DEHRADUN: There seems to be no end to the troubles of the disaster-affected people of Joshimath. Due to security reasons, the work of contour mapping with drones from the border district of Joshimath has been stopped. Advance action is not possible without the report of contour mapping to finalise the rehabilitation package.
The survey work is being done rapidly in the state, but rules are posing a hindrance. The situation is such that wherever the survey work starts with the help of drones, it does not get completed due to these rules. Now the Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA) has started preparing a new strategy to deal with this situation.
An official of the Geological Survey of India told this daily, “Under the rules for flying drones, there are many areas which fall in the red zone i.e. no flying zone. When ITDA started the work of making a contour map in Joshimath, the drones could not fly there due to this. As a result, the survey could not be completed and plans to create a contour map failed.”
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Nitika Khandelwal, director, Information Technology Development Agency, said, “We can only be a facilitator for flying drones with regard to map contouring. Mainly the disaster management department will have to take permission, after which the drones can fly in that area”.
“Drone corridors are being set up in the state. At present, only one drone corridor is approved from Uttarkashi to Dehradun, with a flight duration fixed at 20 minutes,” she added.
She admitted that being a red zone, the Joshimath area is facing hurdles due to security constraints. A meeting will be held soon with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UAKDA) to find a solution to the issue, Khandelwal said.
“The biggest challenge facing the government at the moment is to rehabilitate the affected people as well as address their sentiments around Joshimath,” Atul Satti, president of Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, told this newspaper.
Most of the residents of Joshimath do not want to move anywhere else, to get separated from their memories and birthplace. In such a situation, before selecting new places for their rehabilitation, the government wants to be fully assured that the problem of land sinking does not arise again.
Some of the institutes that have jointly prepared a report for concrete solutions to the land-submergence issue are Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad, National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), among others.
Drones cannot fly in red-zone areas
An official of the Geological Survey of India told this daily, “Under the rules for flying drones, there are many areas which fall in the red zone i.e. no flying zone. When ITDA started the work of making a contour map in Joshimath, the drones could not fly there due to this. As a result, the survey could not be completed and plans to create a contour map failed.”
Nitika Khandelwal, director, Information Technology Development Agency, said, “We can only be a facilitator for flying drones with regard to map contouring. Mainly the disaster management department will have to take permission, after which the drones can fly in that area”. Drone corridors are being set up. At present, only one drone corridor is approved from Uttarkashi to Dehradun, with a flight duration of 20 minutes.