Relief and rescue efforts were intensified in Joshimath after it was declared a landslide and subsidence-hit zone, with the Centre on Sunday stressing that the immediate priority is the safety of people and asking experts to prepare short and long term plans for conservation and rehabilitation.
Amid a mounting sense of urgency, senior Uttarakhand government officials including chief secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, DGP Ashok Kumar and secretary to the Chief Minister R Meenakshi Sundaram visited the worst-hit Manohar Bagh, Singdhar and Marwari areas and appealed to people to shift to temporary relief centres.
Officials said 13 more families living in houses with huge cracks were moved by the administration to safe locations on Sunday.
The number of families evacuated to temporary relief centres now stands at 68, Chamoli district disaster management office said.
The number of houses developing cracks in the town has risen from 561 to 610, Garhwal Commissioner Sushil Kumar told PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and reviewed the situation, including the steps taken so far for the safety and rehabilitation of residents, and assured him of necessary assistance.
The Uttarakhand chief secretary has said that state and district officials with the support of central experts have assessed the situation on the ground and informed that a strip of land with a width of around 350 metres is affected, the Prime Minister's Office said on Sunday after holding a high-level review meeting.
Central government agencies and experts are assisting Uttarakhand to prepare plans to deal with the Joshimath situation and the immediate priority is the safety of the people, it said.
Affected families are being shifted to safe locations, a PMO statement said, noting that Prime Minister Modi is concerned and has taken stock of the situation with Chief Minister Dhami.
One team of the National Disaster Response Force and four teams of the State Disaster Response Force have already reached Joshimath. -- PTI
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