Plea in HC to constitute committee to look into sinking of Joshimath, rehabilitate people
New Delhi(PTI): A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the Centre to constitute a committee headed by a retired judge to look into the issue of sinking of Joshimath in Uttarakhand and rehabilitate the affected families.
Cracks have appeared in hundreds of houses of Joshimath, the gateway to some renowned pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib.
Highlighting the woes of over 3000 people of Joshimath, the plea said cracks have developed in at least 570 houses due to continued land subsidence.
After sinking of land, apparently caused by climate and infrastructural changes, over 60 families are reported to have left the town while others are either risking their lives by staying there or searching for an alternate accommodation in winter, it claimed.
Petitioner and advocate Rohit Dandriyal claimed the construction activities done by the ministries of Road Transport and Highways and Power, New and Renewable Energy, in the town of Joshimath in past years have worked as a catalyst in the present scenario and "violated" the fundament rights of the residents there.
"The respondent no.1 (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) invested Rs 12,000 crore in the programme for connectivity improvement for Char-Dham (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunothri and Gangothri) in Uttarakhand," it said.
The plea said the Ministry of Power has also invested Rs 2976.5 crore through NTPC and started constructing Tapovan Vishnugad power plant in 2013 for 520 MW Power run-of-river project which is under construction on Dhauliganga River in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand.
It sought to direct the authorities to constitute a high-power joint committee under the chairmanship of retired judge of the high court and representatives of all relevant ministries to inspect the affected areas and look into the issue and rehabilitate the affected people.
Joshimath is sinking gradually with huge cracks developing in houses, roads and fields there. Many houses have suffered subsidence, locals said.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered immediate evacuation of 600 families living in houses at risk.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
