Supreme Court seeks replies of Himalayan states on ecological issues
The Supreme Court will expand its examination of ecological issues in Himachal Pradesh to all Himalayan states due to severe environmental impacts this year.
The Supreme Court on Monday said that its suo motu examination of the ecological and environmental issues plaguing Himachal Pradesh will extend to all Himalayan states as it held that this year nature’s fury was at its worst across the high altitude states.
The court was dealing with a suo motu case taken up in July where it sought responses from the Centre and Himachal Pradesh government on the action plan to prevent natural disasters, flash floods and cloudbursts, drawing a direct link to high-paced construction of roads, multi-storeyed buildings, chopping of hills, deforestation, mining activities and hydroelectric projects.
A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said, “It is extremely sad there is one more incident (of cloudburst) in the state after this matter was taken up on July 28. We will not limit this matter to Himachal Pradesh alone but the entire Himalayan states. This year the effect is very violent.”
The court was assisted by senior advocate K Parmeshwar as amicus curiae who took the court through the response filed by the HP government on August 23. Finding the response too vague, Parmeshwar urged the court to consider a set of questions prepared by him seeking detailed response on various aspects of the problem from the state.
He told the court that going by the order taking suo motu cognizance, “the canvas is too broad to look into” as the court has expressed concerns over effect of hydroelectric projects, construction of four-lane roads, deforestation for development projects, multi-storeyed buildings constructed illegally, explosive material used for road construction, retreat of glaciers, waste management, and steps taken under disaster management.
The state represented by advocate general Anup Kumar Rattan and additional advocate general Vaibhav Srivastava said that the state has been suffering due to global warming due to its unique geographical location.
The response of the state admitted “There are shortcomings in the existing measures” and to emphasise the need for their identification and to formulate a comprehensive future action plan to address the disastrous situations witnessed in recent years, the state proposed constituting a “core group” of experts to submit a roadmap.
The state on Monday said that the problem is not unique to HP, as similar incidents have been witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, with the incidents having a trickle effect in other states as well. Between 2018 and 2025, Himachal Pradesh witnessed a surge in extreme weather events with 434 incidents recorded across districts that claimed more than 123 lives.
The court has been concerned over the developments over the past few years in the hill states and has sought responses on separate petitions flagging these issues. On September 8, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) sought response from the Uttarakhand government over the absence of any hill cutting policy or a law to regulate indiscriminate tree felling. It was hearing an application filed by a state resident Aanchal Raturi highlighting various problems ailing the hill state which has of late experienced several landslides,flashfloods and cloudburst incidents.
Prior to this, on September 4, the court entertained yet another petition filed by one Anamika Rana raising concerns over the flashfloods that had submerged large parts of Punjab, Uttarakhand, J&K due to incessant rains that caused rivers to swell and breach its natural course. The court noticed logs of wood floating in the river raising concerns of illegal felling of trees on the hills and sought response of Centre and affected states observing that if tree felling goes on rampantly, forest cover will be depleted, making states more prone to natural calamities.
