The Supreme Court on Monday, January 16 refused to entertain a plea seeking court’s intervention to declare the Joshimath crisis in Uttarakhand as a national disaster. Instead, a 3-member bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala asked the petitioner Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati to approach the Uttarakhand High Court with his petition. The bench said that the Uttarakhand High Court is already considering this issue.
The Supreme Court said, “We do not want these hearings to be used only for sound bites on social media”. The petitioner argued before the bench that the land was sinking due to large-scale industrialization and sought immediate financial assistance and compensation to the affected people.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati’s petition states, “There is no need for any development at the cost of human lives and their ecosystem. If anything like this happens, it is the duty of the state and central government to immediately stop it on a war footing.”
The number of houses with cracks increased to 826.
Explain that according to the Disaster Management Authority, the number of cracked houses in Joshimath has now increased to 826, out of which 165 are in the ‘unsafe area’. Till now, 798 people have been shifted to temporary relief centres.
An amount of ₹ 2.49 crore has been distributed among the affected families as interim assistance. They have also been provided with blankets, food, daily use kits, heaters, blowers and ration.
