Sinking Joshimath: Uttarakhand govt to provide heaters to affected families

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, while reviewing the ongoing relief work in land subsidence-hit Joshimath on Friday, directed the officials to provide heaters and bonfires to the affected families who have been shifted elsewhere in view of the cold wave.

Chief Minister Dhami directed officials to ensure complete arrangements for the affected families.

The Chief Minister directed the Secretary, Disaster Management, to make a thorough assessment of the amount required for rehabilitation and other necessary arrangements for the people of the affected area of Joshimath. The assessment should be done keeping all the points in mind by keeping constant coordination with the District Magistrate Chamoli and on the basis of the suggestions of the local people.

The Chief Minister instructed the officials that a detailed plan should also be made to connect those displaced from the affected areas of Joshimath with self-employment. CM Dhami said it should be ensured that the livelihood of those who will be displaced should not be affected. Dhami said the government will provide all possible facilities at the places where the affected people will be displaced.

Keeping in view of the board examinations, Dhami instructed officials to make all necessary arrangements so that the children of the affected areas do not face any difficulty in their studies and examinations.

Due to land subsidence 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.

Uttarakhand government has also ordered the authorities to start surveying and dismantling the infrastructures that are posing a threat to the surrounding buildings as well.

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.

Along with Joshimath, the same phenomenon of land subsidence is also being reported from other areas of Uttarakhand including Uttarkashi, Tehri, Pauri and Karanprayag.

Uttarakhand government has also 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 has also declared a relief package for nearly 3,000 families affected by gradual land subsidence in the Himalayan state.

The Chief Minister has 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.

( With inputs from ANI )

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