Top developments from Joshimath: Resettlement package being prepared for victims, says Chamoli DM

On the intervening night of January 2 and 3, cracks appeared in many roads and hundreds of houses in the town, which has now been declared as a landslide and subsidence-hit zone by the authorities. So far, a total of 168 families have evacuated to temporary relief centres. Warning bells rang several times since a government report in 1976 cautioned against heavy construction in the geologically unstable Joshimath area that rests on old landslide debris and moraine above a permanent tectonic zone. But nothing deterred successive governments at the state and the Centre from bringing mega projects and mass tourism to the area.

Here are top developments from Joshimath today:

ISRO’s satellite images show Joshimath sank over 5 cm in 12 days

The Indian Space Research Organisation Friday raised concerns about the ‘sinking town’ of Joshimath with its interim report showing that the town sank 5.4 cm in just 12 days — between December 27, 2022 and January 8, 2023. ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) reported it as “rapid subsidence” when compared to the 8.9 cm sinking over a period of seven months between April and November 2022.

HC asks Uttarakhand govt to impose a ban on construction work in Joshimath

While hearing a plea on the Joshimath land sinking crisis, the Uttarakhand High Court instructed the state government to ban all construction activities in the town strictly. It sought a legal order to ban all construction activities in Joshimath and neighbouring areas.

Meanwhile, the counsel appearing on behalf of the Uttarakhand Government and National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) said that the authorities are “extremely serious” about the crisis. He added that while most construction works in the town have already been stopped, the government is seeking the help of Wadia Institute experts regarding landslides.

Affected families to get Rs 5k monthly rent, Rs 450 per person daily for food

A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday approved raising the monthly rent amount for Joshimath’s disaster-affected people from Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 and provide them with actual expenditure, or Rs 950 per room per day, whichever is less, for accommodation in hotels and residential units as relief camps.

In a media interaction on Thursday, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was personally distressed about the Joshimath crisis. He said that the state government was constantly working hard to bring the situation under control.

He added that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also concerned and called CM Dhami on Wednesday to enquire about the situation. Shah also chaired a meeting on Thursday along with Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, RK Singh, Bhupendra Yadav and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on-road issues, power supply, water scarcity and the environment in the Joshimath.

Hotel Malari Inn to be demolished soon by the Joshimath administration

On Friday, the Chief Scientist of Central Building Research Insitute, DP Kanungo, said that the Malari Inn Hotel would be demolished. The process will take 7-10 days, and it will be done via the technique called mechanical dismantling.

Affected families in Joshimath to get 6-month waiver in power, water bills

The Uttarakhand government Friday decided to waive for six months electricity and water bills of families and individuals affected in the subsidence-hit Joshimath, news agency PTI reported. It also decided to conduct a study on the carrying capacity of all towns located in the hills. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet here chaired by CM Dhami. The cabinet gave an in-principle approval to the construction of prefabricated houses for short-term rehabilitation of the affected people of Joshimath at identified locations in Koti Farm, Pipalkoti, Gauchar, Gaukh Selang, and Dhak villages after their survey.

–With inputs from news agencies