In this episode, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has called a high-level meeting on Friday. Senior officers including Chief Secretary Dr. SS Sandhu and both Additional Chief Secretaries will be present in this. The Chief Minister will also visit Joshimath on Saturday to take stock of the situation.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is keeping a close watch on the issue of frequent landslides in Joshimath. He has also held a review meeting about the situation in Joshimath four days back. He had given instructions to rehabilitate the affected families. On the instructions of the Chief Minister, a team of experts led by Secretary Disaster Management Dr. Ranjit Kumar Sinha has reached Joshimath to re-study the area.
Tourists are also scared of landslides:
Auli-Joshimath ropeway is the main means of movement from Joshimath to Auli. Due to landslide, this ropeway has been closed till advance orders, due to which the tourists are very upset.
The surrounding land from pillar one to three of this 4.15 km long ropeway is under landslides. Due to this, danger is hovering on the ropeway. Ropeway manager Dinesh Bhatt says that in view of security, the operation of the ropeway has been stopped on the orders of the administration.
Due to the closure of the ropeway, 45 tourists who had gone to Auli by ropeway were brought to Joshimath by the tourism department vehicles. The ropeway had advance booking till February. In winter, tourists from all over the country and abroad come to enjoy trekking and skiing in Auli, a snow sports destination. But, the landslide of Joshimath has scared the tourists too.
Apart from this, the number of tourists is continuously decreasing. These days more than two thousand tourists and pilgrims are reaching Joshimath and Auli every day. However, tourists are scared to stay there due to fear of landslides happening in Joshimath. There is no risk of landslides in Auli, but there are limited resources to stay there.
The scope of landslide increased from Mandi Parishad to ITI in Karnprayag:
In Karnprayag, the main stop of the Chardham Yatra, cracks are increasing in the houses along the Badrinath Yatra route, due to which the people living here are spending nights in the shadow of fear.
However, the landslide prone areas are being monitored by the administration. CS Pandey, Chief Engineer of the Irrigation Department, who visited Chamoli on Thursday, inspected the Bahuguna Nagar and Mandi premises and assured the local residents to start the security arrangements soon.
During the last two years, 12 families have shifted to rented houses after more than 30 buildings of Bahuguna Nagar, situated on the upper part of the land adjacent to Mandi Parishad, came under landslide.
At the same time, the scope of landslide has increased from Mandi Parishad to ITI. The affected people have appealed for security to CS Pandey, Chief Engineer of the Irrigation Department, who reached for the inspection.
Irrigation Department’s Assistant Engineer Mohan Singh Butola said that the survey of Bahuguna Nagar has been done by the team of geological scientists of IIT, while in the second phase, the team of scientists has to survey Mandi Parishad, ITI and other landslide areas of the city. . After this, security measures will be started by the Irrigation Department.
