Uttarakhand HC seeks report on 'cracks' appearing in houses in Bageshwar

The Uttarakhand High Court has appointed two advocates as court commissioners and sought a report from them on alleged cracks appearing in houses due to soapstone mining in Bageshwar district. A division bench of the high court on Monday took suo-motu cognisance of media reports that houses in several villages of Kanda tehsil of the district have developed cracks.

Bageshwar is around 190 km from Joshimath which had hit headlines in early 2023 for land subsidence, drawing national as well as global attention.

The bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit appointed advocates Mayank Joshi and Sharanya Dhulia as court commissioners to assist the court in understanding the problem of the villagers and asked them to file a report.



The court has also made the Divisional Forest Officer of Bageshwar, State Environment Protection Authority and District Mining Officer parties and asked them to file their reply in the case.

Advocate Dushyant Mainali, who is also assisting the court in the case, said a report should also be sought to ensure that all mining activities in the area follow the rules of the State Environment Protection Authority.

Villagers have complained that the officials are unaware of their plight, Mainali said.

Many houses in Kande-Kanyaal village of Kanda tehsil are in danger with cracks developing in them, he said.

After receiving complaints from the villagers, the mining officer, geologist and tehsildar visited the spot for an inspection.

Cracks in houses due to land subsidence caused by mining have been a source of concern for residents in Kande-Kanyaal for several years. The problem had aggravated during the last monsoon.

The high court fixed December 26 as the next date for hearing in the case.

Huge cracks and fissures had appeared on the buildings and the ground in Uttarakhand's Joshimath due to large-scale subsidence in January last year prompting the authorities to evacuate a large number of people to relief camps and temporary shelters.