Uttarakhand's Joshimath being evacuated after houses develop cracks

The incidents of land subsidence and cracks in the walls of houses are increasing in Joshimath, Uttarakhand. Local people are in panic due to increasing scope of landslide. Some families have been shifted to guest houses as a precautionary measure. The local people themselves are also looking for safe havens. On the other hand, the state CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said that necessary steps will be taken to save the people.

Performance of local people

The local people have spread a lot of panic. People have appealed to the government for help. Last evening, a large number of people protested by lighting torches in Joshimath.

CM Dhami will also visit Joshimath soon. Dhami said, "I will visit Joshimath in a few days. All possible steps will be taken to handle the situation. I have spoken to municipal corporation chairman Shailendra Pawar to monitor the situation."

Committee constituted of 8 members

Dhami has constituted an eight-member team of experts to re-study the area. This team will camp in Joshimath from Thursday and inspect the landslide prone areas for two days. Along with this, it will give suggestions to the government in view of immediate and long-term measures to solve the problem.

The state government had sent a team of experts to Joshimath in August last year as well. The team submitted its report to the government in September. It was told in the report that Joshimath is mainly situated on the old landslide area. In the absence of proper drainage system in such areas, many times such a situation arises due to the soil flowing along with the ground water. In the report, suggestions were given to make proper arrangements for drainage of water in Joshimath, to take steps to prevent erosion from the Alaknanda river, to channelize and strengthen drains, to control construction works according to the carrying capacity.

Nagar Nigam Chairman Shailendra Pawar said that in Marwari Ward, cracks appeared in the houses due to seepage of underground water. He told that more than 3 thousand people of 576 houses of Joshimath have been affected. He said, "Survey of all the houses is being done by the municipality. Many have even left their homes."

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