Relief for Joshimath families as Uttarakhand government extends stay at shelters

DEHRADUN: A day after TOI exclusively reported about affected families in subsidence-hit Joshimath being asked to vacate homestays and hotels where they had been put up by the Uttarakhand government -- and quite a few forced to return to their cracked houses -- the district administration has now reached out to some of these families and offered them alternative places to stay. The deadline to stay in the shelter homes has also been extended by one month.

Affected residents, whose plight was highlighted by TOI, expressed happiness at getting some respite. Vinod Lal Shah, a resident of Gandhinagar ward, whose ordeal was among those prominently highlighted, said, "I received a call from an official at the tehsil office. He asked me to shift to a hotel. They assured me they will look into my application for house compensation, which has been pending for over two months. It is such a relief." Deepak Kumar Tamta, who belongs to the same ward, added, "I was pleasantly surprised when district officials contacted us and said that all possible help would be provided."

Around 132 families were staying in state-run shelters in Joshimath till the end of last month. Most of them had to vacate these shelters, which included government buildings, hotels and homestays, by April 30. Over the past week, some took up rented accommodation, others went to relatives' homes and quite a few returned to their cracked houses since they were left with no other option. Sumitra Devi, resident of Chhavani Bazaar, who is still forced to live in her "cracked house" with her three children, said, "We were staying at a hotel near the SBI branch on the main Badrinath Road. But we shifted back to our old house last week since there is nowhere else we can go."

Similarly, 44-year-old Durga Lal, a daily-wager, is also living in his old house which he had vacated in January after it was put under the dangerous "red zone" category. He said, "I had to return to my house which is full of cracks. I could not afford any room on rent. The government decision to extend our stay in shelters will be a big help. We hope to get our compensation too, soon."

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