Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami to lead Joshimath rescue and rehabilitation operations

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], January 6 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday said that in the wake of the land subsidence at Joshimath in Chamoli district, he would hold a high-level meeting in Dehradun this evening.
"I will hold a high-level meeting with top officials in Dehradun this evening regarding landslides in Joshimath and cracks in houses," Uttarakhand CM said while talking to ANI.
Apart from the officials of the Disaster Management, Irrigation, Home Department, Commissioner Garhwal Mandal and District Magistrate Chamoli will also participate in the meeting.
Dhami further said that he would visit Joshimath on Saturday and take stock of the situation.
"A team from BJP has also been sent there," he added.
Notably, the BJP state unit has also formed a 14-member committee, under the coordination of the party's state general secretary Aditya Kothari to assess the land subsidence incident and the damages being reported.
Joshimath, in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, is seeing severe landslides. Currently, all of the wards in the area have been affected by landslides.
Cracks have reportedly developed in as many as 561 houses in Joshimath as a result of continued land subsidence in the town, stated the District Disaster Management Department.
Following the appearance of cracks in the houses, a total of 66 families are reported to have migrated from Joshimath as of now.
Residents of Joshimath, a sacred town in Uttarakhand, have become alarmed after noticing fissures in the town's houses and roadways and have been evacuated and shifted to night shelters of the municipality by the administration.
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.
The Uttarakhand government has formed a team of scientists to find out the reason behind the occurrence of land subsidence in Joshimath and the resultant damage reported to the houses.
The team will be visiting the spot and investigate the reason behind the land subsidence, said an official statement from the government.
According to an official statement, engineers from the Geological Survey of India, Wadia Institute, and IIT Roorkee have been included in the team formed on the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Cracks have reportedly developed in as many as 561 houses in Joshimath as a result of continued land subsidence in the town, stated the District Disaster Management Department.
Following the appearance of cracks in the houses, a total of 66 families are reported to have migrated from Joshimath as of now.
"Now the process of increasing cracks in Singhdhar and Marwadi has started. Badrinath NH near Singhdhar Jain locality and JP Company Gate in Marwadi, near the forest department check post, is continuously cracking. This crack is increasing every hour which is worrying," said Joshimath Municipal Chairman Shailendra Pawar. (ANI)