Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu on Sunday visited the subsidence-hit areas of Joshimath to assess the situation on ground. Accompanied by DGP Ashok Kumar and Secretary to the Chief Minister R Meenakshi Sundaram, Sandhu did an on-the-spot inspection of the worst-hit Manohar Bagh, Singdhar and Marwari areas and appealed to people to shift to temporary relief centres.

"You should take no risks in a situation like this. The safety of residents is an immediate priority and the district administration is working relentlessly to ensure that," Sandhu said. Experts are exploring ?the causes of land subsidence after which whatever treatment is needed will be done, he said.

Joshimath has been declared a landslide-subsidence zone and more than 60 families living in damaged houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres, a senior official said on Sunday.