Wednesday, 11 January 2023 | PNS | Dehradun
The Chief Secretary S S Sandhu has said that the buildings which are more affected by the land subsidence in Joshimath should be demolished on priority. He directed that the administration should take the help of experts in demolishing the structures to prevent any collateral damage. The CS gave these orders while chairing a high level meeting on Joshimath at the State secretariat on Tuesday. Seeking the latest report from the district magistrate (DM) of Chamoli, the CS directed him to keep a constant vigil on the situation. He said that the people in the affected areas should be shifted to safer places. The CS said that to prevent any damage to life and property of the people due to land subsidence, the people should be shifted to safer places. He said that the building which is more dangerous should be demolished on priority. The CS ordered that proper arrangements for food and other things should be made in the places where the affected families are being kept. He cautioned that there should not be any communication gap between the administration and the affected people and for this the senior officers should remain in constant touch with locals. The CS said that considering the possibility that the mobile network can get affected by the land subsidence the communication towers can be shifted to safer places and new towers should be constructed. He suggested that an assessment committee should be set up by including local people and the teams should inspect the affected areas and report the changes observed every 24 hours. The CS said that work in drainage and sewer plants in the stable areas of Joshimath should start. He added that the control room should remain in active mode round the clock.
The additional chief secretary (ACS) Anand Bardhan and other officers attended the meeting. The secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar and DM Chamoli Himanshu Khurana attended the meeting via video conferencing.
