Articles by Amit Bathla
Uttarakhand govt sets aside ₹1,000 crore in budget for relief ops in Joshimath
The Uttarakhand government on Wednesday presented ₹77,407.08 crore budget for 2023-24, with a provision of ₹1,000 crore for relief measures in crisis-hit Joshimath.
Updated on Mar 16, 2023 01:08 AM IST
Amit Bathla, Dehradun
Uttarakhand assembly speaker suspends 15 Congress MLAs for ‘unruly behaviour’
The Congress legislators created a ruckus in the House and two of them climbed on the assembly secretary’s table protesting the Speaker’s decision to turn down a breach of privilege motion moved by the opposition party.
Updated on Mar 14, 2023 06:00 PM IST
Congress stages protest during assembly budget session in Gairsain
As chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami arrived at the Vidhan Sabha campus, Congress legislators yelled “Pushkar Dhami weak hai, tabhi to paper leak hai,” slogans
Published on Mar 13, 2023 03:32 PM IST
Uttarakhand govt forming schemes to lure doctors amid scarcity
tarakhand health department in December last year had come up with an attractive new scheme ‘You Quote We Pay’ to overcome the shortage of specialist doctors in the state.
Published on Feb 24, 2023 05:46 PM IST
Panel of experts says cracks have reappeared in Joshimath
The experts concluded that Joshimath remains susceptible to subsidence due to eco-tectonic, geomorphic, and climatic elements
Updated on Feb 22, 2023 04:51 PM IST
Locals report fresh cracks on Badrinath highway, BRO says ‘not new’
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which has been keeping a watch on the developments said the cracks found on the highway at various spots are “not new” and wouldn’t affect the upcoming Badrinath yatra
Updated on Feb 21, 2023 06:04 PM IST
More houses develop cracks in Joshimath
Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti convener Atul Sati said cracks have been found in houses almost daily and the state government is papering over the continuing crisis
Updated on Feb 08, 2023 10:35 AM IST
Dehradun school owner rejects allegations of ‘anti-national activities’
The owner of the school has said that he will file defamation suits against the people and organisations who are raising such allegations
Updated on Feb 05, 2023 05:25 PM IST
Uttarakhand man’s fingers, genitals allegedly chopped off by son
The incident happened more than a month ago but the police said they received a complaint only recently and they are still trying to find out the motive behind the crime
Updated on Feb 01, 2023 09:01 PM IST
396 ad hoc postings to Uttarakhand assembly secretariat from 2001 to 2022 illegal: Expert Panel
All 396 ad hoc appointments to Uttarakhand assembly secretariat made from 2001 to 2022 are “unconstitutional”, an expert committee has found, but only 228 such appointments made since 2016 have been cancelled so far
Updated on Jan 30, 2023 12:14 AM IST
No new cracks since Jan 20, say officials; Joshimath residents disagree
“Our survey has been completed. We are reconciling the data,” Chamoli district magistrate Himanshu Khurana said. “If there are any changes, they would be minor.”
Updated on Jan 29, 2023 07:11 AM IST
Amit Bathla, Dehradun
Uttarakhand police to enforce ‘Gangster Act’ against cow smugglers
In 2017, following instructions of then chief minister Trivendra Rawat for forming a special squad to keep in check the “increasing number of cases of cow smuggling and cow slaughter” in the state, two ‘govansh sangrakshan squads (cow protection squads)’– one each for Kumaon and Garhwal regions– were formed
Updated on Jan 28, 2023 08:46 PM IST
Amit BathlaAmit Bathla
1st house collapse in crisis-hit Joshimath
Dinesh Lal, the owner of the house, said he has been living with his family in a primary school in Singh Dhar since the first week of January, when their house developed major cracks and became uninhabitable.
Updated on Jan 24, 2023 01:14 AM IST
Hidden scars of sinking town: Anxious residents battle psychological trauma
The turbulence and uncertainty about the future are causing insomnia and anxiety among the affected people, who are presently putting up in camps and other places, said mental health doctors camping in the historic town.
Published on Jan 23, 2023 07:54 PM IST
Amit Bathla I Edited by Shilpa Ambardar, Dehradun
Joshimath: Govt says Helang bypass work can restart if technical agencies permit
The Uttarakhand government has decided to write to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to consult the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, on resuming the work on Helang-Marwari bypass
Updated on Jan 21, 2023 03:51 PM IST
Rain, snowfall hit relief operations as Joshimath fights crisis
The season’s first snowfall and rain in various parts of Uttarakhand have intensified fears of increasing land subsidence in Joshimath town.
