DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the sinking Joshimath on Saturday to assess the situation on the ground. He met the affected people and assured them of all help, officials said.
The residents had on Thursday protested against the continuing land subsidence in several wards across the town. This comes at the back of cracks continuing to appear in houses following concerns that the town was gradually sinking.
Located at a height of 6,000 feet in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, Joshimath falls in high-risk seismic 'Zone-V'.
The CM met the team of officials and experts who have been camping in the town since Thursday and took their feedback on the evacuation exercise, they said.
He walked through the narrow streets in the affected areas and also went inside houses in which huge cracks have appeared on the walls and ceilings.
"Evacuating affected families in the danger zone to safe locations is the government's priority for now," Dhami told reporters.
"We are also working on a long-term rehabilitation strategy," he said.
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After visiting the affected areas in the Himalayan town, Dhami said that suitable places for relocation of residents near Pipalkoti and Gauchar are also being identified.
Officials have been asked not to get entangled in long procedural complexities and take direct clearance from him for projects related to the treatment of drainage and sewage systems in Joshimath, he said.
Dhami said that Joshimath is an important place from the cultural, religious and tourism point of view and all efforts will be made to save it.
The CM also prayed at the famous Narsingh temple in town for keeping its residents out of harm's way.
Meanwhile, strong resentment were prevailing among people here against the government for the indifference with which it treated the warnings about the dangerous situation of buildings in the Himalayan town due to heavy construction activities going on around it.
They hold the NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project mainly responsible for the situation.