Joshimath Sinking: Chief Secy holds high-level meet, orders vacating affected area without delay
Dehradun (Uttarakhand), January 9: Uttarakhand Chief Secretary SS Sandhu on Monday chaired a high-level meeting in view of land subsidence in Joshimath and ordered the officials to vacate the affected area without any delay.
The officials have also been ordered to make proper arrangements for the people at the place where they are being shifted.
In the meeting held at the secretariat on Monday, Sandhu gave instructions to ensure proper arrangement of drinking water for the shifted people.
"Due to landslides, broken drinking water lines will increase landslides and power lines will be affected. In order to avoid loss of life and property in the area, keeping an eye on the area, the high officials were also instructed to remain in the area," he stated.
Chief Secretary instructed officials to start work from today itself in order to prevent toe erosion in the landslide area and added that the buildings which have developed cracks and have become dilapidated should be demolished immediately so that they don't do any more damage to the building.
He directed the officers to make arrangements to bring experts and other personnel by helicopter so that they could reach the affected area quickly. Instructions were also given to increase manpower to complete the work as soon as possible.
Joshimath, which is experiencing land subsidence and has forced the Uttarakhand government to relocate residents to safer areas, has been divided into three zones based on the magnitude of the possible danger, an official said on Monday.
The development comes after Joshimath was declared disaster-prone after cracks appeared on the buildings of the city. So far, 603 buildings in Joshimath town have developed cracks, according to Chamoli District Disaster Management Authority.
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- ANI
