Joshimath crisis: Govt ramps up efforts to save 'sinking' town; all you need to know

Joshimath, which is the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, has been declared a landslide-subsidence zone as it is on the verge of collapse after houses and roads have developed cracks due to land subsidence.

Over 60 families living in damaged houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres, a senior official told PTI on Sunday. At least 90 more families have to be evacuated. The local administration has set up relief centres at four-five places in the Himalayan town, Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar said.

Till now, as many as 603 buildings in 9 wards have developed cracks and 65 families have been rescued, Chamoli district administration said.

Joshimath crisis: Here are the top developments so far --

1. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dr P K Mishra held a high-level review of building damage and land subsidence in Joshimath on Sunday. He stressed that the immediate priorities for the state should be the safety of the people living in the affected area. State government should establish a clear and continuous communication channel with the affected people, a statement from the PMO said.

2. Chief Secretary Uttarakhand informed in the meeting that state and district officials with the support of central experts have assessed the situation on ground.

3. The Border Management secretary and members of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will visit Uttarakhand today.

4. They will undertake a detailed assessment on the findings of the technical teams (NDMA, NIDM, NDRF, GSI, NIH, Wadia Institute, IIT Roorkee) that have just returned from Joshimath and advice state government on immediate, short-medium-long-term actions to address the situation.

5. In the meeting, it was also discussed that a clear time-bound reconstruction plan must be prepared. Continuous seismic monitoring must be done. Using this opportunity, a risk sensitive urban development plan for Joshimath should also be developed.

6. A team of experts from the NDMA, the National Institute of Disaster Management, the Geological Survey of India, IIT Roorkee, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, the National Institute of Hydrology and the Central Building Research Institute will study the situation and give recommendations, the PMO said.

7. Immediate efforts must be made to arrest the deteriorating situation through practical and feasible measures, Mishra said on Sunday. An interdisciplinary investigation of the affected area should be undertaken, he added.

8. Two other locations from Uttarakhand have reported cracks in houses -- Atali village and Mastadi village. Villagers in Atali village have raised concerns that some of the houses have developed cracks and have blamed it on railway projects. They are demanding rehabilitaion after proper compensation.

Villagers in Mastadi village have reportedly seen cracks in houses and under water flow from some of the houses. They had been seeing this phenomenon since the 1991 earthquake, the villagers claimed.

9. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday took to Twitter and shared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was personally monitoring the Joshimath situation. "The Prime Minister is personally monitoring the situation in Joshimath and the security work being carried out by the government in the region, as well as assured all possible help to save Joshimath," he said.

10. Experts have warned that this is not a lone event. Just like Joshimath, several other towns in the foothills of the Himalayas are vulnerable to ground subsidence. Meanwhile, seer Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati has alleged that Joshimath has been developing cracks since last early year and alleged that the state government had ignored the crisis.

Also Read: Joshimath crisis: 600 families to be evacuated today; CM Dhami to visit temple town