Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday reviewed the relief and rescue works in land subsidence-hit Joshimath.
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary SS Sandhu and other top officials were present at the meeting held at the State Secretariat. CM Dhami was briefed about the ground zero situation in Joshimath. Meanwhile, the authorities continued demolition work in areas affected by land subsidence in the Himalayan town.
So far, the district administration has identified 863 buildings that have developed cracks due to subsidence in the Joshimath city area.
According to Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana, out of this, 181 buildings have been placed in the unsafe zone.
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. But the incident has hit tourism here. (ANI)
Almost 35 percent of the affected people of Joshimath are ready to shift to accommodations being offered by the government in Pipalkoti, sources said.
Officials on condition of anonymity said that the administration took suggestions from around 1000 affected people over a call and sought an opinion if they want a new house in Pipalkoti or seek a lump-sum amount from the government for their relocation. Earlier today, the District Magistrate of Chamoli, Himanshu Khurana while talking to ANI said, “We are seeking suggestions from people for the place where we should relocate the people and establish a new Joshimath.”
Around 35 percent of the people have agreed to get a house in Pipalkoti, while about 25 percent of the people have asked the government to give them a lump sum amount instead of a house, they said.
About 40 percent of the affected people have still not taken any firm decision and are waiting for the government to reveal a complete relocation package.
According to the sources in the administration, the government has finalized an area in Pipalkoti and is searching for land in Gauchar and the nearby areas to relocate the affected people of Joshimath.
“In Pipalkoti and Gochar areas, the government will make pre-fab or pucca houses for the affected people. For those whose shops have been affected due to this calamity, roadside shops are being arranged in Pipalkoti itself. Shops would also be set up in the areas where the government intends to build houses,” they said.
According to the sources, the government has a fixed capacity to build houses. If the house of the affected person is bigger than the one given by the government, then some rupees will also be given to them.
An official said on the condition of anonymity that around 40 percent of people are waiting for the government order. They first want to see the government houses in the Pipalkoti-Gauchar area and then take a decision.
For the people who have agreed to settle in a house in Pipalkoti, the paperwork will be started to get permission from them in due course of time officially, confirmed the source.
Due to land subsidence in the Joshimath city area, over 849 buildings have been identified that developed cracks. Residents, as a part of the rehabilitation, have been moved to safer places even as geologists and experts scramble to ascertain the reasons for subsidence in the ecologically fragile region.
Uttarakhand government announced a relief package of Rs 45 crore to families in Joshimath, where large cracks appeared on houses and on roads.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami declared a relief package for nearly 3,000 families affected by gradual land subsidence in the Himalayan state.
He also announced that Rs 50,000 had been given by the state disaster authority to each family as a non-adjustable one-time special grant for the transportation of goods and immediate needs of their buildings. (ANI)
Amid the evolving crisis around the landslide and subsidence at Joshimath in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand, Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha on Tuesday said four municipal areas or wards in the holy town have been declared as ‘completely unsafe’.
Addressing a press conference in Dehradun on Tuesday, Sinha said, “Four wards in Joshimath have been declared as completely unsafe. The rest of the wards have been found to be partially affected (by subsidence).” “Many organizations are involved in the ongoing investigation into the reasons and extent of subsidence in and around Joshimath. We will come up with a final report soon. We have made adequate preparations in anticipation of rainfall,” he added.
However, in a piece of ‘good news’, Sinha informed us that the water discharge level at JP Colony has gone down.
“The water discharge level (which is said to be behind the prevailing situation in Joshimath) at JP Colony has gone down. This is good news,” the Disaster management secretary said.
He added that the affected families have been shifted to shelter homes and the model huts will be ready within a week.
Hundreds of residents were shifted to relief centers in safe places after cracks appeared at several homes in Joshimath, suggesting subsidence.
The Uttarakhand government has already announced relief packages worth crores for the affected families of Joshimath. (ANI)
Suresh Nautiyal, a veteran environmentalist based in Uttarakhand, says consecutive governments have systematically blown away the gains of Chipko Movement
They have torn apart the heart of the hills in Uttarakhand. And this has been going on for decades, under all governments, be it the Congress or BJP. Indeed, the entire state is sitting on the brink of a man-made catastrophe.
Governments have cared two hoots for the vulnerable ecology of the hill state and willfully aligned with corporations, contractors, industrial companies and the construction mafia to irretrievably damage the inherent balance of nature. Roads, big dams which displaced thousands, real estate and mindless constructions violating all norms, unknown tunnels and aggressive religious tourism has all turned the clock to its current, tragic fate.
