'Speedy evacuation top priority': NCMC meet on Joshimath

New Delhi, January 10

The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) on Tuesday reviewed the situation in Joshimath where cracks have appeared in buildings and other structures and stressed that the immediate priority should be to ensure complete and safe evacuation of all residents in the affected zone.

At a meeting of the NCMC, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba stressed that priority should also be accorded to the demolition of vulnerable structures in a safe manner, an official statement said.

The NCMC conveyed that all studies and investigations, including geotechnical, geophysical and hydrological, should be completed in a coordinated and time-bound manner.

The Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand briefed the NCMC about the current situation and informed that residents of severely damaged houses were being shifted to safe places. Relief shelters have been identified in Joshimath and Pipalkoti to accommodate the affected families and appropriate compensation and relief measures were being provided by the state government, the statement said.

Union Minister for Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh, meanwhile, announced that it would install micro-seismic observation systems at Joshimath even as officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in Dehradun to assess the situation.

Announcing the decision of the government at the India-UK Workshop of Geosciences here, Jitendra Singh said the observation systems would be in place by Wednesday. He further said there was a critical need for fundamental research on the physical processes that lead to failure of the brittle layers beneath the crust and sub-crust.

The team of officials from the MHA and the NDMA who met the Uttarakhand CM also stressed the need for ascertaining the location of underground water accumulation in the subsidence zone.

The central team also said a geological survey of the areas should be carried out to identify locations for the rehabilitation of the affected people. “The help of scientists of all the institutions concerned will be taken to resolve the issue and we have assured the state government of all assistance from the Centre in dealing with the crisis,” a senior disaster management official told reporters in Dehradun.

On his part the CM pointed out to the central team that Joshimath was an important town from the cultural, religious and strategic points of view and concerted efforts would be needed for its restoration. Efforts are being made on a war footing to save the town and evacuate the people living in the subsidence zone to safe locations, he said.

Process begins to raze unsafe hotels

Joshimath residents on Tuesday staged a protest as the authorities began preparations to demolish Malari Inn and Mount View hotels that have leaned towards each other

No urgent SC hearing

The SC refused to urgently list a petition seeking to declare subsidence a national disaster, saying all important matters needn’t land before it. But it agreed to take it up on January 16