Families affected by land subsidence in Joshimath being rehabilitated, Uttarakhand government tells Delhi High Court

Bench is hearing a petition seeking a direction to the Centre to constitute a committee headed by a retired HC judge

Joshimath: A residential area affected by land subsidence at Joshimath, in Chamoli district, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Uttarakhand government informed the Delhi High Court on Thursday that the State authorities were in the process of rehabilitating families affected due to land subsidence in Joshimath.

The State government also said the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force have been deployed in the area and that a rehabilitation package was also being prepared.

Uttarakhand made the submission before a Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad that was hearing a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to constitute a committee headed by a retired judge to look into the issue of the “sinking” of Joshimath.

After the Bench was informed by the petitioner and advocate Rohit Dandriyal that a similar petition on the issue was also pending before the Supreme Court, it posted the hearing on his plea for February 3.

Deputy Advocate General for Uttarakhand J.K. Sethi submitted that the government has already deployed NDRF and SDRF there and many people have been relocated.

“We are rehabilitating the people. Giving them relief packages. A lot of work is going on,” Mr. Sethi said, adding that the petitioner should have filed his petition before the Uttarakhand High Court.

Mr. Dandriyal, in his plea, said cracks had developed in at least 570 houses due to continued land subsidence in Joshimath, the gateway to renowned pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib.

He said over 60 families were reported to have left the town while others were either risking their lives by staying there or searching for alternative accommodation in winter.

The plea claimed that construction activities undertaken by the Ministries of Road Transport and Highways; Power; and New and Renewable Energy, in the town of Joshimath had worked as a catalyst to land subsidence and “violated” the fundamental rights of the residents there.

“The respondent no.1 (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) invested ₹12,000 crore in the programme for connectivity improvement for Char-Dham (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunothri and Gangothri) in Uttarakhand,” the plea stated. It said the Ministry of Power had also invested ₹2,976.5 crore and started constructing the Tapovan Vishnugad power plant in 2013.

The petition has asked for a direction to the authorities to constitute a high-power joint committee under the chairmanship of a retired judge of the High Court and representatives of all relevant Ministries to inspect the affected areas and rehabilitate the affected people.