New Delhi: A high-level meeting has been called by the Prime Minister's office after Joshimath, Uttarakhand, authorities had to evict hundreds of people from their homes after hundreds of buildings cracked due to shifting soil. Joshimath is a popular pilgrimage and tourist destination, NDTV reported.
The review meeting will be headed by PK Mishra, the principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and will include the cabinet secretary, other senior central government officials, and members of the National Disaster Management Authority, according to an official release.
Senior officials from Uttarakhand and district officials from Joshimath will also participate in the review meeting through video conferencing.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, went to Joshimath on Saturday to assess the situation there. A day earlier, he had ordered the immediate evacuation of about 600 affected families and pledged to make every effort to save the town.
Long-term large-scale construction projects, such as hydropower projects, in and near Joshimath have raised concerns among experts that they may cause land subsidence or the sinking or settling of the ground surface.