Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will visit Joshimath on Saturday after the government ordered an immediate evacuation of over 600 families in the town which is said to be 'sinking'.
Huge cracks have developed in over 500 houses, triggering panic and protests in the hill town situated at a height of 6,000 feet in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district.
A temple collapsed on Friday evening in Singdhar ward of Joshimath further alarming residents living under constant fear of a major disaster in the offing. There was no one inside the temple when it collapsed as it had been abandoned after it developed huge cracks over the past 15 days, locals said. Nearly 50 families have been moved to safer locations, officials said.
"Saving lives is our first priority. Officials have been asked to shift around 600 families living in endangered houses in Joshimath to safe locations," Dhami said on Friday after reviewing the situation in the sinking town with officials via video conference.
The town which falls in a high-risk seismic 'Zone-V' is a major transit point for several trekking expeditions in the Himalayas, including the pilgrimage centres of Badrinath and Hemkunt Sahib. The residents of the town have been protesting against the alleged indifference of authorities, and said that the NTPC Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project is responsible for the landslides and gradual sinking if the town.
Amid protests, the Chamoli administration on Thursday decided to put a ban on all construction activities in and around the town. The NTPC and the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) have also been asked to build 2,000 pre-fabricated houses each in advance for the affected families.
-with agency inputs