New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the petitioner requesting the Centre to establish a high-powered joint committee to investigate the Joshimath crisis in Uttarakhand to see if any similar plea has been moved in the Supreme Court as well.

A division bench headed by Justice Satish Chander Sharma was dealing with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Rohit Dandriyal.

The petition was filed for the affected districts of Joshimath, asking for the formation of a commission and ordering members of all pertinent ministries to look into this immediately.

The argument made in the petition was that the construction work done in Joshimath in previous years served as a trigger for the current situation and that by doing so, the respondents infringed the inhabitants' fundamental rights.

The argument also claimed that the respondent is currently required to behave as a welfare state and is obligated to provide its inhabitants with contemporary and liveable housing.

It further stated that it is imperative that the Central government recognise the hardship of the residents of the Garhwal region and take action to give them access to the necessities for a decent living.

The plea stated: "In one of the strangest phenomena to strike the holy town nestled in the serene hills of Chamoli at a height of 6,000 feet, houses started developing cracks and damages since 2021, leaving residents anxious and worried. Since the first reports of the cracks in 2021 after landslides in Chamoli, over 570 houses have sustained damages or cracks as residents experienced seismic tremors repeatedly in the subsequent years."

"It is home to one of the four cardinal pithas established by Adi Shankara. Since February 7, 2021, the area was severely affected by the 2021 Uttarakhand flood and its aftermath," the plea further read.