Joshimath: SC declines urgent hearing, says institutions working on it

The petitioner had sought the court's intervention to declare the land subsidence in Joshimath as a national disaster.

The Supreme Court bench on Tuesday declined to give an urgent hearing to a petition highlighting the land subsidence issue in Joshimath town of Uttarakhand, saying "everything important need not come to us".

"There are democratically elected institutions working on it," the court said. The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha, said it would hear the matter on January 16.

The court's reaction came after the petitioner, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, urged the Supreme Court to hear the matter on Wednesday. The counsel told the SC bench that the issue was important and