The murder of natural streams and rivers, the massacre of trees, the non-stop destruction of the organic eco-system in the relentless race for a capitalist model of unplanned development, blindly copying big cities in the plains, has ravaged the pristine ‘Dev Bhoomi’.
Joshimath is located on a ridge cut through by streams that descend from Vishnuprayag where Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers converge. Serious apprehensions were expressed in 2013 that the tunnels of the Tapovan-Vishnugad Hydropower Project of the NTPC could cause huge damage.
A recent report by geologists and scientists like Dr SP Sati, Naveen Juyal and Shubhra Sharma was ignored. They said the slopes around the town were in delicate and unstable condition. Predictably, their concerns and warnings were overlooked.
Nautiyal (inset) believes Char Dham Project is another disaster in the making
The government-appointed Mishra Commission’s report, submitted in 1978, had clearly stated that no major construction work be carried out in Joshimath, as well as in the Niti and Mana valleys, since this region is situated on moraines.
Several authoritative reports predicted this impending catastrophe. But, they continued to build tunnels, structures and digging, to appease their masters, and to legitimize the big thermal power plant project. Now the entire town, a major landmark in the pilgrim and adventure route, is sitting on a volcanic moment of destruction, with thousands of people and homes under threat, and the authorities are pretending that they had no clue!
The 125-km Rishikesh-Karnaprayag railway line, being constructed reportedly at a whopping cost of Rs 20,000-crore, will lead to the construction of 35 bridges and 17 tunnels. The project cost will inevitably increase in the years to come. Hence, one can see the ‘real reason’ behind this project!
This has been a pattern in the entire state from Harsil to Karnaprayag, which is literally sitting on perennial landslides. So much so, pleas by civil society groups have been dumped in the garbage can. We have been pleading for so long for an alternative eco-friendly approach to development because of the special conditions in the hills, but they refuse to listen.
Several towns like Gangotri, Uttarkashi and Gopeshwar are sinking. Landsides, cloudbursts and flash floods are inevitable and have become part of the tragic lives of the condemned people of Uttarakhand.
Now, they have cut lakhs of trees for the expressway and multi-lane for the ‘Char Dham Yatra’, the pet project of the prime minister. This has effectively destroyed all the gains of the Chipko Movement and after. This will certainly have an extremely damaging impact on the fragile Himalayan eco-system.
The central and state government, therefore, should treat the situation as an emergency, and immediately stop all construction work in the state, including thermal power projects. And this must include the PM’s pet project. Indeed, we need a serious rethink. Or else, one Joshimath would follow another!
(The narrator is a member of the Uttarakhand Chintan Group founded in 2007)
Uttarakhand state government has announced a relief package of Rs 45 crore to families in Joshimath, where large cracks appeared in homes and on roads.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the relief package has been released for nearly 3,000 families affected by gradual land subsidence in the Himalayan state. “For the time being, interim assistance of Rs 1.50 Lakh per family is being given. An advance amount of Rs 1 lakh has been given to the affected land owners or families due to landslides in the affected area before the permanent settlement displacement policy is prepared,” Dhami told reporters.
The Chief Minister also announced that Rs 50,000 have been given by the state disaster authority to each family as a non-adjustable one-time special grant for the transportation of goods and immediate needs of their buildings.
Due to landslides in the Joshimath city area, over 720 buildings have been identified that developed cracks. Residents, as a part of the rehabilitation, have been moved to safer places even as geologists and experts scramble to ascertain the reasons for subsidence in the ecologically fragile region.
Officials have stopped construction projects in the region and the government formed a committee to look into the incident and the situation arising out of the sudden crisis.
Dhami has instructed the Chief Secretary to ensure speedy assistance to people affected by the sinking of their town.
“From the point of view of security, the families who are being shifted to other places should be ensured that all better necessary arrangements are there,” the Chief Minister added.
Dhami, who is in Joshimath to hold meetings in the wake of land subsidence in the area, started his day on Thursday by offering prayers at the Narsingh Temple.
“On-site inspection of the affected areas in Joshimath and meeting with local citizens,” Dhami tweeted on Wednesday.
