Cornering the Centre over the situation in Joshimath which is facing land subsidence, the Congress, on Monday, said while the region is suffering from a manmade disaster, the state government was proving unable to deal with it. The party demanded that the incident of Joshimath should be declared as a national disaster.

Meanwhile, residents of Joshimath are forced to leave their homes and hearth as their houses have developed cracks at many places. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken cognizance of the matter.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, party’s Uttarakhand in-charge Devendra Yadav and party leader Manish Khandur said during a press conference at the party headquarters here that Joshimath’s disaster is manmade and all the projects which are believed to be the cause of the disaster should be stopped. The construction work there should be stopped immediately.

He said the state government has announced a compensation of Rs 5,000 for the disaster victim. This announcement of the government is ridiculous and a joke to the victims. The government should pay attention to the crisis and redress the grievances of the people immediately.

The Congress said, ‘People opposed the blasting, and then it was stopped, people believe that the problem of cracks has come due to the blasting of the tunnel. PM is taking cognizance after 6 days.

He said that the people of Joshimath are agitating with a demand that the construction on the Helang road should be stopped under the Chardham scheme, and no blasting should be done on the tunnel. A coordination committee should be formed by getting the people of the area insured and the local people should be made part of the committee and authorised to talk to the state government.

Pawan Kheda said families are ruined in Joshimath, even Jyotirmath and Lakshmi Narayan and Rajarajeshwari temples have all developed cracks. Houses are perishing, shops are destroyed, temples are destroyed but the government remained insensitive and the state chief minister goes to Joshimath only for two hours to assess the situation. He said without being negligent in this matter, the government should immediately stop the projects considered a threat to Joshimath.

He informed that on Tuesday a delegation of the party will meet the chief minister and will also present its views before the governor. He said that the party has constituted a committee, which will listen to the problems of the people in Joshimath and try to solve them.