Joshimath: The Uttarakhand government has announced an immediate payment of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the families affected by the landslides in Joshimath. Meanwhile, public protested demanding removal of NTPC.
Speaking to the media, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Thami’s secretary R. Meenakshi Sundaram said, “Many people have been evicted from their homes due to the cracks in the buildings due to the landslide. An interim relief of Rs 1.5 lakh will be given immediately to each evicted family.
So far 723 buildings have been identified as unsafe buildings. However, only two buildings have been demolished. Other unsafe buildings will not be demolished. Fortunately, there were no new cracks in the buildings after January 7. “The old cracks have not widened,” he said.
Earlier, Meenakshi Sundaram met the affected people along with high officials including the Collector of Chamoli district in Joshimath, Himanshu Khurana. He consoled them. Speaking to the media, Himanshu Khurana said, “Though 723 buildings have been identified as dangerous buildings in Joshimath, only 131 families have been shifted to safety camps so far.”
Public protest: The public protested demanding the removal of the National Thermal Power Station NTPC near Joshimath. They have alleged that the earthquake happened because of this thermal power station.
Drowning Joshimath: Joshimath is a town located at the foothills of the Himalayas in Chamoli District, Uttarakhand. The town is home to around 4,500 buildings, including houses, hostels and hotels, which is the gateway to the Badrinath Temple. About 30,000 people live here. At the end of last December, there were huge cracks in various houses and commercial establishments in Joshimath city. 723 buildings have been identified as unsafe buildings.
What is the background? – Locals blame the landslides on the influx of tourists, climate change and continuous construction work in the mountainous region. Here hills are cut and widened to make highways. This will destabilize the terrain of the region, warned CP Rajendran, a Himalayan technicist and geologist at the NIAS Center in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Due to excessive construction work, urbanization projects and increasing number of tourists day by day Joshimath city is on the verge of destruction. Read more > Joshimath City Burying into Soil due to Urbanization