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Uttarakhand chief secretary summoned for hearing on Joshimath crisis
The Uttarakhand high court has summoned the chief secretary over non-compliance of its order to form a committee on land subsidence in Joshimath town. Hundreds of buildings developed cracks earlier this year, forcing families to shift to temporary relief camps. The court has directed the chief secretary to appear during the next hearing on September 22.
Dehradun: The Uttarakhand high court on Friday summoned chief secretary SS Sandhu over non-compliance of its earlier order to constitute a committee of independent experts for a study on instances of land subsidence in Joshimath town, after hundreds of residential buildings and other structures began developing cracks earlier this year. On January 12, the high court had directed the state government to form the panel and submit a report in a sealed envelope within two months, after several families were forced to shift to temporary relief camps due to the cracks.
Since then, 868 residential buildings and other structures developed cracks, 181 of these were declared unsafe, and familes affected. A division bench of chief justice Vipin Sanghi and justice Alok Kumar Verma was hearing a plea related to the 2021 Chamoli flood disaster, that claimed 204 lives, when it recalled its order related to the Joshimath crisis, advocate Snigdha Tiwari, who appeared for the petitioner, said.
“The court has summoned chief secretary SS Sandhu during the next hearing on September 22,” she said.
Disaster management secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha said he is yet to receive a copy of the order. “Once we receive and examine the order we will come up with our response accordingly.”
In its January order, the high court had directed inclusion of Piyoosh Rautela, executive director of Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, and SPS Bisht director Uttarakhand Space Application Centre, into the committee.
In her petition, Tiwari soughtformation of an independent committee to analyse the impacts of hydel power projects in the upper reaches of Himalayan valleys and a stay on construction of all under-construction hydropower projects, till early warning systems are put in place.
She also sought formation of an independent committee comprising hydrologists, geologists, glaciologists, disaster management experts, social scientists, geomorphologists, ecologists, hydrogeologists and landslide experts to assess the current situation on the ground in Joshimath, Reni village and Tapovan.
The application sought directions to the committee to make recommendations relying on scientific findings with respect to the viability of the hydel power project, disaster mitigation and management plans within a time frame decided by the court.
