Arrangements being made to shift multitudes to secure locations
Friday, 06 January 2023 | PNS | Dehradun
With the land subsidence continuing in Joshimath, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is slated to chair a high level review meeting on the issue on Friday evening. The authorities have stopped important construction works in the area and arrangements have been made for shifting multitudes to secure locations if needed.
The chief secretary, Disaster Management secretary, Irrigation secretary, director general of police, Garhwal commissioner, State Disaster Response Force inspector general and Chamoli district magistrate among other officials will be attending the meeting. Meanwhile, the district administration has ordered that works on various infrastructural projects including the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydro power project be halted immediately. Further, on the chief minister’s directions, a team comprising the Garhwal commissioner Sushil Kumar, Disaster Management secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha, Disaster Management executive officer Piyoosh Rautela, National Disaster Response Force deputy commandant Rohitash Mishra, landslide mitigation centre scientist Santun Sarkar and Indian Institute of Technology- Roorkee’s professor BK Maheshwari along with other technical experts has reached Joshimath. The Garhwal commissioner and Disaster Management secretary took a meeting of local officials on Thursday to review the current situation. The team of experts is also surveying the areas affected by land subsidence.
In view of the subsidence, the district administration has ordered that work on various infrastructural and other projects be stopped immediately till further orders. These include the construction work on the Helang bypass by the Border Roads Organisation, Tapovan-Vishnugad hydro power project by NTPC and all construction works under the municipal limits of Joshimath. The operation of the Joshimath-Auli ropeway has also been stopped till further orders. For shifting the affected families, the district administration has ordered the NTPC and HCC companies to prepare 2,000 pre-fabricated structures each as a preparatory measure. According to government sources, the district administration is providing necessary assistance to affected families. Arrangements to provide temporary accommodation to the affected families has been made in municipal buildings, block, BKTC guest house, government inter college, the local Gurudwara, ITI-Tapovan and othe secure places. A total of 43 families from Joshimath city have been shifted so far to secure locations on a temporary basis. The homes at risk due to the subsidence have been identified to mitigate the loss of life and property. Chamoli district magistrate Himanshu Khurana is monitoring the situation consistently while a team of the district administration is in the field. The SDRF, NDRF and police are on alert mode considering the threat posed by subsidence.
