Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday reached the 'sinking' town of Joshimath from Dehradun to assess the situation on the ground. The chief minister will stay overnight in the town, reported news agency ANI.
Read here: Joshimath: Families live in fear as cracks at homes give them sleepless nights
“An atmosphere is being created that the whole of Uttarakhand is in danger, it is not correct. It's our priority to provide relief to the affected families and rehabilitate the," ANI quoted Dhami as saying.
“We are ensuring that a balance is maintained between ecology and economy," Dhami added.
The state government also announced ₹1.5 lakh interim relief to each affected family out of which ₹50,000 was being provided in advance for the residents to shift.
The government has also ordered the authorities to start surveying and dismantling the infrastructures that are posing a threat to the surrounding buildings as well. As of now, the government has ordered to demolish two hotels.
{{/usCountry}}The government has also ordered the authorities to start surveying and dismantling the infrastructures that are posing a threat to the surrounding buildings as well. As of now, the government has ordered to demolish two hotels.
{{/usCountry}}The residents took to the streets on Tuesday seeking adequate compensation ahead of the first demolitions of buildings marked with a red X as land subsidence threatens much of the hill town.
A team of IIT Roorkee after conducting an inspection survey of the sinking region, cautioned of a worse situation if there is a spell of rain or an earthquake hits the hill state.
During his visit last week, Dhami had told that the government was focusing on the immediate evacuation of the people and was considering rehabilitating the people to safer areas like Pipalkoti and Gauchar.
As per the figures stated by the District Disaster Management Department, around 86 houses have been demarcated as an unsafe zone. Till now, 723 houses have developed cracks and 462 people of 131 families have been shifted to temporary relief camps.
Read here: Compensation for 2 Joshimath hotels to be razed; survey in 1 week
Joshimath, on the Rishikesh-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 Joshimath, the same phenomenon of land subsidence is also being reported from other areas of Uttarakhand including Uttarkashi, Tehri, Pauri and Karanprayag.