Supreme Court seeks Centre, states’ response over Himalayan disasters, cites illegal tree felling

Considering the unprecedented landslides and flooding in states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought the stand of the Centre, National Disaster Management Authority and others, and observed "illegal felling of trees led to the disasters".

Observing a balance ought to be struck between “development and environment”, a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran also issued notices to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the National Highway Authorities of India (NHAI) as well as the governments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

“We have seen unprecedented landslides and floods in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. From the media reports it is noticed that in the flood a huge number of wood was flowing along. Prima facie it appears that there has been illegal felling of trees. Thus issue notice to respondents,” the CJI said.

The bench granted advocates Akash Vashishtha and Shubham Upadhyay, appearing for petitioner Anamika Rana, to serve the notice and the copy of the petition at the central agency.

The CJI during the hearing asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was present in the court in connection with another case, to take note of the grim situation and ensure remedial steps.

“Please take note of this. It appears to be a serious issue. A large number of wooden logs are seen to be falling around… it shows illegal felling of trees. We have seen pictures of Punjab. Entire fields and crops are inundated…Development has to be balanced with mitigating measures,” the CJI said.

“We have interfered with nature so much...that nature is giving back now. I will speak to the secretary of the environment ministry today itself and he will speak to the chief secretaries (of the states),” the law officer said.

Such situations cannot be permitted, Mehta added.

The petitioner's counsel said there instances of people being trapped in tunnels and on the verge of “near death situations”.

The CJI said he noticed the seriousness of the issue and posted the matter after two weeks.

The plea, filed through lawyer Akash Vashishta, has sought framing of action plan and SIT inquiry into the reasons of landslides and flash floods besides the measures to ensure that such disasters do not recur.

“The Central and state governments, in spite of having dedicated Disaster Authorities, have no plan in place to prevent or mitigate the losses due to these disasters whose frequency has increased alarmingly of late,” it said.

It said the ministries of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and Jal Shakti have failed in their duty to protect the “pristine Ecology and the Rivers of the Himalayan region from degradation”.

“The Petition is being filed bona fide in the larger public interest to ensure and to uphold the Constitutional Right to Life (Article 21) and access to justice of the residents of these Himalayan States,” it said.

Seeking appropriate directions, the plea sought constituting an independent expert committee to carry out geological, geo-technical or environmental/ecological investigation into all road/highway projects where landslides have occurred and assess the causes of floods and flash floods in the rivers, rivulets, streams, water courses, channels in the Himalayan states, particularly Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand besides Jammu and Kashmir.

The plea also sought a direction to the Centre and others to ensure emergency relief, rescue, safety, first-aid for affected citizens.