Updated on Jan 21, 2023 07:32 AM IST
After hotels, dismantling of residential structures begin in Joshimath
On January 12, the district administration began the process of razing Hotel Malari Inn and began dismantling the adjoining damaged Mount View the next day.
Updated on Jan 20, 2023 10:32 PM IST
Snowfall in Joshimath triggers fear among land subsidence affected families
A section of the locals in Joshimath alleged that the authorities didn’t take the required steps despite the weather forecast
Published on Jan 20, 2023 01:11 PM IST
Two years on, rehabilitation still eludes villagers in Chamoli
Almost two years after Raini village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district faced the brunt of a glacial lake outburst in February 2021 leaving over 204 people dead, the promise of rehabilitation has remained a pipe dream for residents of the sinking village with officials attributing the delay to “non-availability” of land.
Updated on Jan 18, 2023 02:09 PM IST
Amit Bathla, Raini (chamoli)
Two years of Chamoli tragedy: Known for Chipko movement, Raini village still awaits rehabilitation
In July 2021, a team of geologists in their report to the district magistrate had declared the village “inhabitable”.
Published on Jan 16, 2023 07:44 PM IST
Amit Bathla I Edited by Shilpa Ambardar, Raini (chamoli)
‘Cracks not leaving us behind’: Many families in Joshimath stare at second rehabilitation
Panic-gripped residents scrambling to collect their belongings and evacuate their cracked homes in Joshimath has become a routine sight over the past few weeks due to largescale land subsidence in the temple town
Published on Jan 15, 2023 11:39 PM IST
A deep rumble, cracks: What ensued in Joshimath on January 2
An army of government experts have been deployed to understand what caused the ground to shift beneath the residents of Joshimath town with roughly 20,000 people.
Updated on Jan 15, 2023 01:27 AM IST
Amit Bathla, Joshimath
Joshimath demolition picks up pace, 147 buildings unsafe
A group of 20 labourers worked on bringing down Malari Inn and Mount View, cutting down tin roofs with gas cutters and removing the wooden windows and doors, the officials said. The dismantling is being carried out in two shifts.
Updated on Jan 15, 2023 04:11 AM IST
Amit Bathla and Ajay Ramola, Joshimath/mussoorie
Joshimath authorities begin razing hotels in danger zone
Authorities in Joshimath decided on Friday to simultaneously demolish two adjacent hotels that have been dangerously leaning against each other due to land subsidence that has wrecked havoc in the town.
Updated on Jan 14, 2023 12:16 AM IST
Amit Bathla and Ajay Ramola, Joshimath/mussoorie
Joshimath: Demolition of two hotels underway; cracks appear in Karanprayag homes
On Friday, the authorities began the demolition of hotel Mount View along with Malari Inn at around 7:30am, the officials said
Published on Jan 13, 2023 07:20 PM IST
Amit Bathla and Ajay Ramola
Uttarakhand: 5 booked for assaulting Dalit with burning wood for praying at temple
The 22-year-old Dalit man was assaulted with burning wood and taken hostage overnight for praying at a temple at Salra in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi
Published on Jan 13, 2023 10:22 AM IST
Amid demolition, CM says ‘natural disaster’
Cranes rolled into Joshimath on Thursday to begin the process of demolishing a hotel damaged by subsidence even as Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami stoked a row by arguing against growing scientific evidence to insist that the sinking of land in parts of the holy town and cracks on 700-odd buildings was a “natural disaster” not caused by anyone.
Published on Jan 12, 2023 11:51 PM IST
Amit Bathla, Joshimath
Uttarakhand CM says Joshimath crisis ‘natural disaster’; People seek solution
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held talks with a newly formed committee of local public representatives and officials to discuss the immediate distribution of interim relief for the victims of Joshimath crisis and decide on a market rate for compensation to people for rehabilitation
Published on Jan 12, 2023 03:49 PM IST
‘I keep looking at cracks’: Joshimath residents live in constant fear
Overall, 86 homes have been declared unsafe in the town so far, and 145 families have been shifted to temporary relief camps that dot Joshimath.
Updated on Jan 12, 2023 05:03 AM IST
Amit Bathla, Joshimath
Joshimath demolition yet to begin as protests continue
Authorities have been trying to bring down a few residential and other “unsafe” establishments in the holy town since Tuesday, as several structures in its steep bylanes started showing signs of land subsidence from the first week of January.
Updated on Jan 12, 2023 05:05 AM IST
Amit Bathla, Joshimath
