New Delhi [India], September 4 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed severe concern in regards to the floods in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab and noticed that there’s unlawful felling of timber within the hills.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice Ok Vinod Chandran stated it was a severe matter whereas referring to movies of huge numbers of timber logs washed down the hills by flood waters in Himachal Pradesh.
The bench issued notices to the Centre by Ministries of Environment and Jal Shakti, National Disaster Management Authority, NHAI, states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
The apex court docket posted the matter for listening to after two weeks.
‘We have seen unprecedented landslides and floods in Uttarakhad, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. From the media reviews, it is usually famous that through the flood, an enormous variety of wood logs had been flowing round. Prima facie, it seems that there was unlawful felling of the timber, which has been occurring up hills,’ noticed CJI Gavai.
We are seeing the images of Punjab; the whole fields and villages are eradicated. Development must be balanced, stated the bench.
The apex court docket additionally requested Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to be aware of the difficulty, including that it seems a ‘grave difficulty’.
‘SG, please be aware of this. It seems as a severe difficulty. A lot of wood logs had been seen to be falling round, and it exhibits unlawful felling of timber,’ stated the bench.
Solicitor General replied that he’ll converse to the secretary of the setting ministry and the chief secretaries on the difficulty.
‘We have interfered with nature a lot that now nature is giving again now,’ Mehta stated.
The high court docket was listening to a plea filed by one Anamika Rana looking for the formation of pointers or an SIT enquiry to stop future disasters.
The plea additionally sought a path to guard the pristine ecology of the Himalayan states, whereas elevating considerations in regards to the occurrences of landslides and flash floods, notably within the Himalayan area.
‘The Central and state governments, regardless of having devoted catastrophe authorities, don’t have any plan in place to stop or mitigate the losses resulting from these disasters, whose frequency has
elevated of late. Further disregard of hill highway guide, encroachment on water our bodies, and many others., are additionally contributing to the rise in frequency of those disasters,’ it added.
Further, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Ministry of Jal Shakti have additionally failed of their obligation to guard the pristine ecology and the rivers of the Himalayan area from degradation, added the plea.
The PIL sought the formation of an SIT involving specialists to search out out the explanations for these disasters and to find out the tasks of the officers, and likewise to counsel measures that will assist to guard and protect the pristine and delicate ecology of the Himalayan states and which may even assist in the enforcement of the Rights given beneath Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
It sought an inquiry into the irregularities, breaches, and non-compliances with numerous environmental legal guidelines, in addition to highway building and improvement pointers, and the position of officers and functionaries involved with highway and freeway building initiatives which have led to disasters within the states in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
It sought the structure of an unbiased skilled committee to hold out geological, geo-technical and environmental, ecological investigation into all highway/freeway initiatives the place landslides have occurred and assess the causes of floods and flashfloods within the rivers, streams in these states and advocate remediation, restoration, and rejuvenation. (ANI)