According to an official statement, the Chief Minister will hold a meeting with army officers and ITBP officers along with a meeting of the committee constituted for the transparent distribution of interim package to families affected by landslides and to determine the rate of rehabilitation package.(ANI)
After Joshimath, Uttarakhand’s Tehri Garhwal is also facing land subsidence, and locals, in fear of landslides, urged the government on Wednesday to take cognizance of the issue and take necessary action.
Landslides are happening in the villages adjacent to Tehri lake and cracks have increased in the houses above and near the Chamba Tunnel, putting over a half dozen families in danger, informed local people.
Under the All-Weather Project, a 440-meter-long tunnel has been constructed in Chamba and after the construction of the tunnel, cracks started appearing in the houses of Chamba Main Market.
“The cracks started appearing since the construction of the tunnel began. Several surveys took place but no action was taken. We had tenants living here but we made them vacate in 2019. We demand that the govt takes measures here just like they did for Joshimath,” said Deepak Tiwari, a local affected by the subsidence.
“Our home was affected when the tunnel was only 3 to 4 meters. The sewerage system has also stopped working since then. We renovated the house and bathrooms but the new construction is also facing cracks and subsidence,” said another local Dinesh Prasad Kotiyal whose house is near the Chamba Tunnel.
Another local affected in the Badoni area said, “A huge calamity is looming but we don’t understand what the authorities are waiting for.”
Meanwhile, sudden cracks in a few houses in the Kanwariganj area of Aligarh have caused panic among locals.
“For the last several days, cracks have appeared in some of our houses due to which we are forced to live in panic. We have also complained about it but the Municipal Corporation authorities are not taking any concrete action and are only giving assurance. We are afraid that the houses may collapse,” a local, Shashi said.
According to the locals, a pipeline was laid by the government under the Smart City scheme, which is now reportedly leaking, leading to the development of cracks. (ANI)
Authorities at Joshimath said on Tuesday that they will start demolishing hotels and houses in the holy town, which developed cracks in the wake of the landslide and subsidence.
Hotels Malari Inn and Mount View, which have developed more cracks, will be demolished on Tuesday, officials said, adding that all residents have been safely evacuated from the ‘unsafe zones’. The demolition of buildings will begin under the supervision of a team of experts from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee.
A team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is on standby to assist the district administration in the demolition work, as and when required.
“Experts are on the ground and the administration will take action on their directions and advice,” said the NDRF.
“They will be demolishing these hotels for the safety of the 15-20 families still living here. Our houses have been destroyed,” said Manmohan Singh Rawat, a local.
On Monday, District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana informed that a central team was to arrive in Chamoli district to survey the damage wrought to properties by the land subsidence and suggest a way forward while coordinating with the local administration in relief and rescue efforts.
“A team from the Ministry of Home Affairs will come to Joshimath on Tuesday. Demolition of buildings will start tomorrow under the supervision of the team of Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee,” Khurana had said earlier.
On Monday, a team from the Ministry of Jal Shakti also arrived at Joshimath.
The areas where the buildings will be demolished have been vacated by the administration after they were declared ‘unsafe zones’.
The officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also called on Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at his residence on Monday and discussed relief and rescue operations.
The officials assured the chief minister of an investigation into the geographical condition of the Joshimath area and the causes of the landslide. The state administration was also assured of being central in mobilizing disaster relief.
Meanwhile, the District Disaster Management Authority, Chamoli issued a bulletin related to disaster management in view of landslides in the Joshimath area.
According to the bulletin, cracks have been noticed in a total of 678 buildings in the Joshimath town area. In view of security, a total of 81 families have been temporarily displaced.
“Under the Joshimath city area, 213 rooms have been temporarily identified as habitable, with their capacities estimated at 1191. Also, 491 rooms/halls have been identified in Pipalkoti outside the Joshimath area, with a combined capacity of 2,205,” the bulletin said.
The administration has also distributed food kits and blankets to the affected families, as per their requirements along with the distribution of funds to procure essential household items.
A total of 63 food kits and 53 blankets have been made available for the affected locals. (ANI)
With the prevailing situation in Joshimath grim in the wake of the land subsidence incident, the Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana said all dangerous buildings in the holy town have been marked with a red ‘X’ symbol.
After the district administration declared these buildings as “unsafe areas which are unfit for living”, the residents have been shifted to a safer place.
“Under the Disaster Management Act, we have marked some unsafe areas which are unfit for living. These areas include Sindhi Gandhinagar and Manohar Bagh,” Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana told ANI on Monday.
