Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is holding a cabinet meeting on Friday and may announce some important decisions regarding subsidence-hit Joshimath town in Chamoli district.
The Uttarakhand cabinet meeting is taking place after the CM's meeting with all stakeholders on the Joshimath land subsidence issue yesterday.
During the meeting on Thursday, the chief minister interacted with the Army, ITBP, NDRF and scientists from various establishments engaged in landslide investigation, district administration, police and district-level officers associated with essential services at Sunil ITBP camp.
Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) in Hyderabad has released satellite images that reveal the severe land subsidence affecting the town of Joshimath. The images, taken by the Cartosat-2S satellite, show that the entire town, including the Army's helipad and a temple, has been designated as sensitive zones.
The preliminary report from Isro states that the land subsidence was slow between April and November 2022, during which time the town sank by 8.9cm.
However, between December 27, 2022 and January 8, 2023, the intensity of land subsidence increased dramatically, causing the town to sink by an additional 5.4 cm in just 12 days.
The Uttarakhand government is already conducting rescue operations in danger-prone areas and relocating residents to safer locations as a priority. The satellite images also indicate that the Joshimath-Auli road is at risk of collapse due to the land subsidence.
