Protests continued on Friday as people staged a dharna at the tehsil office of the “sinking” town Joshimath, demanding rehabilitation. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered the setting up of a large rehabilitation center at a safe place in Joshimath immediately . The state government also announced Rs 4,000 per family for six months to families whose houses are deemed uninhabitable or become homeless due to the damages.
Meanwhile, a temple reportedly “abandoned” collapsed after it developed huge cracks over the past 15 days.
Protesters have been staging a dharna and have raised demands to the authorities including immediate rehabilitation of residents, stopping construction of an NTPC tunnel and a bypass road between Helang and Marwadi for Badrinath and fixing responsibility for the “disaster” on the NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project.
Located at a height of 6,000 feet in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, the town on the route to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib falls in high-risk seismic ‘Zone-V’. According to the officials, 561 houses in different areas of the town have developed cracks, including 153 in Ravigram, 127 in Gandhinagar, 71 in Manoharbagh, 52 in Singhdhar, 50 in Parsari, 29 in Upper Bazar, 27 in Suneel, 28 in Marwadi and 24 in Lower Bazar.
Here are some latest updates:
- Chief Minister Dhami held a high-level meeting on the issue of Joshimath land subsidence. “He has given instructions that a big temporary rehabilitation center should be set up at a safe place in Joshimath immediately. He also instructed that danger zone should be vacated immediately and the disaster control room should be activated,” reported ANI.
- Chamoli district administration has announced that families whose houses get damaged and become uninhabitable or families that become homeless will be given Rs 4,000 per family for 6 months from the Chief Minister Relief Fund.
- Teams of SDRF are evacuating the residents who were living in the affected areas, the Chief Minister said. “Saving lives is our first priority. Officials have been asked to shift around 600 families living in endangered houses in Joshimath to safe locations,” he said. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary, DGP, Disaster, Irrigation and Home Department officials, IG SDRF, Commissioner Garhwal Division and District Magistrate Chamoli.
- The Chief Minister said the state government is taking help from experts. Officials of district administration, Natural Disaster and others are camping in Joshimath to examine the evacuation process.
- A temple collapsed in Singdhar ward. According to local residents, there was no one inside the temple when the incident occurred as it had been abandoned after it developed huge cracks over the past 15 days.
- The district administration has put a ban on the construction of Helang bypass by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), work of the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and other construction work undertaken by the municipality with immediate effect till further orders.
- The administrated has shifted 47 families living in houses at risk after developing cracks to safer locations temporarily including Nagar Palika Bhawan, a primary school building, the Milan Kendra, BKTC guest house, GIC, Gurudwara, inter college building and ITI Tapovan, District Disaster Management Officer N K Joshi said on Thursday.
- Apart from them, 60 families living in a colony meant for Vishnu Prayag Jal Vidyut Pariyojana employees have been shifted elsewhere, its director Pankaj Chauhan said. Marwari area where an aquifer burst three days ago is the worst hit. Several houses there were damaged in varying degrees while water from the aquifer is constantly flowing down with great force.
- Joshimath has been “sinking” since the 1970s, according to experts. In 1976, the Mishra Committee was constituted which strongly recommended a ban on construction activities. The report said the town is located on the “glacial moraine” and hence not feasible for the construction of buildings. Besides, the committee also laid stress on a mass plantation drive in a bid to strengthen the sinking land.
- In September last year, the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) highlighted two major points in its report after locals complained about cracks in the residential structures. The report noted the town has no drainage facility therefore “water be not allowed to seep in and pore-pressure be maintained within threshold limits”. The body also recommended a cut back on construction and added, wherever necessary, the construction should be carried out as per the national building code.
(With inputs from agencies)
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