Joshimath declared ‘unsafe for living’, govt focus on evacuation
Land subsidence has resulted in cracks in over 600 houses out of around 4,500 buildings in Joshimath — known as the gateway to Badrinath, Hemkund Sahib pilgrimage sites and famous skiing destination Auli.
The Uttarakhand government has declared Joshimath’s all nine municipal wards as “landslide-subsidence zone” under the disaster management act, and started evacuation of residents from these areas, officials said on Sunday.
Ranjit Kumar Sinha, secretary, disaster management, has issued a notification in this regard under Section 23 of the Uttarakhand Disaster Mitigation Management and Prevention Act, 2005. The action came on the recommendation of an expert team, which is surveying houses in Joshimath.
“As per the recommendation of the expert committee, municipal area of Joshimath in Chamoli district has been declared as disaster affected with regard to landslide and land subsidence activities,” Sinha said on Sunday.
Land subsidence has resulted in cracks in over 600 houses out of around 4,500 buildings in Joshimath — known as the gateway to Badrinath, Hemkund Sahib pilgrimage sites and famous skiing destination Auli.
“Four areas which include two zones in Gandhinagar, one zone in Singhdar, two in Manohar ward and one in Sunil ward within municipal limits of Joshimath have been declared as unsafe for living and made no entry zones under the disaster management act,” said Himanshu Khurana, Chamoli district magistrate. “We have deployed a team of state disaster response force and directed the officials to carry out the evacuation of people from these zones.”
Explaining the rationale behind the development, Khurana said according to the Section 23 of the 2005 act, during the period an area is declared disaster-affected, the administration can work on prevention of disaster, mitigation of its effects, besides take steps to facilitate, coordinate and monitor emergency relief, and monitor and coordinate reconstruction and rehabilitation.
“The health department has been directed to send a team of psychologists and psychiatrists to address the mental trauma being faced by some residents of the town due to land subsidence activities,” said the DM.
Meanwhile, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and briefed him on the situation in Joshimath and steps taken for the rehabilitation and safety of people in the area. Dhami said the Prime Minister has assured all possible help to save Joshimath and its people.
Piyush Rautela, executive director, state disaster and mitigation authority, said, “We have recommended that the municipal area of Joshimath facing land subsidence be declared as disaster affected and this will help in reducing the problems faced by the people regarding insurance and other relief measures.”
Chamoli district officials said till now eight hotels have been acquired by the administration as a precautionary measure to provide makeshift shelters to people from the affected area.
“We are ready if people want to shift elsewhere to safe places. One family in the Marwadi area raising cattle requested to be shifted nearby. We have shifted the family to a homestay facility near their affected house,” said the DM.
Some areas in Gandhinagar have been facing extensive land subsidence resulting in the widening of cracks. Many families have started packing their belongings.
Yogendra Singh, chief executive officer of Badrinath Kedarnath temple committee (BKTC), said, “Some cracks have been reported from two staff quarters (out of 16 staff quarters) near Narsingh temple under BKTC. So far, the Narsingh temple — the winter abode of Lord Badrinath — is safe from any land subsidence activity.”
“BKTC is also providing shelter to the affected people at its guest house in Joshimath and the staff has been directed to help the administration in humanitarian relief measures,” added Singh.
