The Congress on Saturday slammed the government advisory that asked ISRO and several other state-run organisations and institutes not to interact with the media or share information on social media on the situation in Joshimath without prior approval.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also shared a letter written by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to Indian Space Research Organisation in this regard.

"After Joshimath, now reports of cracks in the walls of houses in Karnprayag and Tehri Garhwal are also coming. "Instead of solving the crisis and finding solutions to the problems of people, Government agencies are putting a ban on ISRO report and stopping its officials from interacting with the media. Narendra Modi ji, 'Do Not Shoot the Messenger'," Kharge tweeted.

Concerns over land subsidence in Joshimath mounted on Friday as satellite images released by ISRO showed the Himalayan town sank 5.4 cm in 12 days.

AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh also said, "They make one Constitutional institution attack another. Now, National Disaster Management Authority tells ISRO to shut up." "But how can satellite images lie? This is New India where only one man knows everything, and will decide who will speak on anything," he said in a veiled attack at the prime minister. The NDMA and the Uttarakhand government have asked over a dozen state-run organisations and institutes and their experts not to make any unauthorised comment or statement on the situation in Joshimath.

In its communication to the heads of these organisations and institutes, the NDMA said people associated with them should not interact with the media and share data on social media regarding the ground subsidence in Joshimath, where cracks have developed in buildings and other infrastructure.

Official sources said the purpose of the advisory is not to deny information to the media but to avoid confusion because so many institutions are involved in the process and they are giving their own interpretation of the situation.

These directives have been sent to the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, Geological Survey of India (GSI), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the ISRO, Hyderabad, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), New Delhi, Surveyor General of India, Dehradun and Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun.

The communication has also been sent to the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi, Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority among others.

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