Fresh Cracks In Joshimath Town To Be Surveyed By Building Research Body

Fresh cracks appearing in subsidence-hit Joshimath will be surveyed by scientists from the Central Building Research Institute, the Chamoli district administration said on Thursday.

In January this year, the land subsidence crisis in Joshimath grabbed national attention. Huge cracks had appeared in many houses, fields and roads making the town unsafe to live in, and a large number of people had to be moved to safer places.

Chamoli DM Himanshu Khurana held a meeting with officials of various departments here to discuss steps to be taken to rebuild the damaged parts of the hill town.

He directed them to coordinate with the CBRI scientists and get the fresh cracks in Joshimath surveyed by them.

He also asked the officials to prepare a detailed project report in coordination with CBRI scientists for retrofitting of buildings affected by land subsidence in Joshimath and strengthening of the Narsingh Mandir motorway.

The CBRI scientists had also been roped in earlier to oversee the demolition of two unsafe hotels in the town which were posing a danger to the nearby population.

The officials were asked to take quick action on the selection of land for the prefabricated building of the Community Health Centre, Joshimath and the construction of a damaged college building.

They were also asked to take suggestions from those engaged in the tourism sector while the tourism department was directed to identify land for creating tourist facilities.

Instructions were also given to the education department to identify land for new school buildings to be constructed in Joshimath.

The Jal Sansthan was asked to process a tender for a new drinking water scheme and the Jal Nigam was directed to select a consultant to prepare sewer lines, drainage system action plan, and a DPR in all wards of Joshimath municipality.

In coordination with THDC India Limited, the Irrigation Department was asked to prepare a DPR for the construction of a safety wall on the banks of the Alaknanda River in Joshimath area and take action on the survey of new cracks conducted by the CBRI team.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)