PMO chairs key meeting on Joshimath land sinking crisis

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 January 8 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 January 9 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.

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