Dehradun: About 600 houses were evacuated in Joshimath in Uttarakhand. Evacuation process started after a satellite survey. Around 4,000 people in the area have already been evacuated to safer places, the Home Department said.
Cracks have also been found in buildings belonging to the Army and ITBP units. A high-level central team headed by Border Management Secretary Dr. Dharmendra Singh Gangwar reached Dehradun and held talks with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. A senior Home Department official explained that the NDRF and the local administration are conducting surveys to get accurate figures.
The government has also ordered a special survey in all the districts of Uttarakhand. Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami’s order is to study in detail why the buildings are collapsing.
The district administration had earlier placed red marks on more than 200 houses in the area as unsafe to live in. Residents have been asked to shift to temporary relief centers or rented houses, and the Uttarakhand government has decided to provide assistance of Rs 4,000 per month to each family for the next six months.
Officials of National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force have been deployed for the relief operations in Joshimath.
Apart from the fact that 600 houses are currently cracked in Joshimath, there are reports that the land at the entrance to Badrinath and Hemkunt Sahib has been cracked. The government has divided the unusual phenomenon in Uttarakhand into three categories. It is divided into three zones as ‘hazard zone’, ‘partial hazard zone’, and ‘safe zone’.
The Supreme Court refused to entertain the petition seeking urgent intervention to look into the situation in Joshimath. The bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud clarified that there is no urgent need to consider the case.
The Chief Justice stated that the elected government is in Uttarakhand and they will take necessary steps. The Uttarakhand petition was adjourned to January 16. The petitioners demanded that the case be heard today.
