencing.
Soon after the review meeting with the PMO chief secretary, DGP and secretary to chief minister RK Meenakshi Sundaram conducted an on-site inspection of landslide areas.
Experts from 7 organisations to study, give recommendations
A team of experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Institute of Disaster Management, Geological Survey of India, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Hydrology and Central Building Research Institute have been tasked to study and give recommendations on Joshimath situation.
The decision was taken in a high-level review meeting chaired by principal secretary to Prime Minister PK Mishra.
PM Modi speaks to Uttarakhand CM Dhami
In a telephonic conversation with Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inquired about the steps taken for the safety and rehabilitation of the affected residents of Joshimath in the wake of the land subsidence.
According to Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the prime minister inquired about the progress of immediate and long-term action plans to mitigate and resolve the concerns of residents.
The CMO added that the Prime Minister was personally monitoring the situation in Joshimath and the ongoing work to ensure the safety of civilians in the area.
Joshimath declared landslide-subsidence zone
Joshimath has been declared a landslide-subsidence zone and over 60 families living in uninhabitable houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres, a senior official said on Sunday.
Chamoli District Magistrate (DM) Himanshu Khurana went from door to door in the affected area to assess the damage and appealed to people living in houses that have developed cracks to move to the relief centres.
Kumar said the affected area, including houses that developed cracks earlier and the ones damaged recently, forms a big arch which could be spread over 1.5 km.
Temporary relief centres have been set up at four-five safe places within Joshimath. Some more buildings, including a few hotels, a gurdwara and two inter-colleges, have been acquired to serve as makeshift shelters that can accommodate around 1,500 people, he said.
Shankaracharya Matth also develops cracks
One of the Hindu monasteries, the Shankaracharya Matth in Joshimath area, has also developed cracks in many places over the past 15 days, triggering a scare in the religious institute.
According to the Jyotirmath administration, these cracks have increased in the last 15 days.
Swami Vishwapriyananda, chief of Matth has cited the 'development" as the cause of the calamity.
The holy town has been facing massive land-subsidence, aggravated significantly in the past few days.
Joshimath, the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and international skiing destination Auli, is facing a major challenge due to land subsidence.
Dhami visits Joshimath, says evacuating families on priority
Uttrakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had visited Joshimath on Saturday to assess the situation on the ground, a day after he directed immediate evacuation of around 600 affected families.
Dhami said Joshimath is an important place from the cultural, religious and tourism point of view and all efforts will be made to save it.
'Demolish worst affected Joshimath homes'
An eight-member expert panel has recommended that "houses in Joshimath with maximum damage should be demolished, areas which have become inhabitable must be identified and relocation of the people at risk should be done as an immediate measure".
The expert team, which was urgently tasked to assess the damage to buildings and extent of ground subsidence (sinkage) in Joshimath, visited the affected areas during its two-day survey and finalised its report on Saturday, a copy of which is with TOI.

It has observed "aggravated damages" in Sunil, Manohar Bagh, Singhdhar and Marwari areas, as compared to the last field survey just some months ago in August 2022.
Residents alarmed, administration makes arrangements for families
Residents of Joshimath have been alarmed after fissures started appearing in the houses and roadways and have been evacuated and shifted to night shelters of the municipality by the administration.
According to the District Disaster Management Department, cracks have reportedly developed in as many as 561 houses in Joshimath as a result of continued land subsidence in the town.
Meanwhile, the number of affected structures -- residential, commercial and even temples -- which have developed large cracks has increased from 561 to 603 within a span of a mere 48 hours.

The district administration has made arrangements for the families affected by the natural calamity to stay in 'safe relief camps'," the administration said on Sunday.
District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana visited the relief camps last night and took stock of the arrangements. "If there is any requirement, it is being made available immediately," he said.