Amit Shah Chairs High Level Meeting at Joshimath Scenario

Joshimath, Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway (NH 7) is the place to stay for people visiting the shrines of Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and the sights of Auli and Valley of Flowers.

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review the situation in the sinking town of Joshimath, a town in Uttarakhand where subsidence is affecting the lives of hundreds of families.

Shah chaired the meeting which was attended by Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, RK Singh, Bhupendra Yadav and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. He addressed the problems of roads, power supply, water shortage and environment in Joshimath after the landslide. Other senior Home Ministry officials, including Home Minister Ajay Bhalla, attended the nearly 40-minute meeting at the Home Minister's residence.

So far, more than 720 buildings have been identified in Joshimath city area with cracks due to subsidence. Residents were moved to safer places as part of the renovation, although geologists and experts rushed to find out the reasons for the sinking of the ecologically fragile area. Shah assessed the situation and ordered to implement urgent measures in a meeting, which was also investigated. senior officials of the State Disaster Management Authority in Uttarakhand to attend; and experts from IIT Roorkee, National Institute of Disaster Management, Geological Survey of India and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology through video conference.

The Home Minister was informed that the district administration is working with the affected families to evacuate and relocate them to safer places with adequate arrangements for food, shelter and security.

The authorities suspended construction projects in the area and the government formed a commission to investigate the incident and the situation caused by the sudden crisis.

The Uttarakhand government has also ordered the authorities to begin surveying and demolishing the infrastructure that threatens the surrounding buildings.

The Uttarakhand government also announced Rs 5 crore relief to families in Joshimath, where homes and roads suffered major cracks. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also announced a relief package for nearly 3,000 families affected by gradual land subsidence in the Himalayan state.

The Prime Minister also announced that the Disaster Management Authority has given each family 50,000 rubles as a one-time special allowance for the transportation of goods and basic needs.

Joshimath, Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway (NH 7) is an overnight stay for people visiting Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib shrines and Auli and Valley of Flowers tourist spots.

Apart from Joshimath, the same subsidence phenomenon was also reported from other districts of Uttarakhand including Uttarkashi, Tehri, Pauri and Karan