Page 21 - Natural Disasters

PMO team visits Joshimath to inspect land subsidence; more cracks appear

According to sources, the purpose of the visit was to separately inspect the condition of the areas with visible cracks and deteriorating water quality

Himachal CM Sukhu urges Centre to enhance disaster fund for state

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has urged the Union government to enhance the disaster fund for Himachal Pradesh as the State is prone to various types of natural disasters due to difficult topographical and climatic conditions. He was speaking at the inauguration function after setting up of Doppler Weather Radars at Jot in Chamba district and Murari Devi in Mandi district by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh through virtual mode on Sunday. A Doppler Weather Radar was installed at Kufri near Shimla on January 15, 2021 and with the commissioning of these additional two radars, about 70 per cent area of the State will be covered for weather forecast, a statement released here said. Stating that about 30 per cent area of the tribal Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts will not be covered under these Radars, he urged the Union Minister of State to provide additional Radar for these districts. He said that cloud bursts have

Uttarakhand land subsidence crisis: Wall collapses in Joshimath's village

Following the wall collapse incident, authorities deployed Men and Machinery to rebuild the wall

Joshimath crisis: Sushma Swaraj opposed dams on Ganga to 'save' Uttarakhand

With Joshimath reeling under severe crisis after hundreds of buildings developed cracks due to shifting soil, an old video of late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has surfaced where she warns of an imminent threat to Uttarakhand from dams being built on the Ganga river. In the video being widely shared on social media and flashed on news channels, Swaraj is seen saying in Parliament that the dams being built on the Ganga and its tributaries will have to be scrapped to save Uttarakhand in the wake of the 2013 Kedarnath disaster. This assumes significance as questions are being raised on the role of NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project in the land subsidence crisis in Joshimath. Swaraj was addressing the Lok Sabha as the then Leader of Opposition. Disasters are occurring in Uttarakhand as the Ganga river is being confined in tunnels, she had said. "Whatever amount of money may have been spent over them (dams), it will be less than the amount that will have to be spent over relief and ...

Two more hotels lean towards each other in Joshimath, wider cracks appear

Two more hotels were dangerously leaning towards each other while wider cracks have appeared near Auli ropeway and in other areas of land subsidence-hit Joshimath on Sunday. Also, the flow of water increased from a suspected underground channel burst in JP Colony in the Marwari area of the town after a temporary decline a couple of days back. Muddy water has been percolating down from it constantly since January 2 but experts are not sure about its origins. Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha said a constant vigil is being maintained on the pace of water percolation in the area which has been fluctuating. The process of demolishing two adjacent hotels Malari Inn and Mount View which were declared unsafe was still underway. Around 100 metres from the site, two more hotels - Snow Crest and Comet - have tilted dangerously towards each other and have been vacated as a precautionary measure. "The gap between the two hotels was around four feet earlier but now it has narrowe

Explained: How PSInSAR satellite technique helped detect Joshimath sinking

A Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes

Rs 1.5 lakh ex gratia for affected families in Joshimath, says U'khand CM

Earlier today, Dhami held a cabinet meeting in Dehradun in which key decisions for the area were discussed

Joshimath crisis: Demolition of houses, two hotels rendered unsafe begins

The Uttarakhand government has announced an amount of Rs 1.5 lakh per affected family

CM Dhami chairs meeting on Joshimath, assures support to affected families

'I have met with everyone and assured people that state administration is with the people of Joshimath. we will help everyone'

Demolition of Joshimath's 2 'unsafe' hotels underway, evacuation continues

A total of 169 families consisting of 589 members have so far been shifted to relief centres

Rehabilitate people from Joshimath, re-evaluate hydro projects: Experts

Uttarakhand's Joshimath is facing a catastrophe with houses developing cracks due to land subsidence

Home Minister Amit Shah holds meeting on Uttarakhand's Joshimath crisis

Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, BRO and NDRF officials also participated

Joshimath crisis: People will get the best compensation possible, says CM

Dhami said the interim assistance would reach the bank accounts of the families affected by this evening or Friday

G-20 working on Disaster Risk Reduction under India's presidency: Report

The G20 is all set to establish a new working group on Disaster Risk Reduction under the presidency of India. The group will work towards achieving disaster risk reduction goals

Committee formed for distributing aid to affected families in Joshimath

A 19-member committee, headed by Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana, was formed on Wednesday for the distribution of the interim package amount among the affected families in subsidence-hit Joshimath town in Uttarakhand and ascertaining the rate of a rehabilitation package. The decision to form the committee, which consists of people's representatives from the area, was taken after a meeting chaired by the DM.

CSIR proposes disaster-resilient town for people displaced from Joshimath

The Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) has proposed to develop a disaster-resilient model town to rehabilitate people displaced from the sinking Uttarakhand town of Joshimath

Demolition drive halted in Joshimath, locals angry over poor compensation

While the cracks that have appeared in the buildings of Joshimath are widening, the administration has been facing the opposition of the affected people in the demolition drive

Locals protest over compensation ahead of Joshimath demolition drive

Renewed efforts were made by the administration on Wednesday to persuade hoteliers and locals refusing to allow the demolition of two precariously standing hotels in subsidence-hit Joshimath in Uttarakhand. A fresh round of talks was held between Secretary to the Chief Minister, Meenakshi Sundaram and the protesters who have been demanding compensation on the lines of Badrinath before the demolition exercise is undertaken. Hotels 'Malari Inn' and 'Mount View' are leaning towards each other dangerously, posing a threat to the human settlements around the structures. The Uttarakhand government had directed the razing of unstable structures on Monday, starting with these two buildings. Talking to reporters, the senior official clarified that only two hotels in Joshimath have to be dismantled and not the houses demarcated as unfit for living. "I want to clarify one thing. Only two hotels are to be dismantled. Demolition, though being used widely, is not the precise word in this context

Extreme weather events cause $270 bn loss worldwide in 2022: Report

The costliest natural disaster in 2022 was Hurricane Ian in the US, which caused losses of around $100 billion, Xinhua news agency cited the report as saying

16 people die in a barrage of severe winter storms in California: Report

At least 16 people have died in a barrage of severe winter storms in California as the most populous state in the US braces for more floods and mudslides