Monday, 16 January 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt said on Sunday that all political parties and socially active figures should refrain from making any negative comments on subsidence in Joshimath before the final report of expert agencies on the matter. He said that only about one-fourth of Joshimath is currently affected by subsidence but such negative statements are depicting as if the whole Joshimath is going to be destroyed soon. He said that the government is committed to find out a permanent solution to the problems of locals of Joshimath and ground subsidence there but unnecessary and negative comments on the issue can affect the State’s image in tourism. He said that the administration has been actively working on war footing under the supervision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami from the beginning. He said that the government immediately made arrangements to provide relief to affected families on priority basis and even announced help of Rs 1.50 lakh. The government has also announced to pay compensation to affected families as per market rates. Besides this, Bhatt said, several top expert agencies of the country like NRAC-ISRO, CBRI Roorkee, IIT Roorkee, IIRS Dehradun, NIDM New Delhi and Geological Survey of India, Kolkata among others are also conducting intensive surveys in the affected areas to understand the issue more aptly. He said that many are portraying the image in several public and social media platforms that the whole Joshimath is going to end soon which can potentially be harmful for the State’s tourism that would affect the livelihood of thousands of families. Bhatt said that such baseless comments are creating confusion among locals as well as citizens across the country which can severely affect tourism in upcoming months. He said that everyone including political parties should refrain from making any such remarks till experts give their final report on the Joshimath’s situation. The government will start working on a permanent solution of the problem soon after it gets a final report from expert agencies. Bhatt added that rather than spreading baseless rumours and creating confusion, political parties and others should come forward to help the affected people.
