Joshimath Case: Supreme Court agrees to hear the petition of Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati

The Supreme Court bench, however, refused to list the petition filed by Swami Avimukteshwarananda Saraswati for urgent hearing on the matter.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on January 16 a plea seeking its intervention to declare the crisis arising out of landslide in Uttarakhand's Joshimath as a national calamity. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha, however, refused to list the petition filed by Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati for urgent hearing, saying that not everything urgent should come directly to the court.

'We will hear the matter on January 16'

The bench said, 'There are democratically elected institutions to look into this. Not everything we need should come with us. We will list it for hearing on January 16. The petition was mentioned by advocate Parmeshwar Nath Mishra, appearing for Swami Saraswati. Petitioner Saraswati has claimed that the incident happened due to large-scale industrialization and sought immediate financial assistance and compensation for the people of Uttarakhand.

'It is the responsibility of the government to stop such development'

Swami Avimukteshwaranand's petition has also sought a direction to the National Disaster Management Authority to actively support the residents of Joshimath in this challenging time. "There is no need for any development at the cost of human life and their ecosystem and if anything happens, it is the duty of the state and the central government to stop it immediately on a war footing," the saint's plea said.

Land is sinking in Joshimath, cracks are falling in houses

Joshimath, known as the gateway to famous pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and international skiing destination Auli, is facing a major challenge due to the landslide. In Joshimath, the ground is slowly sinking and huge cracks are appearing in houses, roads and fields. Local people said that many houses have caved in. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered immediate evacuation of 600 families living in at-risk houses to safer places.