Joshimath Sinking: 600 Families to be Evacuated; CM Dhami to Visit Today  

Joshimath: This strategic Himalayan town of religious importance in Uttarakhand is facing a dangerous mixture of landslide, seismic activity triggered by unplanned development. Cracks have developed on roads, houses, and buildings. A temple has collapsed. The Uttarakhand government has ordered for the immediate evacuation of 600 families at risk to safer places. Joshimath is teh gateway to Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines.

Uttrakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami will visit Joshimath on Saturday to take stock of the situation. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State DRF teams are being deployed in Joshimath. Helicopters are being kept ready for emergency situations.

The NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugarh hydropower project and the Marwadi-Helang bypass motor road have been shut down. The Joshimath-Auli ropeway has been closed for security reasons. All construction work in Joshimath has been banned.

The central government has set up a panel to conduct “rapid study” of the devastating land subsidence in Joshimath and its impact in the Himalayan region. The panel includes members from the Geological Survey of India, the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Central Water Commission. It will submit its report in three days.

On Friday Uttarakhand CM chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials to assess the situation in the sinking town of Joshimath. A temple collapsed because of land sinking in the Singdhar ward of Joshimath on Friday. But luckily no one was injured or killed. People abandoned the temple when it developed huge cracks 15 days back. Till now at least 603 have been damaged in Joshimath.