Joshimath declared landslide-subsidence zone, over 60 families evacuated

Joshimath has been declared a landslidesubsidence zone and over 60 families living in uninhabitable houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres a senior official said on SundayAt least 90 more families have to be evacuated The local administration has set up relief centres at fourfive places in the Himalayan town Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar saidMeanwhile Chamoli District Magistrate DM Himanshu Khurana went from door to door in the affected area to assess the damage and appealed to people living in houses that have developed cracks to move to the relief centresJoshimath has been declared a landslidesubsidence zone More than 60 families living in uninhabitable houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres Kumar told PTIConsidering the extent of the damage at least 90 more families will have to be evacuated as soon as possible he saidKumar who has been camping in Joshimath since Thursday heads a committee tasked with monitoring the situation on the ground levelThere are a total of 4500 buildings in Joshimath and 610 of these have developed huge cracks making them unfit for habitation he saidA survey is underway and the number of affected buildings could go up he addedKumar said the affected area including houses that developed cracks earlier and the ones damaged recently forms a big arch which could be spread over 15 kmTemporary relief centres have been set up at fourfive safe places within Joshimath Some more buildings including a few hotels a gurdwara and two intercolleges have been acquired to serve as makeshift shelters that can accommodate around 1500 people he saidLand subsidence has been going on slowly in Joshimath for quite some time but it has increased over the past week with huge cracks appearing in houses fields and roads the Garhwal commissioner saidThe situation worsened apparently after a water channel beneath the town erupted last week he saidThe priority at present is evacuating the affected people to safety he saidKumar said longterm measures being explored to deal with the situation range from reconstruction to retrofittingChamoli DM Khurana surveyed the affected areaAlso Read Evacuating affected families is priority Dhami after visiting JoshimathPeople were told to move out of unsafe and uninhabitable houses as arrangements for their stay have been made in hotels homestays and other safe places he saidThe state government will pay Rs 4000 per month for up to six months to those who want to move to rented accommodations he said asking people not to risk their lives by choosing to continue living in the damaged housesChief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who visited the affected areas in Joshimath on Saturday held a meeting with officials here after returning and asked them to relax norms to expedite relief operationsHe said they were asked not to get entangled in long procedural complexities and take direct clearance from him for work related to drainage treatment and sewage systems in JoshimathThe National Remote Sensing Centre Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing Dehradun have been asked to conduct a study of Joshimath through satellite imagery and submit a detailed report with photographsThe Geological Survey of India has also been asked to examine the suitability of Koti Farm Herb Institute and the Horticulture Departments land in Joshimath and in Pipalkotis Semaldala area for rehabilitation purposesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever