Dehradun: With icy winds sweeping Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, the administration on Saturday provided electric heaters to temporary relief centres in subsidence-hit Joshimath even as 38 more families were evacuated from the affected areas, officials said. The government also made arrangements for bonfires at 10 places, they said. A total of 223 families have been evacuated so far to safety, Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha said.
The demolition of hotel Malari Inn went on amid stepped up efforts to distribute the amount of Rs 1.50 lakh to each affected family as interim relief. An amount of Rs 1.87 crore has been distributed as interim assistance among the 125 affected families so far, Sinha said, adding that the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) has also been allowed to assist in building prefabricated houses for the affected people who own land in safe zones.
The number of rooms at relief camps has been increased to 615 which can accommodate about 2,190 people, the officials said. The number of houses developing cracks has risen to 782 in Joshimath where areas situated in Gandhinagar, Singdhar, Manohar Bagh and Sunil wards have been declared unsafe.