Joshimath land subsidence: Shankaracharya seeks relief package

HARIDWAR: Jyotish Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Avimuktateshwaranand Saraswati in Uttarakhand alleged on Friday that the "planned destruction of Himalayan regions" in the name of development is the cause behind land subsidence in Joshimath.

"It is the result of the planned destruction of Himalayan regions in the name of development. Today, the lives of thousands of people in Joshimath, which is the main centre of Indian culture, is in danger," Shankaracharya said demanding a one-time relief package from the Uttarakhand government along with the safety of the lives and property of the families in danger.

Shankaracharya is a common term used for the heads of monasteries called Math in the Advaita Vedanta of Hindu tradition. He further emphasised that due to this land subsidence, one of the four Maths, Badrinath temple and Jyotish Peeth in the Narsingh temple of Joshimath is also in danger and suggested rehabilitating the diety and the people of the town to a safer place.

"There are high chances that the Narsingh Temple, which is the winter stay of the ride of Lord Badrinath and Adi Jagadguru Shankaracharya's Jyotishpeeth of North India may also merge into the earth, thus bringing such an important city of importance to Indian culture under threat," he said.

The Shankaracharya had arrived in Haridwar and is on his way to Joshimath. According to the religious beliefs, Adi Shankaracharya had established four Maths-- Badrikashram Jyotish Peeth in North, Sringeri Sharda Peetham in Karnataka's Chikkamagalur in the South, Shardha Peeth in Dwarka in the west, and the Govardhan Peetha in Odisha's Puri in the east.

Talking to media persons at Shankaracharya Math in Haridwar, the Jyotish Peeth Shankaracharya he said that the government ignored the problem earlier and did not pay attention to it, however now, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is displaying active interest.

"The government did not pay attention to this problem earlier but now the Chief Minister seems to be active regarding the problem of Joshimath," the Shankaracharya said adding that the people here are facing the brunt of the unplanned and uncontrolled development on the mountain. "The development plans made for the mountains should be made according to the geographical conditions here," he added.

According to the Chamoli district administration statement on Friday, out of 561 establishments, 153 in Ravigram ward, 127 in the Gandhinagar ward, 28 in the Marwadi ward, 24 in the Lower Bazaar ward, 52 in the Singhdhar ward, 71 in the Manohar Bagh ward, 29 in the Upper Bazaar ward 27 in the Sunil ward and 50 in Parsari have reported cracks, due to which the operations of Hotel View and Malari Inn were restricted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, till further orders.

On Thursday, nine families were displaced, including four families in Joshimath Municipal Corporation, one from Gurudwara Joshimath, one from Tourist Hostel, Manohar Bagh and others. A total of 38 families have been displaced so far.

Notably, Joshimath Municipal Chairman Shailendra Pawar said huge cracks appeared in the houses due to water leakage from inside the ground in the Marwadi ward.

Speaking to ANI, the District Magistrate on Saturday said that all construction work has been halted in view of the situation in Joshimath.

CM Dhami earlier today visited the town and conduct physical inspections of the land subsidence-affected areas.