Joshimath land sinking: activists write to PM; number of buildings with cracks rise to 849

The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti on Monday urged the Centre to take over the relief and rehabilitation work in Joshimath as it accused the Uttarakhand government of adopting a "lackadaisical" approach, even as number of buildings developing cracks in the subsidence-hit town rose to 849, out of which 165 are located in the danger zone. The Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (JBSS) also raised pitch for scrapping of NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project.

The development comes on a day the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea seeking the court's intervention to declare the crisis in Joshimath a national disaster, saying since the state high court is seized of a "broad range of issues" it should hear it as a matter of principle.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, JBSS convenor Atul Sati accused the state government of ignoring its warnings about the imminent disaster for 14 months and dealing with it now at a snail's pace.

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