New Delhi: In some good news for land subsidence hit Joshimath, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) on Saturday informed that the number of buildings with cracks has not increased and also the water discharge has also reduced considerably. Dr Ranjit Kumar Sinha, the Secretary of Disaster Management gave an update on the situation in Joshimath and the work being done by the State Government for relief, rescue and permanent and temporary rehabilitation after land subsidence and landslides in the town.
Secretary Dr Sinha said that an amount of Rs 3.50 crore has been distributed to 233 affected landowners in Joshimath as interim relief and an amount of Rs 52.50 lakh has been distributed as immediate relief to 105 affected tenants.
Secretary Disaster Management has informed that the initial discharge of water in Joshimath which was 540 LPM on January 6 has currently reduced to 170 LPM. In the temporarily identified relief camps, Joshimath has a total of 661 rooms with a capacity of 2957 people and Pipalkoti has 491 rooms with a capacity of 2205 people. He added that till now cracks have been noticed in 863 buildings while the number of buildings with cracks has not increased.
He informed that 01 area/ward has been declared unsafe in Gandhinagar, 02 in Singhdhar, 05 in Manoharbagh, and 07 in Sunil. 181 Buildings are located in unsafe areas. 248 families have been temporarily displaced in view of security. The number of displaced family members is 900 and 41 affected families have moved to relatives or rented houses.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the relief package has been released for nearly 3,000 families affected by gradual land subsidence in the Himalayan state.
The Chief Minister also announced that Rs 50,000 has been given by the state disaster authority to each family as a non-adjustable one-time special grant for the transportation of goods and immediate needs of their buildings.
Joshimath witnessed large cracks in houses and buildings which made areas in the town unsafe for the people. Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) also gave the orders for the demolition of some hotels including Malari Inn. Following the situation in Joshimath, a few cracks were also seen in Tehri-Garhwal of Uttarakhand.