Joshimath has been declared a ‘sinking zone’ in the wake of continuing land subsidence, with several homes and roads developing cracks over the last few days, driving residents outdoors and triggering fear.
Located at a height of 6150 feet (1875 m), Joshimath is a gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, trekking trails, and popular pilgrim sites like Kedarnath and Badrinath.
More than 600 houses in the area have developed cracks in the wake of the landslide and subsidence, officials said.
Taking note of the situation, the Centre constituted a team of experts from seven different organizations to study and submit its recommendations after a high-level meeting on Joshimath.
The experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Institute of Disaster Management, Geological Survey of India, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Hydrology, and Central Building Research Institute have been tasked with assessing the situation and giving recommendations on preserving the holy town. (ANI)
With the land subsidence continuing at Joshimath town of Uttarakhand, the district administration has made arrangements for the affected families.
Following the appearance of large cracks in houses and roads, a total of 66 families are reported to have migrated from Joshimath as of now. “The district administration has made arrangements for the families affected by the natural calamity to stay in ‘safe relief camps’,” the administration said on Sunday.
District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana visited the relief camps last night and took stock of the arrangements.
“If there is any requirement, it is being made available immediately,” he said.
Residents of Joshimath, a sacred town in the hilly state of Uttarakhand, have been alarmed after fissures started appearing in the houses and roadways and have been evacuated and shifted to night shelters of the municipality by the administration.
According to the District Disaster Management Department, cracks have reportedly developed in as many as 561 houses in Joshimath as a result of continued land subsidence in the town.
The affected people, their families, and children are currently living in night shelters, officials said.
The locals said that the people affected by the landslide, have been assured by the government that they will get pre-fabricated houses. However, they are worried about when the houses will be allotted to them.
Meanwhile, the state government has dispatched a team of experts to the area to assess the situation.
The teams from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have also been deployed in the area as a precautionary measure, Chamoli Chief Development Officer (CDO) Lalit Narayan Mishra said on Friday. (ANI)
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court to immediately intervene to assist the reparation work of Uttarakhand and to provide urgent relief to the people of Joshimath facing extremities and danger to their life and property.
The plea filed by Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, a religious leader, seeks direction to declare the current incidents of land sliding, subsidence, land sinking, land burst, and cracks in the land and properties as National disaster and direct the National Disaster Management Authority to actively support the residents of Joshimath in this tough time. The petition seeks to provide immediate financial assistance and compensation to the people of Uttarakhand losing their houses and lands on account of land sliding, land sinking, subsidence, and cracking of houses and properties.
“In the name of and/or for the cause of development the respondents have no right to push the people in the mouth of death and the religious sacred town in extinction and thereby infringe the fundamental right of the people of the Joshimath including the petitioner as well as inmates of his Monastery guaranteed under article 21, 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India,” it stated.
The entire mess of environmental, ecological, and geological disturbances occurred due to large-scale manly intervention in the form of Industrialisation, urbanization, and destruction of natural resources by the Union and State government in the State of Uttarakhand, the petition said.
It further said, “No development is needed at the cost of human life and their ecosystem and if anything such is happening it is the duty of the State and Union government to stop the same immediately at war level.”
It said the petition was filed to secure the life and personal liberty of the people of Joshimath town in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, wherein the life of the people is lurching large due to imminent and sudden cases of land subsidence, land sliding, the sudden eruption of water, cracking of houses and subsidence and cracking of agriculture plots resulted on account of man-made activities which given rise to recurrent natural calamities which were earlier very rare.
“Issue direction to the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to provide insurance coverage to the residents of Joshimath and to duly compensate the affected residents from the disaster caused by land sliding, land sinking, land burst, subsidence resulting into cracking of houses and lands,” it said.
Direct NTPC and Border Road Organisation (BRO) to rehabilitate the affected citizens of Joshimath at safer and suitable places convenient to them, it added.
Direct Centre, National Disaster Management Authority, Uttarakhand to take effective and proactive steps to protect the spiritual and religious and cultural places of Hindus including Sikhs at Joshimath; especially the Jyotirmath and adjoining sacred shrines/temples wherein deities are being worshipped since time immemorial, it urged the court.
“Direct the respondents to immediately stop construction and building work of the Tapovan Vishnugad Hydro Electric, Project tunnel and not to begin again till the high-level committee of geologists, hydrologists, and engineers constituted by this court,” it added. (ANI)
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