PMO team reaches Joshimath to take stock of situation

Joshimath (Uttarakhand) [India], January 15 : A team from the Prime Minister's Office visited disaster-hit areas of Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli and inspected the situation, an official said on Sunday.
"A team headed by Mangesh Ghildiyal had come from the Prime Minister's Office to visit the disaster-hit areas of Joshimath, mainly the Joshimath Auli ropeway tower which has cracks and is closed for the time being," District Magistrate of Chamoli, Himanshu Khurana said.
Teams of many scientists and other experts are constantly visiting the areas in Joshimath, Uttarakhand where land subsidence occurred. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is keeping an eye on this whole incident. The team reached Joshimath and visited all the places where cracks have been found.
All the teams of the Uttarakhand State Government are also visiting Joshimath continuously. Today Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha also reached Joshimath.
Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha on Sunday inspected the landslide-affected areas in Uttarakhand's Joshimath and said that there has been an uptick in the number of cracks, but no new areas have faced damages.
The Secretary inspected areas including Auli Ropeway, Manohar Bagh, Shankaracharya Math, JP Colony along with geologists and senior officials.
Speaking to ANI, Sinha said that the teams are conducting tests to ascertain if there is any particular pattern of developing cracks.
"Relief and rescue operations are being conducted. There has been an uptick in the number of cracks in some places. Cracks haven't developed in new areas. There is a minor increase in the cracks of approx 1mm but we are monitoring them. We are also finding a pattern so that in the future there is no damage. All teams are conducting tests whether there is any pattern developing of the cracks. After the tests, we will take action based on it. The cracks have increased, but there is nothing to worry about," he said.
"The Central and state governments are making combined efforts during this period. Our all teams have reached here for investigation & now their research will tell what is the reason behind it. After that action will be taken on the same accordingly," Sinha added.
He informed that the geophysical study of the affected area is being done by the NGRI Hyderabad. NGRI is studying the underground water channel. After the study, the geophysical and hydrological map will also be made available by NGRI. These maps will be useful for Joshimath's drainage plan and stabilization plan.