Joshimath: People are saddened by the calamity in Joshimath, the penance place of Adi Guru Shankaracharya. The administration is shifting people from unsafe houses to relief camps. People are getting emotional while leaving the dream homes built by their forefathers or with their own savings.
With a heavy heart, people are moving towards the camps by keeping the belongings of the house on their shoulders. This question is burning in the minds of the people for what crime we are being punished.
Hundreds of houses in the city have been declared unsafe due to cracks due to landslides. People are also shifting the temples built in their homes with them, but Kul Devi in Manohar Bagh ward is not ready to shift from her original place. Big cracks have also appeared in the Kuldevi temple built in the house of Chandra Ballabh Pandey, who lives here.
Chandra Ballabh has left the house; he has gone to the relief camp of the administration. He comes to the temple every day to worship. He says that he tried to shift the goddess from the temple as well, but the goddess is not ready to leave her original place.
DM of Chamoli, Himanshu Khurana said that a team will come on January 10 and action will be taken for the protection of people who are in danger.
He said “The Ministry of Jal Shakti had constituted a team which came today, and tomorrow a team from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India will also come. We are working under the supervision of Central Building Research Institute Roorkee. The team is coming, action will be taken to demolish the nearby buildings which may be dangerous for the people.”
Joshimath has been declared a ‘sinking zone’ in the wake of continuing land subsidence. As there are several homes and roads developing cracks over the last few days, driving residents outdoors and triggering fear.
People of Joshimath living in fear. Some of them already started shifting from their homes without getting proper facilities from the government. Affected people are requesting the government to help them and provide them with some immediate settlement.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “We’ve appealed to everyone to work as a team and save Joshimath. (People of) 68 houses that were in danger have been shifted. A zone of over 600 houses has formed efforts are underway to shift them. PM is also monitoring it and assured all possible help.”
(With inputs from ANI)