Picture : Twitter/ ANI
Residents of Joshimath broke down on Tuesday as they left their homes that have been marked ‘unsafe’ by the district administration in the wake of the landslide and subsidence.
The district administration had asked people to vacate the areas affected by subsidence. As of now, 678 buildings marked have been marked ‘unsafe’.
As per ANI report, Many have vacated their homes and the evacuation process is still underway. Eight teams of SDRF, one of NDRF, one extra company of PAC and police officials are present there. If needed, some areas will be sealed, said the Uttarakhand DGP on Tuesday.
“This is my maternal home. I got married at the age of 19. My mother is 80 years old and I have an elder brother. We built this home by working hard and making a living. We lived here for 60 years but it is ending now,” said Bindu, a resident.
#WATCH | Joshimath, Uttarakhand: People break down as they leave their homes that have been marked unsafe by the district administration and vacate the areas affected by the Joshimath land subsidence. pic.twitter.com/hr7ZRHCyZK
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 10, 2023
“I have been living in this house since childhood. The administration has now asked to leave. We are a family of seven to eight members. We are sending our family members to relatives’ places. We don’t have a place to stay, ” said another local.
Minister of State for Defence (MoS) Defence Ajay Bhatt, arrived in Joshimath earlier on Tuesday and met the affected people in the Sunil ward of the holy town.
Meanwhile, Locals in Joshimath on Tuesday protested against National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) seeking their withdrawal from the state. The protesters held banners of Mahila Mangal Dal and Panchayat Selang and protested across the streets.
The protesters demonstrated against the NTPC’s Tapovan Vishnugad Hydroelectric Project which was being constructed in the area. The construction has been stopped with immediate effect, till further orders.
A scientist at the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), DM Banerjee, blamed the prevailing situation on constructing roads and tunnels for a nearby hydroelectric project. In Joshimath, cracks started appearing in houses post which the area was evacuated.
A team from Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) on Monday reached the ‘sinking zone’ Joshimath to analyse the damages caused to buildings for compensation.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused urgent hearing of a plea seeking the court’s intervention to declare the crisis in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath a national disaster, saying there are “democratically elected institutions” to deal with the situation and all important matters should not come to it.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha listed the plea of Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of Joshimath for hearing on January 16.
