PMO reviews Joshimath crisis

New Delhi: Central government agencies and experts are assisting Uttarakhand to prepare short, medium and long term plans to deal with the Joshimath situation, officials said on Sunday after the Prime Minister's Office held a high-level review meeting.

One team of the National Disaster Response Force and four teams of the State Disaster Response Force have already reached Joshimath, where people are in alarm due to land subsidence and cracks have developed in hundreds of houses.

Affected families are being shifted to safe locations, officials said.

The Border Management secretary and members of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will visit Uttarakhand on Monday and assess the situation A team of experts from NDMA, National Institute of Disaster Management, Geological Survey of India, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Hydrology and Central Building Research Institute will study the situations and give recommendations, they said.

During the meeting held by P K Mishra, the principal secretary to the prime minister, the Uttarakhand chief secretary briefed the PMO, they added.

The review meeting was attended by the cabinet secretary, other senior officials of the central government and members of the National Disaster Management Authority.

District officials of Joshimath besides senior officials of Uttarakhand attended the review meeting through video-conferencing.

Uttrakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited Joshimath on Saturday to assess the situation on the ground, a day after he directed the immediate evacuation of around 600 affected families.

Dhami said Joshimath is an important place for culture, religion and tourism and all efforts will be made to save it.

Joshimath is the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and international skiing destination Auli.