Chamoli (Uttarakhand) [India], January 27 (ANI): District Magistrate of Uttarakhand's Chamoli, Himanshu Khurana said on Friday that a prefabricated cow shed has been prepared for the animals affected due to land subsidence in the Joshimath town.

DM Khurana said that the shed has been prepared in the Sunil area under the Joshimath Municipality and the necessary arrangements have been made for the animals to live here.

"The cattle rearers whose cow sheds have been damaged will be kept in this safe cow shed. The Animal Husbandry Department is continuously distributing compact feed blocks and silage for animal fodder to the disaster-affected cattle rearers," he added.

On Tuesday, Chamoli DM informed that the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) has been building one, two, and three BHK model pre-fabricated huts for the displaced families of Joshimath near the Department of Horticulture, Herbal Research and Development Institute (HDRI).

He has also instructed the executive body to speed up the work by inspecting the site and added that the land has also been selected in Dhak, where the construction will be started in a short time. The Disaster Department has released Rs 2 crore 14 lakhs, he said.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami while addressing a press conference in Dehradun said that 70 per cent normalcy has returned to Joshimath and the state government is preparing for the Char Dham Yatra.

Speaking on the relief work in the affected areas of Joshimath, CM Dhami said the government is seeking suggestions from the stakeholders to effectively carry out the relief process.

"Various committees have been set up in Joshimath to evaluate the situation. We are waiting for the reports and further process will be done on its basis," he said.

On Monday, Secretary Disaster Management, Ranjit Kumar Sinha while addressing a media briefing said, an amount of Rs 3.45 crore has been distributed to 261 affected families in Joshimath as interim relief.

Secretary Disaster Management also informed that the initial discharge of water in Joshimath which was 540 LPM on January 6, 2023, has currently reduced to 180 LPM.

In the temporarily identified relief camps, Joshimath has a total of 656 rooms with a capacity of 2,940 people and Pipalkoti has 491 rooms with a capacity of 2,205 people.

According to the administration, till January 22 cracks were noticed in 863 buildings. The DM had informed that 1 area/ward has been declared unsafe in Gandhinagar, 2 in Singhdhar, 5 in Manoharbagh, and 7 in Sunil. 181 buildings are located in unsafe areas. A total of 278 families have been temporarily displaced in view of security. The number of displaced family members is 933. (ANI)