By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 5 Jan: Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami will hold a high–level review meeting tomorrow in the context of land subsidence in Joshimath in Chamoli district. The meeting will be held at the CM’s Office at the Secretariat tomorrow evening.
Chief Secretary, Secretary Disaster Management, Secretary Irrigation, Director General of Police, Commissioner Garhwal Division, Inspector General of Police SDRF, District Magistrate Chamoli and other senior officers concerned have been asked to be present in the meeting. The officers who are a outside the headquarters have been asked to participate through video conferencing.
Meanwhile, on the instructions of the CM, Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar, Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha, Disaster Management Executive Officer Piyush Rautela, Deputy Commandant of NDRF Rohitas Mishra, scientist from Landslide Mitigation Centre Santoon Sarkar, Professor Dr BK Maheshwari from IIT Roorkee, have all been asked to participate. In fact, the entire team of technical experts including Prof BK Maheshwari has already reached Joshimath. Garhwal Commissioner and Disaster Management Secretary held a meeting of officers concerned in Tehsil Joshimath and reviewed the situation. A detailed survey of the affected areas is being carried out by a team of experts.
In view of the problem of landslides and subsidence in Joshimath, the district administration has stopped the Helang ByPass construction work being done by Borders Road Organisation (BRO) as well the construction work under NTPC Tapovan Vishnugad Hydroelectric Project and construction works under municipal area with immediate effect. Along with this, the operation of Joshimath-Auli ropeway has also been stopped till further orders.
To shift the families affected due to land subsidence and cracks in the buildings, the district administration has also issued orders to NTPC and HCC companies to prepare 2 thousand pre-fabricated buildings each in advance as a precautionary measure.
Regarding the problem of landslides in Joshimath, the administration is engaged in providing all possible help to the affected families. Arrangements have also been made for the stay of the affected families at municipality, block, BKTC guest house, GIC, Gurudwara, Inter College, ITI Tapovan and other safe places in Joshimath. So far 43 families from Joshimath town area have been temporarily shifted to safer places. Of them 38 families have been shifted to safe places by the administration, while five families shifted out on their own.
The buildings which are in danger of developing cracks and suffering damages due to subsidence are being identified. So far no loss of life has been reported. Directions have been issued by the nodal officers to ensure electricity, water, food, toilets and other basic arrangements in the relief camps.
The situation is constantly being reviewed by District Magistrate Chamoli, Himanshu Khurana. The administration team including Additional District Magistrate Dr Abhishek Tripathi and Joint Magistrate Dr Deepak Saini is present on the spot. SDRF, NDRF, Police Security Forces have been put on alert mode to deal with any emergency situation due to subsidence.