AMN
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami over the telephone and inquired about the steps taken for the safety and rehabilitation of the affected residents of Joshimath in the wake of the land subsidence incident and the progress of the immediate and long-term action plan to solve the problem.
Chief Minister informed the media that Prime Minister is personally monitoring the situation in Joshimath and the security work being carried out by the government in the area, as well as assured all possible assistance to save Joshimath.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has given instructions to immediately constitute a coordination committee regarding the land subsidence happening in Joshimath. The committee will be formed under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Garhwal. The Chief Minister said that the constituted committee will monitor all the works being done in the area, so that every possible help can be provided to the affected people and the development works of the area can be expedited. He said that Secretary R. Meenakshi Sundaram and Commissioner Garhwal Sushil Kumar will camp at Joshimath from today.
Earlier Mr. Dhami reviewed the relief and rescue operations with the high officials of the government regarding the Joshimath land subsidence in Dehradun, late evening. Chief Minister asked them to go beyond the disaster standards and also to make arrangements for relief under CSR. He informed that apart from declaring Joshimath as a landslide and land subsidence zone, an additional amount of ELEVEN crore rupees has been made available to the district administration.
Chief Secretary Dr. S.S. Sandhu, DGP of Police Ashok Kumar and Secretary to Chief Minister R.K. Meenakshi Sundaram reached Joshimath today and carried out on-site inspection of land subsidence-affected areas. The Chief Secretary said that the cause of land subsidence is being ascertained by the team of expert scientists of the country and whatever treatment is necessary will be done here. He said that safety of citizens is of utmost importance in the immediate situation and local admin is continuously working for it. He appealed to locals not to take any risk under any circumstances and shift as soon as possible where arrangements have been made by district adminstration.
Also, a team of officers of Chamoli district administration has visited door to door in Marwari ward of Joshimath town to take stock of the situation. District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana met the affected people. The District Magistrate said that the people living in the cracked buildings are being immediately shifted to safer places. He said that the administration has made arrangements for the affected to stay in hotels, home-stays and other safe places. Khurana said that the disaster-affected families are being given 4,000 rupees per month from the administration for SIX months as aid. He appealed to the people not to live in unsafe buildings under any circumstances, and take advantage of the aid amount.