The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a plea for an immediate hearing regarding the Joshimath land collapse occurrences and scheduled the case for hearing on January 16.
The top court said that everything which is important need not come to the apex court, adding that there are democratically elected institutions working on it.
“Everything which is important in the country need not come to us. There are democratically elected institutions to see this. They can deal with what falls under their control. We will keep it on 16th (Jan),” justice Chandrachud responded after the petitioner’s lawyer demanded an urgent listing of the matter.
The petition submitted by Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati was cited out of turn for urgent listing on Monday, thus the CJI chose not to set a date for its hearing.
On Saturday, Swami filed a petition asking the court to declare landslides, subsidence, land sinking, land burst, and cracks in the land and properties a “national disaster” that calls for the creation of a plan for disaster assistance and rehabilitation. It demanded that the National Disaster Management Authority be instructed to actively assist the Joshimath locals.
The plea blamed large-scale industrialisation for the subsidence and sought immediate financial assistance and compensation for the residents.
“No development is needed at the cost of human life and their ecosystem and if any such thing is to happen, then it is the duty of the state and Union government to stop the same immediately at war level,” the petition said.
It added the petition was filed to secure the life and personal liberty of the people of Joshimath, where lives are in danger due land subsidence.
Joshimath, which has a population of more than 25,000, serves as an overnight halt for tourists travelling to the shrines at Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and other tourist destinations. As a result, there have been too many hotels and resorts built nearby, which experts believe is to blame for the town’s most severe land subsidence to date.
