Committee led by Amit Shah approves Rs 1658-crore Recovery and Reconstruction plan for Joshimath

New Delhi [India], November 30 (ANI): A high-level Committee, under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah on Thursday approved the Recovery and Reconstruction (R&R) plan of Rs 1658.17 crore for Joshimath in Uttarakhand which has been affected by landslide and ground subsidence, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.

Under the plan, the MHA states, that Rs 1079.96 crore of central assistance will be provided from the Recovery and Reconstruction window of the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). The State Government will provide Rs 126.41 crore from its State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) towards relief assistance and will provide Rs 451.80 crore from its state budget, including land acquisition cost for resettlement of Rs 91.82 crore.

Joshimath has been affected by landslide and ground subsidence and the central government has extended all necessary technical and logistical support to the state government, said the MHA in a statement.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the MHA said, all technical agencies under the guidance of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) were put into action and they helped the state government in preparing the recovery plan for Joshimath expeditiously.

“The recovery plan for Joshimath would be implemented in three years, following the best practices, Build Back Better (BBB) principles, and sustainability initiatives. Thereafter, Joshimath will emerge as an excellent example of ecological sustainability,” it added.

Joshimath, situated at 6,000 feet in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand between Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, is in seismically active Zone V – a region with a high risk of earthquakes.

Residents of Joshimath, a sacred town in Uttarakhand, have become alarmed after noticing fissures in the town’s houses and roadways, which they described as the town “gradually sinking”.

Hundreds of houses have developed cracks in Joshimath, with more than 100 declared unsafe.