UTTARAKHAND: Following incidents of land submergence in Joshimath earlier this year as well as in several other areas of the state, the Uttarakhand government has decided to identify and demolish all such constructions and structures in all of the 13 districts, that do not fall within the standards and may pose a threat in the future.
According to administrative sources, "The government has constituted an expert and technical committee under the chairmanship of district magistrates in all districts to identify unsafe buildings and take action for retrofitting." The Housing Department has issued an order in this regard.
The report of experts revealed, "Due to submergence in Joshimath area, cracks have occurred in the buildings. Many residential and commercial buildings in this city located on a steep slope are highly vulnerable to risk". There has also been a repeat of the Joshimath type land submergence in other areas like Karnaprayag and Vikasnagar.
According to sources, "The committee formed under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate of every district will identify such buildings which are built at more than 30 degrees gradient or are built in the flood zone."
Speaking to The New Indian Express, state Finance and Urban Development Minister Premchand Agarwal, while briefing on the government's decision, said, "After taking lessons from Joshimath, we do not want to allow a repeat of any disaster in the future that may be caused by man-made or unplanned construction."
"70 per cent of Uttarakhand's area comes under forest cover. The remaining 30 percent also falls in the 50 percent hilly area. There is an urgent need to redefine the scale and technology of construction in the mountainous region, so as to prevent such recurrence in the future," said Agarwal.
Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana told this newspaper, "We have received a letter from the government in this regard and action is being taken promptly. A report will be prepared after surveying how many other buildings are not in accordance with the standards."
"As per the government's directives, we have held two rounds of meetings with officials of the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) Nainital in this regard," said Bageshwar District Magistrate Anuradha Pal told this newspaper." The work of marking all constructions and buildings falling in the danger zone is underway," Anuradha added.