A petition filed before the Delhi High Court has sought a direction to the Centre to constitute a committee headed by a retired judge to look into the sinking of Joshimath in Uttarakhand and to rehabilitate the affected families.
The petition, filed by advocate Rohit Dandriyal, said that cracks have developed in at least 570 houses due to continued land subsidence or sinking in Joshimath, the gateway to renowned pilgrimage sites such as Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib.
The petitioner claimed that after the sinking of the land -- apparently caused by climatic and infrastructural changes -- over 60 families are reported to have left the town while others are either risking their lives by staying there or searching for an alternate accommodation in winter.
The plea claimed that past construction activities carried out in the town of Joshimath by the Ministries of Road Transport and Highways and Power, New and Renewable Energy have worked as a catalyst in the present scenario, and “violated” the fundamental rights of the residents.
“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 said.
It added that the Ministry of Power had also invested ₹2,976.5 crore and started constructing the Tapovan Vishnugad power plant in 2013. The 520 MW run-of-river project is under construction on the Dhauliganga River in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand.
The petition has asked for a direction to the authorities to constitute a high-powered joint committee under the chairmanship of a retired judge of the High Court, with representatives of all relevant Ministries, in order to inspect the affected areas and look into the issue, and to rehabilitate the affected people.
