The High Court, while hearing the PILs filed regarding the NTPC project of Joshimath and Karnprayag and the Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail line and Chardham project, directed the Central and State Government, NTPC and other parties to file replies.
On Tuesday, in the division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Alok Kumar Verma, the court’s attention was drawn through a PIL filed by Delhi resident Ajay Gautam that more than 600 houses in Joshimath in Uttarakhand and more than 50 houses in Karnprayag had developed cracks. The families that have been shifted to Pipalkoti or elsewhere are not in a comfortable condition. They have not even received proper compensation. The cattle and other animals that were with the affected families have also become destitute.
The population of Joshimath is around 15 to 20 thousand and it increases up to one lakh during the Yatra period. There is no sewer system there. Due to which sewerage is being dumped in pits. On behalf of the petitioner, there was a demand from the court to form an expert committee to save Joshimath and Karnprayag. The date of August 2 has been fixed for the next hearing of the case.
Ban on hydro project till formation of expert committee
In the second PIL filed by Ajay Gautam, it has been said that continuous blasting is being carried out in NTPC project, Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project and Chardham road project. The debris of road cutting is being thrown into the river. Due to continuous blasting, the mountains are getting weak.
Due to this, the danger of life and property has arisen for the Chardham pilgrims as well as the local people. That’s why there is a need for the guidelines of the expert committee, these projects should be banned until the expert committee prepares the guidelines.
The court issued notice to all the parties and sought their reply within six weeks. The date of August 2 has been fixed for the next hearing of this matter as well.
Notice to central and state government in case of missing dead bodies
The High Court issued a notice to the state and central government and asked them to file their reply within three weeks while hearing a PIL filed for the search and cremation of the missing bodies after the disaster in Dhauliganga of Raini area of Chamoli district last year.
Six weeks’ time has been fixed for the next hearing. It was said in the PIL of Acharya Ajay Gautam that many people had gone missing due to the flood in Dhauliganga of Raini village. 206 people were confirmed killed. The missing bodies were not traced by the state government.
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