The Supreme Court on Thursday took note of the unprecedented landslides and floods wreaking havoc in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and other states, observing that large-scale illegal felling of trees appeared to be a major contributing factor to the disasters.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran issued notices to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the governments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
The order came while hearing a plea filed by petitioner Anamika Rana, who alleged that illegal deforestation was aggravating the scale of natural calamities in the hill states.
Taking a stern view, the CJI remarked,
“We have seen unprecedented landslides and floods in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. From media reports, it is noticed that in the flood a huge number of logs were seen flowing along. Prima facie it appears that there has been illegal felling of trees. Thus, issue notice to respondents. Returnable in two weeks.”
The court directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ensure remedial measures are taken and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.
