The Uttarakhand government has requested the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun to conduct a study of Joshimath area through satellite images and submit a detailed report with photographs
New Delhi:
The Prime Minister’s Office will hold a high-level meeting on the Joshimath crisis on Sunday afternoon amid alarm in the Uttarakhand region due to sinking of land and cracks in houses at several places.
P K Mishra, the principal secretary to the prime minister, will hold the review meeting with the cabinet secretary, other senior officials of the central government and members of the National Disaster Management Authority, an official statement said.
District officials of Joshimath besides senior officials of Uttarakhand will also attend the review meeting through video-conferencing.
The Uttarakhand government has requested the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun to conduct a study of Joshimath area through satellite images and submit a detailed report with photographs.
Meanwhile, the Geological Survey of India has been asked to examine the suitability of Koti Farm, Herb Institute and the horticulture department’s land in Joshimath and in Pipalkoti’s Semaldala area for rehabilitation purposes.
The requests were made after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami returned from his visit to the affected areas in Joshimath and held a meeting with senior officials here Saturday night.
Apart from these, IIT-Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Hydrology Roorkee and Director CSIR, Central Building Research Institute Roorkee have also done a detailed survey and study of Joshimath area and will soon submit their report to the government.
The chief minister also asked officials to relax the norms to expedite relief operations. A high-powered committee should be formed to approve only work related to disaster management in Joshimath to speed up relief and rescue, he said.
Dhami also sanctioned an additional amount of Rs 11 crore to the District Magistrate Chamoli.
Dhami had visited Joshimath on Saturday to assess the situation on the ground, a day after he directed immediate evacuation of around 600 affected families.
Dhami said Joshimath is an important place from the cultural, religious and tourism point of view and all efforts will be made to save it.
All construction activities related to mega projects like the chardham all weather road and the NTPC’s hydel project have been stopped till further orders on the demand of residents. The Auli ropeway, which is Asia’s biggest, has been stopped after a huge crack developed beneath it, former president of the local municipality Rishi Prasad Sati said.
Land subsidence has been going on for more than a year but the problem has aggravated over the past fortnight, he said.
Joshimath, the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and international skiing destination Auli, is facing a major challenge due to land subsidence.