Ritika
New Delhi : The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a plea seeking judicial intervention to declare the landslide crisis in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath a national calamity. According to the January 16 cause list uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narsingh and Justice JB Pardiwala will hear the petition filed by Swami Avimukteshwarananda Saraswati.
Joshimath, the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and Auli famous for skiing, is facing a major challenge due to landslides. The land in Joshimath is slowly sinking down. Huge cracks are appearing in houses, roads and fields. The top court had on January 10 refused an urgent hearing on the plea saying there were “democratically elected institutions” to deal with the situation and all important matters should not come to it.
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The court listed Saraswati’s plea for hearing on January 16. After the counsel appearing for the petitioner requested to mention the petition and list it immediately, the Chief Justice had said, ‘everything important need not be brought to us. There are democratically elected bodies to see to it. We will list it on January 16. The petitioner has argued that this crisis has been caused due to large scale industrialization and the people of Uttarakhand should be given immediate financial assistance and compensation.
The petition has also sought a direction to the National Disaster Management Authority to actively support the residents of Joshimath in this challenging time. “There is no need for any development at the cost of human life and its ecosystem and if anything happens, it is the duty of the state and central government to stop it immediately on a war footing,” the plea said. (agency)
