NEW DELHI, 15 Sep: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said the issue concerning ecology and environmental conditions is not going to be limited to Himachal Pradesh only as the entire Himalayan range, which is ‘very violent’ this time, is facing it.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said it would pass its order on 23 September in the suo motu matter concerning issues relating to ecology and environmental conditions prevailing in Himachal Pradesh.
“Ultimately, it is not going to be limited to Himachal only.
It is the entire Himalayan range that is facing this. This time around, it has been very very violent,” Justice Mehta observed.
During the hearing, Himachal Pradesh’ advocate general and additional advocate general informed the bench about a report filed by the state in the matter.
“We will give you a brief order after summarising everything, so that you can get specific instructions,” the bench said.
Senior advocate K Parmeshwar, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, said the report filed by the state covered many aspects, including tree cover.
“The report covers a number of aspects. It might not be possible to deal with all the aspects at one go. They have covered from tree cover to mining aspect, glaciers etc,” he said.
Parmeshwar flagged that there were no specifics in the report.
He said the state had contended in the report that there were some concerns with glacier reduction and glacier movement but those specifics were not there.
“All that the report promises is to set up of a committee to look into these,” the amicus said, adding that the canvass is too broad.
The state’s additional advocate general referred to a part of the report which said Himachal Pradesh is actively working on creation of a state-level glacier registry.
The report said the integrated studies of Himalayan cryosphere was conducted by comparing glacier inventories of period from 2016 to 2019 with year 2001-2002 for various basins in Himachal Pradesh.
“The following findings of the scientific analysis reveals that while glacier numbers have largely remained stable or shown minor increases, their total area has declined, indicating gradual shrinkage,” it said.
The report said the recent devastations in the form of high-intensity rainfall, cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides, variations in snowfall patterns, and receding glaciers were manifestations of climate change, an undeniable global phenomenon resulting from extensive industrialization, rising greenhouse gas emissions and unsustainable practices at regional, national and global levels.
On the concern raised by the court regarding destruction caused by hydropower projects, the report said such projects might not be considered the primary cause of destruction in the state.
“Recent flash floods and cloudbursts have occurred in areas far away from hydropower installations. These destructive events were mainly caused by cloudbursts happening at higher altitudes and mountain peaks where no hydropower projects exist,” it said.
The report also said national highway projects in the state were undertaken after due diligence, planning and coordination with the various stakeholder departments, and includes public consultation where applicable.
On the court’s concern regarding destruction caused by deforestation due to developmental projects, the report said to rehabilitate and rejuvenate, the state through the Forest Department undertakes tree planting in degraded areas, and even on the evicted encroachment.
It said that between 2018 and 2025, the state witnessed a surge in extreme weather events, with 434 incidents recorded across districts.
“These disasters claimed 123 lives and caused significant livestock losses, severely impacting rural communities reliant on agriculture, horticulture, and animal husbandry,” the report said. (PTI)
