Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday warned that a situation like one in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath is looming large on the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh and urged the Centre to step in to pre-empt “widespread devastation”, reported by The Indian Express.
Huge cracks have appeared in hundreds of houses in Joshimath town, the gateway to pilgrimage sites of Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, as well as tourist destination Auli, forcing the administration to undertake massive evacuation measures. Joshimath has been declared a land-subsidence hit zone.
“In the mountains, like it has happened at Joshimath, there are a number of areas in Himachal Pradesh as well which are gradually experiencing land subsidence. If the right solutions and mitigation measures are not taken at the right time, there could be widespread devastation,” Sukhu said.
The new Himachal Pradesh CM was virtually addressing the 148th Foundation Day of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) held at Mausam Bhavan in New Delhi.
Sukhu added that in the mountains, people have been constructing as they please, adding that Himachal Pradesh is a seismic prone area, and attention must be given to the state.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was also present in the meeting, however, he left the meeting early due to an “urgent meeting in New Delhi”.
Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh, who was the chief guest, dedicated four Doppler Weather Radar Systems to Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
Sukhu said that the dopplers that have been installed will cover 80 per cent of Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti, but still 30 per cent needs to be covered where cloudbursts appear.
“Lahaul-Spiti is the largest district in Himachal Pradesh and second largest in India where there is snow, glaciers and rivers. Kinnaur is near the the China border, more attention must be given to these areas,” Sukhu said.