'65-70 per cent people are leading normal life in Joshimath': Uttarakhand CM

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New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday said 65-70 per cent people in Joshimath, where cracks appeared in buildings and other structures, are leading a normal life and the Char Dham Yatra will commence in four months. After meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, whom he briefed about the prevailing situation in Joshimath, Dhami said he was assured all assistance from the central government to deal with the current situation arising out in the hill station.

"65-70 per cent people in Joshimath are living a normal life. In nearby Auli, which is a tourist attraction, everything is going on normally. Tourists are still visiting Auli," Dhami told reporters here. He said the Char Dham Yatra, one of the renowned pilgrimage for the Hindus which takes pilgrims to four holiest sites, including Kedarnath and Badrinath via Joshimath, will start in next four months.

Dhami said there is no need for panic due to the Joshimath situation and people sitting in other parts of the country should not comment about it. He said he has briefed the home minister about the steps taken for the relief and rehabilitation of the affected people in Joshimath. Asked whether he sought a rehabilitation package for the people in Joshimath, he said such things will come after the central team, which is visiting Joshimath, submits its final report. "Whatever help is required, the central government is giving us," he said.

A statement issued in Dehradun said Dhami also demanded central assistance for setting up temporary relief camps, prefabricated transit shelters, permanent rehabilitation, construction of houses, rebuilding of the town and treatment of drainage and sewerage systems. "Twenty-five per cent area of the town is affected by land subsidence so far whose population is 25000," he was quoted as saying.

Dhami said he has already briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi who himself is taking regular inputs. Reports said that the Uttarakhand government has distributed Rs 3.10 crore to 207 affected families as advance for the displacement while a piece of land belonging to the Horticulture Department has been identified for the construction of model pre-fabricated huts with one, two, and three bedrooms.

The number of buildings that have developed cracks has risen to 849 and 250 families have so far been evacuated to safety. There are a total 615 rooms in Joshimath with a capacity of 2,190 people and 491 rooms in Pipalkoti with a capacity of 2,205 people have been made into temporary relief camps.