Joshimath crisis: PMO holds meeting; top officials to visit Uttarakhand tomorrow to access situation

The Prime Minister's Office on January 8 held a high-level review meeting on Joshimath situation. Chief Secretary SS Sandhu and Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Kumar participated in the meeting of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) through video conferencing.

During the meeting, it was known that central government, central agencies, and experts assisting the state government has been asked to prepare short, medium, and long-term plans to tackle to the crisis. It was also stated that the Secretary of Border Management and members of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) are to visit the state tomorrow and assess the situation further.

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, an official statement read.

Further, a team of experts from NDMA, the National Institute of Disaster Management, the Geological Survey of India, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, the National Institute of Hydrology, and the Central Building Research Institute will study the situation and give recommendations, they said.