Joshimath crisis: Joshimath, home to a population of more than 25,000 people, is an overnight halt for those visiting the shrines at Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and other tourist destinations, which has resulted in mushrooming of too many hotels and resorts in the area – a factor which the experts blame for the heaviest land subsidence reported in the town till date.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined an urgent hearing on the sinking incidents in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town and posted the matter for January 16, Live Law reported.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, “Everything which is important need not come to us. There democratically elected institutions to see this. We’ll keep it until the 16th.”
On Monday, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha directed advocate Parmeshwar Nath Mishra, who was appearing for Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who had mentioned out of turn for an urgent listing of the petition, to follow the process and return on Tuesday.
The petitioner had sought the court’s intervention to declare the Joshimath crisis a national disaster.
The seer had contended that sudden huge cracks that appeared in several houses in Joshimath, the gateway to known pilgrimage sites of Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, occurred due to large-scale industrialisation. He also sought financial assistance and compensation for those affected.
The state government on Sunday officially declared Joshimath as a landslide-subsidence zone.
Meanwhile, the District Disaster Management Authority, Chamoli issued a bulletin in view of landslides in the Joshimath area. The bulletin said that cracks have been noticed in a total of 678 buildings in the town and in view of security, about 81 families have been temporarily displaced from the region.
Read Also: Joshimath sinking: How man-made factors hurt a fragile ecosystem
SHARE
