Supreme Court 3 Judge bench refuses to entertain PIL of a seer on JOSHIMATH situation. Asked him to approach Uttarakhand HC !

The Supreme Court’s three judge bench comprising of chief justice D. Y. Chandrachud, justices P. S. Narsimha and B. Pardiwala on Monday turned down the public interest litigation filed by Swami Avimukteshwaram Saraswati requesting for the apex court’s intervention in JOSHIMATH land subsidence providing immediate relief and rehabilitation to the affected persons, families n inhabitants of the gateway township to Badrinath, Auli, valley of flowers and Hemkunt Sahib n to declare it a national disaster.

While refusing to entertain the plea of the saint Swami Avimukteshwaram Saraswati the chief justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud asked the Swami to approach the Uttarakhand High Court with his present or through a new draft petition as the state’s HC is already hearing a petition pertaining to the ecological disaster filed after February 7, 2021 in which there was massive loss of lives and property.

This was the Dhauli n Rishi Ganga deluge caused by the glacial flash floods as a result of massive cloud burst etc.

The floods had entered the NTPC’s Tapovan Vishnugaad Hydropower project in which more than hundred people had died, many of the NTPC project.

The seer in his plea has urged the apex Court to intervene in JOSHIMATH ecological disaster and direct the authorities to grant immediate financial assistance and compensation to the affected families accusing the heavy Industrialisation as one of the prime reasons.

The seer added in the petition that ” No development is needed at the cost of human lives and their ecosystem adding further that if any such tragedy is to happen then it is the duty of the state and union Government to put it to end on a war footing.

It may be recalled that the JOSHIMATH township built on glacial rubble centuries ago has developed wide cracks in its land n over thousand houses with the land subsidence further enhancing.

The Uttarakhand government has already declared the entire JOSHIMATH town as highly dangerous with evacuation efforts on full swing and NDMA n SDMA officials also on the evacuation and relief works.

The state government has sanctioned Rs.1.5 lakh as immediate financial compensation to the sufferers to settle themselves immediately. Till now about Rs 2.49 crores have been disbursed among the sufferers.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced that JOSHIMATH will be redeveloped on the lines of Kedarnath which was also affected badly after the 2013 June ecological disaster.

The chief minister has also issued strict directives for conduction of scientific investigations in all the townships n cities of Uttarakhand.

This was announced by Ranjit K. Sinha secretary, Uttarakhand disaster management authority.

Hearing the petition of Swami Avteshwaranand Saraswati the three judge bench led by the apex court’s chief justice D. Y. Chandrachud said that since the state high court is already seized of the matter the petitioner is requested to approach the high court with this petition. And if need be with fresh petition.

Just a day before, people held a big meeting at JOSHIMATH called by the JOSHIMATH Bachao Sangharsh Samittee which took a unanimous decision to lock the NTPC project main office on 26 th January including NTPC Go Back posters pasted all over the twin n in bazaar shops in a wide scale. The ward wise protest Dharna at NTPC site has also been formally decided in which hundreds of people will participate relentlessly.