'Resettlement package being prepared in interest of affected'

DEHRADUN: The resettlement and rehabilitation package for the people affected in subsidence-hit Joshimath is being prepared keeping in mind the interests of stakeholders, an official said on Saturday.

Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana who met the affected families staying in relief camps in Joshimath on Friday night said the stakeholders want to be compensated in different ways.

''Some want cash compensation, some have their land where they want to build houses while others want to be relocated elsewhere within Joshimath,” he said.

''We have to keep all this in mind while preparing a resettlement or rehabilitation package so that it is in everybody's interest and is sustainable,'' the DM said, asserting that the arrangements at the relief camps are ''good''.

Khurana said, ''I had dinner there and interacted with people. The arrangements are fine and the food being served to them is good.''

Meanwhile, the evacuation of the affected people continues with 185 families shifted to relief centres so far, Chamoli district disaster management authority said.

The number of houses that have developed cracks stands at 760 out of which 147 are marked unsafe, it said.