Page 8 - The Indian EYE 012023

NATION JANUARY 20, 2023 | The Indian Eye 8

Tragedy in the Himalayas: How the holy

town of Joshimath is sinking by the day

The same phenomenon of land subsidence is also being reported from other areas of Uttarakhand

as the authorities begin demolishing damaged properties

OUR BUREAU
Joshimath/New Delhi
fter days of fear and uncer-
tainly, the process of demo-
Alition of damaged hotels in
the Joshimath area of Uttarakhand
started on Thursday. In preparation
for the demolition, the road where
the precariously standing hotels are
located was closed. A heavy deploy-
ment of police and State Disaster
Response Fund (SDRF) officials was
seen on the demolition site.
Joshimath, on the Rishi-
kesh-Badrinath National Highway
(NH 7), is an overnight halt for the
people visiting the holy shrines at
Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and
tourist destinations Auli, and the
Valley of Flowers. Along with Joshi-
math, the same phenomenon of land
subsidence is also being reported
from other areas of Uttarakhand in-
cluding Uttarkashi, Tehri, Pauri and
Karanprayag. Family members of the owner of Hotel Malari Inn break down as they leave the damaged building to get demolished by the authorities after
Due to landslides in the Joshi- coming under the red zone due to recent land subsidence at Joshimath, in Chamoli on Thursday (ANI Photo/Ayush Sharma)
math city area, over 720 buildings
have been identified that developed ing the relief and rescue operations families affected by gradual land sub- the Ministry of Home Affairs, in-
cracks. Residents, as a part of the being conducted in the Joshimath sidence in the Himalayan state. cluding Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla,
rehabilitation, have been moved to town area. “If any situation arises, Dhami has instructed the Chief attended the meeting that lasted for
safer places even as geologists and the Army helicopter is on standby, Secretary to ensure speedy assistance nearly 40 minutes at the Home Min-
experts scramble to ascertain the and our helicopter is on standby too. to people affected by the sinking of ister’s residence.
reasons for subsidence in the eco- Army unit is also on standby,” said their town. “From the point of view As of now over 720 buildings
logically fragile region. Officials have Ranjit Kumar Sinha. of security, the families who are be- have been identified that have re-
stopped construction projects in the He said that eight teams of SDRF ing shifted to other places should portedly developed cracks in the
region and the government formed a have been deployed at Joshimath for be ensured that all better necessary Joshimath city area due to land sub-
committee to look into the incident disaster relief operations, while two arrangements are there,” the Chief sidence. Residents, as a part of the
and the situation arising out of the teams of NDRF have also been de- Minister added. rehabilitation, have been moved to
sudden crisis. ployed. “Eight teams of SDRF are Meanwhile, Union Home Minis- safer places even as geologists and
IG Garhwal Range Karan Singh
Nagnyal said that all movement in deployed at Joshimath for disaster ter Amit Shah on Thursday chaired a experts scramble to ascertain the
reasons for subsidence in the ecolog-
high-level meeting to review the situ-
relief operations. Rs 2.14 Crores
the area near the hotels that have to was issued for the protection of elec- ation on the ‘sinking’ town of Joshi- ically fragile region.
be demolished had been stopped to tric cables and poles. Two teams of math, a town in Uttarakhand facing Shah took stock of the situation
ensure the safety of people. NDRF are also there, one team is on land subsidence affecting the lives of and directed to take relief measures
Uttarakhand Disaster Manage-
ment Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha its way,” said Ranjit Kumar Sinha. hundreds of families. in the meeting which was also learnt
to be attended by the National Disas-
Uttarakhand state government
Shah chaired the meeting with
said that if any situation arises during has announced a relief package of Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, RK ter Management Authority, Senior
the relief and rescue operation, the Rs 45 crore to families in Joshimath, Singh, Bhupendra Yadav and Gajen- officers of Uttarakhand; and experts
army helicopter is on standby, and where large cracks appeared in dra Singh Shekhawat participating, from IIT Roorkee, National Institute
our helicopter is on standby too. homes and on roads. on issues related to roads, power sup- of Disaster Management, Geological
Ranjit Kumar Sinha was ad-
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh
dressing a press conference at the Dhami said that the relief package ply, water scarcity and environment Survey of India and Wadia Institute
in the Joshimath in the wake of land
of Himalayan Geology through video
Media Center Secretariat regard-
has been released for nearly 3,000 subsidence. Other senior officials of conferencing.
www.TheIndianEYE.com