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The Supreme Court approved revised conservation measures for the Great Indian Bustard in Rajasthan and Gujarat, including time-bound undergrounding of critical power lines.
The National Green Tribunal sought responses from multiple authorities over alleged environmental and health impacts of coal mining in Dhanbad, Jharkhand.
The Indian Council of Medical Research informed the NGT of progress on a study examining health risks from flame retardant exposure in vehicles.
The cases highlight growing judicial scrutiny of biodiversity protection, mining impacts and emerging public health risks.
The Supreme Court of India, on December 19, 2025, approved several recommendations made by an expert committee for the protection of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The priority conservation area for Rajasthan was revised to 14,013 square kilometres, while Gujarat’s revised priority area was fixed at 740 sq km. The apex court directed that monitoring of the GIB in these revised priority areas should begin immediately and that studies be conducted on the impact of climate change on the species.
The court accepted the committee’s recommendation to provide a power corridor of up to 5 km in width, located at least 5 km south of the southernmost enclosure of the Desert National Park in Rajasthan. It also accepted the committee’s view negating the need for mitigation of existing and future power lines of 11 Kilovolts (kV) and below within a 100-metre buffer around settlements.
Restrictions recommended by the committee on future renewable energy projects within the revised priority areas of Rajasthan were approved. The Supreme Court also accepted the recommendation for the immediate undergrounding of 80 km of 33 kV power lines in Rajasthan.
All mitigation measures, including undergrounding and rerouting of power lines as suggested in the committee’s report, must commence immediately and be completed within two years from the date of the order, the court said.
The judgment further directed the competent authority to ensure the undergrounding of 250 km of critical power lines identified by the Wildlife Institute of India in Rajasthan, in a time-bound manner not exceeding two years. The bench comprised Justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar.
In March 2024, the Supreme Court had directed the constitution of the expert committee to determine the scope, feasibility and extent of overhead and underground electric lines in priority areas identified by the Wildlife Institute of India in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The committee was also tasked with recommending conservation and protection measures for the GIB and other fauna specific to the region’s topography.
The judgment cited a Down To Earth article dated May 31, 2025, titled Radheshyam Bishnoi was a man rooted in the Thar; he must be remembered as India’s very own ‘Godawan Man’: Sumit Dookia, by Rajat Ghai.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), on December 22, 2025, directed the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) to file its response in a matter concerning coal mining in Godhar Kurmidih and adjoining areas of Dhanbad district, Jharkhand, allegedly affecting health and the environment.
The tribunal also sought responses from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; the Union Ministry of Coal; Coal India Limited; Bharat Coking Coal Limited; and the collector of Dhanbad. The next hearing has been scheduled for March 13, 2026.
According to the applicant, although coal mining is carried out in Cluster 6, no welfare programmes have been undertaken for residents of the surrounding villages.
The applicant further alleged underground fires, fire explosions, degradation of agricultural land, the formation of gaps in Kusunda along NH-32 (Katras Road), earth bursts caused by gas leakage, land subsidence resulting in cracks in houses, and health hazards due to coal dust exposure.
It was also alleged that several houses have collapsed due to illegal coal mining and that schools have been affected. The applicant cited instances in which three women were reportedly buried alive after land subsided at a coalfield in Dhanbad, Jharkhand.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), on December 22, 2025, filed a report before the NGT on steps taken to conduct a study on the health risks of flame retardant exposure among drivers. ICMR assured the tribunal that all necessary steps were being taken to carry out the study.
According to the report, the proposal sets a target timeline of 18 months for completion. Staff have been recruited, chemicals procured and field visits conducted to enrol study participants. Field visits were carried out at two vehicle agencies in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, both identified as hot and arid zones. Procurement of essential LC-MS equipment is currently under process.
The NGT had taken suo motu cognisance of the issue following a news report titled People are breathing in cancer-causing chemicals in their cars, study finds, published on news website NDTV on May 8, 2024.
On September 26, 2025, the tribunal, after considering the detailed proposal submitted by ICMR to evaluate health risks from flame retardant exposure to drivers, had directed the council to file a status report.