A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court asking it to act promptly to support Uttarakhand's reparation efforts and to provide immediate relief to the people of Joshimath who are facing extreme weather and threat to their lives and property.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, a religious leader, has filed a petition requesting that the current incidents of land sliding, subsidence, sinking, bursts, and cracks in the land and properties be declared a national disaster and that the National Disaster Management Authority actively assist the residents of Joshimath during this difficult time.
The petition asks for quick financial aid and compensation for families in Uttarakhand who have lost their homes and land due to land sliding, sinking, subsidence, and cracking of houses and properties.
"In the name of and/or in the interest of development, the respondents have no right to push the people into the mouth of death and the religious sacred town into extinction, thereby infringing on the fundamental right of the people of Joshimath, including the petitioner and inmates of his Monastery, guaranteed under Articles 21, 25, and 26 of the Indian Constitution," the petition said.
According to the petition, the entire mess of environmental, ecological, and geological disturbances occurred as a result of large-scale man-made intervention in the form of industrialisation, urbanisation, and destruction of natural resources by the Union and State governments in the state of Uttarakhand.
The petition further said, "No development is needed at the cost of human life and their ecosystem, and if this occurs, it is the duty of the State and Union governments to stop the same immediately at war level."
It stated that the petition was filed to protect the life and personal liberty of the people of Joshimath town in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, where life is lurching large due to imminent and sudden cases of land subsidence, land sliding, the sudden eruption of water, cracking of houses and subsidence and cracking of agriculture plots caused by man-made activities that have given rise to recurring natural calamities that were previously very rare.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday visited Uttarakhand's "sinking town", Joshimath, to assess the situation following the collapse of a temple and several houses. He has ordered an immediate evacuation of around 600 families.